Marcus Iunius Brutus
85-42 B.C.
A Senator from one of the most noble
families of Rome, Brutus traced his family line back to the Brutus that
had driven out the last King of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, and instituted
the Republic. Although he fought for Pompey at Pharsalus, Caesar pardoned him and treated him as a close friend. Eventually
Brutus became a leader in the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar in 44 B.C. After Caesar's death, Brutus and his
co-conspirator Cassius fought a Civil War against Caesar's heir Octavian (later the emperor
Augustus) and Marc Antony. He was defeated
at Phillipi, where he killed himself.
*The portrait on this coin is not
of Brutus. During the days of the Republic, it was illegal to put the face
of a living man on a coin. Instead, men chose to put the portraits of their
ancestors on the coin they were issuing, as Brutus did with this coin.
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