BRUTUS. 



vigorous efTcrts for regaining tlie throne of Rome ; and, 

 joined by the Veientcs, the avowed enemies of the Romans, 

 they advanced towards the city. But they were met by 

 the confuls at the head of the Roman forces ; the com- 

 mand of the horfe being afTumed by Brutus, and that of 

 the infantry by Valerius ; the horfe of the enemy, com- 

 manded by Arunx, one of Tarquin's fons, came forward 

 to the charge ; and as the hollile armies approached each 

 other, Arunx difcovered Brutus, attended by his liftors ; 

 and inflamed with rcfentmcnt, he exchiimed, " There is the 

 enemy of my family, the ufurper of my father's throne." 

 He then immediately advanced to a perfonal encounter, and 

 Brutus flew to meet him. Aftiiatcd by paflion, more than 

 by cool courage, thcfe two champions, negleding the means 

 of perfonal defence, transfixed each other with their fptars, 

 and at the fame inllant fell dead from their horfes. This 

 happened in the year B. C. 509. The conflifl, thus com- 

 menced, terminated in a viftory on the part of the Romans ; 

 and, as foon as it w-as decided, Valerius buried his colleague 

 Brutus with great pomp, and gave Rome the firft example 

 of thofe funeral orations, which it was afterwards cuftoniary 

 to pronounce in commendation of their great men. The 

 Roman matrons diftinguiflied themfelves on this occafion ; 

 for, regarding Brutus as the avenger of the honour of their 

 fcx, they mourned for him a whole year ; and his ilatue was 

 afterwards erefted in the capitol, with a naked fword in his 

 hand. The Romans venerated his memory, as that of the 

 fecond founder of their city, who had reftored liberty to 

 their country, cemented it by the blood of his own fons, 

 and died in defending it againfl: an ufurper ; and they con- 

 fidered him as having undergone more hardfliips and dangers 

 in eftablifliing the commonwealth, than Romulus had done 

 in firft founding the kingdom. Virgil has nobly flcetched 

 Lis hifl:ory and praife in the following lines : 



" Confulis imperium hie primus fxvafque fecures 

 Accipiet : natofque pater, nova bella moventes, 

 Ad pcenam pulchra pro libertate vocabit. 

 Infelix ! utcumque ferent ea fadla minores ; 

 Vincit amor patriae, laudumque immenfa cupido." 



TEn. VI, 820. 

 •• He firft fliall hold the conful's fway, and wield 

 The dreaded axes ; he, a Roman hre, 

 For thee, fair Liberty ! his rebel fons 

 Shall doom to public death. Unhappy man ! 

 Howe'er pofterity the deed may judge, 

 His country's love, and boundlefs thirll of praife, 

 Sliall quell the father." 

 Dionvf. Halic. lib. iv. and v. Livy, lib. i. and ii. Plut. 



in Poplicol. apud Op. T. i. p. 97, &c. 

 Brutus, Marcus J lnius, an illultrious Roman, derived 

 his name and dtfecnt, as fome have faid, as well as his fpirit, 

 from L. J. Brutus, the fubjeft of the preceding article. 

 Cicero records this line of his defcent, both in his fpeeches 

 and writings, as a fad, which was not doubted by any ; and 

 he often fpcaks of tlie " image of old Brutus," which Mar- 

 cus kept in his houfe among thofe of his anceftors ; and 

 Atticus, who was peculiarly curious in the antiquities of the 

 Roman families, drew up Brutus's genealogy for him ; and 

 deduced his fuccelTion from that ancient hero, in a direttline, 

 through all the intermediate ages from father to fon. Plu- 

 tarch alfo, on the authority of Pofidonius the philofopher, was 

 of the fame opinion. Other ancient writers, however, and par- 

 ticularly Dionyfius of HalicarnafTus, allege feveral arguments 

 againll this defcent, which feem to be very plaufible ; and 

 they fay that the family of the patriot was extindt in the 

 execution of his two fons. However this be, M. J. Brutus 

 was the fon of a fcnator of the fame name, who belong«d to 



the party of Marius, and who was piu to death for his feve-- 

 rities by Pompey at tlie An-render of Mntin*. His mother 

 was Servilia, the filler of Cato, who Jifgraced herfelf by her 

 connexion with C:efar, which gave rife to the opinion that 

 Brutus was his natural foil. But as he was born in the con- 

 fuKhip of L.Cornelius Cinna III. and Cu. Papirius Carbo I. 

