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   jbordonaro Teacher
   Middle School

   Brutus was foiled by Marcus Antonius. After Caesar's assasination, Antonius led the Senate to give amnesty to the murderers of Caesar, Brutus included. Thinking that Antonius was on their side, the conspirators allowed him to officiate at Caesar's funeral. Antonius, however, gave a powerful performance during the course of the public funeral for Caesar, and inflamed the Roman mob. He pointed out that many of the men who had killed Caesar had been rewarded by Caesar, instead of being punished for siding earlier with Caesar's rival Pompey. Antonius also held up to the mob's view Caesar's bloody robe, with 23 rips in it caused by the murderers' knives. The Roman mob loved Caesar and, whipped into a frenzy by Antonius's powerful speech, forced Brutus and the other conspirators to flee the City, in fear of their lives.

   Meanwhile, Antonius and Octavian had formed a triumphirate along with Lepidus. Antonius and Octavian soon turned against each other, however. While Antonius was in Gaul, seeking to make it his own province, Octavian raised other armies and led them against Antonius. Antonius was defeated by Octavian, but then word was received that Brutus and his followers, emboldened by the fighting between their enemies, were gathering strong forces and were planning to march on Rome and recapture it. Antonius and Octavian agreed to end their quarrel, joined forces, and ended up completely defeating Brutus and his followers at the Second Battle of Phillipi in 42 BC.

   Sources:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Junius_Brutus

   http://www.livius.org/bn-bz/brutus/brutus02.html

   http://www.livius.org/caa-can/caesar/caesar_t14.html

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   Posted by jbordonaro on Saturday October 10, 2009 at 9:35 AM