3 ms·

Too much modern romanticization. Cassius and Brutus chose to assassinate Caesar because his consolidation of power meant they couldn't have grand political care

by rkk3 5y ago

Too much modern romanticization. Cassius and Brutus chose to assassinate Caesar because his consolidation of power meant they couldn't have grand political careers, it was a fundamentally selfish-act & power grab that we've projected enlightenment reasoning on. Strongly recommend. 'Caesar, Life of a Colossus' by Adrian Goldsworthy

goto11 5y ago
How do we know the motives of Brutus?
zozbot234 5y ago
It was not really a matter of enlightenment reasoning, but republican traditions that the Romans of their time would have been highly familiar with. Caesar had himself proclaimed "dictator for life for the purpose of reforming the state" only a few months prior to being killed, basically repeating what the by-then hated and vilified Sulla had done roughly a generation earlier (except that even Sulla had not dared to demand a lifetime appointment, this was evidently Caesar's idea). This post on the ACOUP blog goes in more detail wrt. the legal implications of that kind of move, which by that time had become quite clear to the Romans themselves: https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictatorship-how-did-it-work-did-it-work/ https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictator...
vagabund 5y ago
Plutarch's nearly contemporaneous account cites republican virtues as Brutus' motive, and Cassius' more personal [0]. It's quite hard to psychoanalyze figures that lived and died two millennia ago, but the political-ethical explanation of the event isn't an enlightenment invention. [0] https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/brutus*.html https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/...
optimalsolver 5y ago
Brutus' ancestor had been one of the founders of the Republic. I don't doubt he felt pressure to live up to the family name. Portraying it as a power grab is an unfair simplification, I think.

by rkk3 5y ago

goto11 5y ago

How do we know the motives of Brutus?

zozbot234 5y ago

It was not really a matter of enlightenment reasoning, but republican traditions that the Romans of their time would have been highly familiar with. Caesar had himself proclaimed "dictator for life for the purpose of reforming the state" only a few months prior to being killed, basically repeating what the by-then hated and vilified Sulla had done roughly a generation earlier (except that even Sulla had not dared to demand a lifetime appointment, this was evidently Caesar's idea). This post on the ACOUP blog goes in more detail wrt. the legal implications of that kind of move, which by that time had become quite clear to the Romans themselves: https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictatorship-how-did-it-work-did-it-work/ https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictator...

vagabund 5y ago

Plutarch's nearly contemporaneous account cites republican virtues as Brutus' motive, and Cassius' more personal [0]. It's quite hard to psychoanalyze figures that lived and died two millennia ago, but the political-ethical explanation of the event isn't an enlightenment invention. [0] https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/brutus*.html https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/...

optimalsolver 5y ago

Brutus' ancestor had been one of the founders of the Republic. I don't doubt he felt pressure to live up to the family name. Portraying it as a power grab is an unfair simplification, I think.