 A.XJ. 668, he was no more than 15 vears younger than 

 Casfar himfelf; and this circiimflance fully confutes the 

 vulgar llory of his being commonly believed to be Ca;far's 

 fon. As Brutus loft his father, when he was young, the 

 care of his education devolved on his uncle Cato : under 

 whofe direftion it was condufted on that liberal plan which 

 prevailed among Romans of diftindlion, after their conneftion 

 with Greece. He ftudied the language and philofophy of 

 that country ; and he acquired, by means of his natural ta- 

 lents and fedulous apphcation, a diftinguiHied reputation for 

 eloquence. At the bur and in private aflemblieb hij rhetorical 

 powers were exercifed ; he pleaded feveral caufes of great im- 

 portance, and he was allowed to be the moft eloquent and 

 learned of all the young men of rank and family at the period 

 in which he lived. ' His manner of fpeaking was correft, 

 elegant, and judicious ; though he wanted that force and 

 copioufnefs whicli are required in a confunimate orator. 

 But he was principally delighted with the ftudy of philofo- 

 phy, in which, though he profefl'ed himfelf a difciple of the 

 moderate feft of the old academy, he neverthelcfs, from a 

 certain pride and gravity of temper, and from a deference 

 to the example of Cato, affefted the feverity of the Stoic. 

 His difpofition, however, which was mild, gentle, and com- 

 panionate, was incompatible with this fyftem ; and he was 

 often conftrained, by the tendernefs of his nature, to confute 

 the rigour of his principles. On the doftrines of the phi- 

 lofophy which he had adopted, he wrote fome treatifcs, and 

 he transfufed both the language and fentiments of his feci 

 into Latin. His accomplilhments as a fcholar and an 

 orator are fufficiently attefted by Cicero, who has done hira 

 the honour of introducing him as one of his fpeakers in his 

 dialogue " De Claris Oratoribus," and addrelTed to him his 

 treatife entitled " Orator." Attached to Cato from his 

 youth, he imbibed, under his difcipline, an ardent love of 

 liberty and virtue ; and having accompanied him in his ex- 

 pedition to Cyprus, where he was employed by his uncle, 

 after the unhappy end of its king, Ptolemy, in fecuring the 

 royal treafures for the public. This commifiton he executed 

 to the fatisfaftion cf his uncle ; and by marrying his 

 daughter Portia, he formed a clofer alliance with this vene- 

 rable patriot, and was led to make him the model of his 

 public conduft. Accordingly, after his example, when the 

 civil war broke out between Cn;iar and Pompey, he joined 

 the party of the latter ; although he had rcafon to refent his 

 conduct for the murder of his father; and Ca;far's familiarity 

 with Ills mother induced him to manifeft a partiality in favour 

 of her fon. At the battle of Pharfalia, in which Brutus was 

 engaged on the fide of Pompey, Ccefar gave fpecial orders to, 

 find out and preferve him unhurt ; and after this battle, 

 which terminated the republic, he furrendered himfelf to 

 Csfar, who rejoiced in his fafety, and immediately received 

 him into favour, teftifying his regard for him by pardoning 

 his friend Caffius at his intercefllon. Carfar entrufted him 

 with the government of Cifalpine Gaul, and afterwards no- 

 minated him praetor of Rome, Notwithftarding the grati- 

 tude and refpeft he was thus induced to entertain for Cxfar, 

 he was alarmed by his ufurped dominion, and a view of the 

 degraded ftate into which his country was reduced by the 

 violation of the laws and conftitution, excited a difguft 

 which no favours could compenfate. At the fame time, 

 Caffius, who had married his filler, was affiduoua in endea- 



•vQuring 



