A coin of Brutus is probably a must in a Roman Imperial collection. So, after much thinking about it, I decided to bid on one and won this Denarius, it was quite a fight, issued by the moneyer of 54 BC Quintus Servillius Caepio Iunius Brutus who would, 10 years later, join the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar. He is not to be confused with Decimus Iunius Brutus, consul designate in 43/42 BC, one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar’s assassination, nominated in 45 BC by Julius Caesar, but his involvement in Caesar's assassination saw him killed in the civil war that followed. There were 5 Romans called Decimus Iunius Brutus, among them the consul of 43/42 BC, and a consul in 77 BC. We can also find: Lucius Junius Brutus Damasippus, urban praetor in 82 BC during Sulla’s civil war; Marcus Iunius Brutus plebeian Tribune of the Plebs in 83 BC On the Ides of March, 44 BC, between 60 and 70 senators, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus, including Marcus Iunius Brutus, brother-in-law of Cassius, murdered Caesar in a room adjoining the east portico of the Theatre of Pompey. On several occasions Julius Caesar expressed how he loved Decimus Brutus like a son. Syme argued that if Brutus was the natural son of Caesar, Decimus was more likely than Marcus Brutus. Decimus was named an heir in the second degree in Caesar's will and was designated to become guardian of any child Caesar would have. Roman historian Appian interpreted this as being an adoption of Decimus by Caesar. There is no evidence that Caesar’s words were "Et tu, Brute" ("You, too, Brutus?"), a famous quote that is from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar play. Though the historical Caesar's last words are not known with certainty, Plutarch [The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Julius Caesar 66.12], a century and a half after the incident, writes that it is said by some writers that Caesar pulled his toga down over his head and sank, either by chance or because pushed there by his murderers, against the pedestal on which the statue of Pompey stood http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html Instead Suetonius [Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum, Liber I, Divus Iulius, LXXXII,2] http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html reported that Caesar's last words said to Marcus Brutus were the Greek phrase Kai su, teknon (Και συ τέκνον) , which means "You too, child" or "You too, young man". Greek was spoken more by high ranking Romans than the more vulgar Latin, which was the language of the common people. It has been argued that the phrase can be interpreted as a curse or warning. One theory states that Caesar adapted the words of a Greek sentence which to the Romans had long since become proverbial; the complete sentence is said to have been "You too, my son, will have a taste of power", of which Caesar only needed to invoke the opening words to foreshadow Brutus' own violent death, in response to his assassination 18.5 mm, 4.01 g, 8h Rome, 54 BC Crawford 433/1; Sydenham 906a; Babelon Junia 31a; Russo RBW 1542; BMCRR Rome 3861 Lucius Iunius Brutus was famous for leading the coup overthrowing in 509 BC the Etruscan and last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. Tacitus (Annals I, 1) writes: 'Libertatem et consulatum L. Brutus instituit (Freedom and the consulate was established by L. Brutus). Ob.: LIBERTAS Head of Libertas to right, wearing necklace with one row of pearls and drop-shaped pendants, cross-shaped earring, no jewels in hair. Banker’s mark below chin Rev.: BRVTVS the consul L. Iunius Brutus between two lictors, each carrying axe over shoulder, preceded by an accensus, all walking left This reverse design was the prototype for the famous AU Koson stater. Pictures courtesy CNG For the last decades of the Roman Republic, Libertas, for whose sake Caesar was murdered, was above all a reference for the ruling families, the Nobilitas. In their opinion, they had all the reasons to be proud of their Nobilitas: since the beginning of the Republic more than 400 years before, their ancestors had been active part of the state, had defended the city and expanded its territory, conquered all of Italy established a confederate system and brought a large part of the Mediterranean under their rule. The Nobiles were the rulers of the world and when they traveled through the Roman precincts they were treated like kings. However, at the time of Caesar’s assassination, the Nobilitas had lost many of its members due to the civil wars and proscriptions. In the senate, there were only a small group of Nobiles; its members were incapable of action, they were depleted. Among the conspirators there were few Nobiles.
It's a very nice looking example, and I do not find the banker's mark objectionable. I did not know that the "Et tu, Brute?" quote originated with Shakespeare, but upon hearing that, I'm not terribly surprised.
An even earlier occurrence of this phrase is said to be in a play, Caesar Interfectus, by Richard Edes, a Latin tragedy acted at Christ Church in 1582, which has been lost apart from a possible epilogue. Wikipedia, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Et_tu,_Brute? Nosweatshakespeare, https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/et-tu-brute/ Wiktionary https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/et_tu,_Brute Please share your Brutus coins
KAI CY The Greek formula καὶ σύ (you too) was a standard formula, probably of Stoician inspiration, used on gravestones. It was addressed to the passer-by who was reading the epitaph, and meant : you too shall be dead some day. The full formula is "χαῖρε καὶ σύ, τίς ποτ’ εἶ " : "Farewell you too, whoever you are". On this epitaph from Carnuntum (Petronell, Austria) of Florus, slave of Publius Vedius Germanus, who died at the age of 26, the end in Greek is: (...) XAIPЄ / [ΦΛ]ѠPЄ · XAIPЄ KAI CY / TIC ΠOT ЄI ΞЄNЄ (...) χαῖρε Φλῶρε, χαῖρε καὶ σύ, τίς ποτ’ εἶ, ξένε ! : "Farewell Florus! Farewell you too, whoever you are, stranger !" There are even minimalist gravestones with just "καὶ σύ"... Julius Caesar was suspected of restoring monarchy in Rome. When Brutus killed his father, he was fulfilling the oath of his supposed ancestor Lucius Brutus. In 509 BC, after Lucretia had committed suicide, Livy tells the story: "Brutus, while the others were absorbed in grief, drew out the knife from Lucretia's wound, and holding it up, dripping with gore, exclaimed, “By this blood, most chaste until a prince wronged it, I swear, and I take you, gods, to witness, that I will pursue Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and his wicked wife and all his children, with sword, with fire, aye with whatsoever violence I may; and that I will suffer neither them nor any other to be king in Rome!” The knife he then passed to Collatinus, and from him to Lucretius and Valerius." Of course Caesar was his own (adoptive) father, but it was well known that his ancestor Brutus, some time after, had his two sons executed before his very eyes because they were plotting the restoration of monarchy. Mos majorum, you see... But Caesar was a stoician. He just replied the stoician formula : "καὶ σύ"... You too, my son, shall be killed some day, I'm waiting for you...
@panzerman A one-of-a-kind coin - what a beauty, awesome, thank you so much for sharing This is fascinating, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge @GinoLR
