M. JUNIUS BRUTUS (54 BC)

"And you, child?" These were reportedly the final words of Caesar, spoken to Brutus as he participated in the assassination.

Marcus Junius Brutus (85–42 BCE) was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus and Servilia Caepionis, the half-sister of Cato the Younger and lover of Julius Caesar. His father was executed by Pompey in 77 BCE following a failed military coup against Sulla.

In 58 BCE, Brutus accompanied Cato on a mission to Cyprus, where he lent a large sum of money to the city of Salamis at an exorbitant interest rate. In the Senate, Brutus aligned himself with the Optimates against the Triumvirate of Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar.

On the Ides of March, 44 BCE, a group of senators, including Brutus and Cassius, assassinated Caesar on the steps of Pompey's Theater. Following the assassination, Brutus and Cassius fled to the East, where they began raising an army.