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Message:: [QUOTE="cmezner, post: 20304645, member: 87809"]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 <a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html" rel="nofollow">http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html</a>Instead Suetonius [Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum, Liber I, Divus Iulius, LXXXII,2]<a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html" rel="nofollow">http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html</a> 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, 8hRome, 54 BCCrawford 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[ATTACH=full]1540492[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1540493[/ATTACH] 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.[/QUOTE]

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