Before the actual murder, Brutus was a great friend of his target and had not actually joined the conspiracy. He was in great favour with him but was starting to feel Caesar was going too far and getting too much power. It is then he joined the plot with Cassius, a staunch anti-dictatorship man. It is then that Brutus tries to fulfil his title by joining it and trying to do what he thought was good for Rome. He showed this by thinking back in Act 1 Scene 2 to when his forefathers had deposed the last king of Rome, when Rome became a republic. He seems to think that, because his family participated in this then he must live up to the reputation of his family and cannot let them down. Also, through the eyes of Brutus, Caesar was too ambitious and was appearing to try and take over the senate, pushing it towards a dictatorship once more. This was against Roman tradition and greatly went against everything Brutus stood for. This is shown when, in Act 2 Scene 1 on line 17-19, Brutus says:
“Th’abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse from power; and to speak truth of Caesar.”
During the murder and in the immediate build up to it, Brutus still believed that everything he was doing was right. He always felt that everything was necessary. Even Caesar, when he saw Brutus attempting to stab him, felt that, because Brutus was a great friend of his, he felt that maybe what Brutus was doing was right. This is shown in Caesar’s famous but misquoted line:
“Et tu Brute? Then fall Caesar!”
Et tu in Latin means “And you?” meaning that Caesar was surprised at the actions of Brutus but, the part “Then fall Caesar!”, was never said but was added in by Shakespeare to make the characters feelings more obvious. These feelings were that, if Caesar’s loving friend, Brutus, was trying to kill him then, maybe, it was the right thing. It was at this point Caesar stopped fighting, fell to the ground and died. Straight after this, a slave of Mark Antony comes to ask if his master can speak to Brutus and if he would be safe. Brutus allows this despite being told by the other members that this is a terrible idea, especially if Antony comes out alive at the end. This would be shown in the line said by Cassius:
“But yet I have a mind
That fears him much; and my misgiving still
Falls shrewdly”
This leads into another mistake by Brutus. His arrogance is shown once more.
In the aftermath of the murder, Brutus shows this trait which further destroys the idea of the “Noblest Roman of them all.” At the funeral, Brutus spends a lot of time getting the plebs of Rome on his side. This takes him along time and has to use rousing lines:
“Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my
cause,”
“Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer –
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more.”
This speech brought the people on side and made sure that they would stay with him. This seems to fit in very well with his image of being a noble man. However, his bad traits shine through when he decides to let Antony take the pulpit and speak to the crowd without supervision. This allows Antony to make his speech with the famous opening lines:
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your
ears:
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.”
This speech turns the plebeians against Brutus once more. Their anger is shown in the 2nd Scene of Act 3.
“They were traitors. Honourable men!”
“They were villains, murderers.”
Antony then managed to turn the crowd even more in his favour by half mentioning the will and allowing the crowd to think it was they’re idea and make it seem like the will was meant solely for them:
Antony- “Let but the commons hear this testament –
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read –“
4th Citizen- “We’ll hear the will. Read it Mark Antony.”
All- “The will, the will! We will hear Caesar’s will.”
Upon the reading of the will, it further strengthened Antony’s and weakened Brutus’ position.
This sequence of events later led to the starting of the Roman Civil War and a large rift in the population. The infighting amongst Cassius and Brutus further weakened them and caused greater problems before leading to the final scene in Julius Caesar in which the final battle is shown.
Brutus and Cassius led one side while the triumvirate of Antony, Octavius and Lepidus led the side that was still allied to Caesar’s ideals and followers. The final battle took place at Philippi where both sides faced each other. The battle went badly for Brutus and Cassius and resulted in Cassius killing himself in Act 5 scene 3 with help from one of his soldiers. Upon hearing this news, Brutus does what is seen as one of the noblest deaths in the Roman tradition. He killed himself next to his friend Cassius in At 5 scene 5:
“Farewell good Strato. Caesar
Now be still;
I killed not thee with half so good a will”
It is then that he falls on his side and pulls back the possibility of being noble and gaining the respect of Antony who finds the bodies and says:
This was the noblest Roman of them all.
All the conspirators save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
I do believe that Antony’s assessment of Brutus being the noblest roman of them all is an accurate one as, although he does show some naivety in his dreams of a Rome governed by the senate, he does show great courage and single mindedness in achieving that goal. These traits that Brutus showed were truly worthy of the title “Noblest Roman of them all.”