Today in History

October 23, 42 BC
Et tu, Brute?
Marcus Junius Brutus falls on his sword after his army is defeated by the joined armies of Octavian and Mark Antony in the second Battle of Philippi on October 23, 42 BC. Efforts to create a Roman republic die with him. Brutus had left Italy after his leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar, but when Octavian—the adopted great-nephew of Caesar—sets out to eliminate Caesar's assassins, Brutus and co-conspirator Cassius raise arms against him. Brutus' actions inspire both admiration and ire in later generations. Poet Dante Alighieri harbors a wildly unfavorable opinion of him in The Divine Comedy where he imagines Brutus spending eternity being chewed by Satan.



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