In William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, Brutus is described as a devotee of the Stoic philosophy. This philosophy emerged in Athens around 300 BCE and Zeno of Citium is credited with founding this philosophical sect. The name Stoics comes from a painted porch (stoa) in Athens where adherents of this philosophy would gather.

One of the hallmarks of Stoic thought was that negative emotions, such as anger, envy, fear, or even passionate love, were dangerous to a person and that the more a person was able to eliminate these negative emotions, the more likely they would be to be able to live a virtuous life in accordance with nature (which was the aim of Stoicism). A person who attained true virtue in accordance with nature was considered free or liberated. Failure to eliminate such negative emotions caused a person to be a slave, in Stoic terms.

Even Brutus' suicide at the end of Shakespeare's tragedy could be regarded as in accordance with Stoic doctrine in extreme circumstances.