Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus

Reading notes

• Ad Atticum 14.13 §2 Decimus Brutus's arrival at his legions

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of the assassins, had been assigned Cisalpine Gaul and its legions by Caesar; Cicero sees the army he is taking up as the republicans' best military hope against Antony.

• Ad Atticum 15.4 §1 if in fact the province is being torn from D.~Brutus

  Decimus Brutus Albinus, one of the assassins, held Cisalpine Gaul; Antony's manoeuvre to strip him of the province (and take it himself) is, in Cicero's eyes, the move that points straight to war.

• Ad Atticum 15.10 §1 some heavier news comes about Decimus

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, a separate conspirator from Marcus Brutus, who held the province of Cisalpine Gaul; ill news of his position would gravely worsen the assassins' prospects.

• Ad Atticum 15.11 §2 accused Decimus bitterly

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of the chief assassins, now governor of Cisalpine Gaul; the conspirators blamed his hesitation among the "opportunities lost" after the Ides of March.

• Ad Atticum 16.11 §5 Really? --- against Decimus Brutus?

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins (distinct from the more famous Marcus Brutus), then governor of Cisalpine Gaul whom Antony would soon besiege at Mutina.

• Ad M. Brutum 1.2 §2 breakout of Brutus

  This refers to Decimus Brutus Albinus (not Marcus Brutus the letter's recipient), who had been besieged in Mutina by Antony since late 44 BC and broke out after Antony's defeat.

• Ad M. Brutum 1.10 §2 faults of Brutus's followed

  "Brutus" here is Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus (not Marcus), who commanded the relieved force at Mutina; Cicero criticizes Decimus for failing to pursue Antony's retreating and disorganized army after the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina.

• Ad M. Brutum 1.14 §2 we have Brutus excellently joined with Plancus

  This refers to Decimus Brutus (not Marcus), who had escaped from besieged Mutina and was attempting to unite with Munatius Plancus's forces in Transalpine Gaul; "Brutus" here is unambiguously Decimus because Marcus Brutus is the recipient of this letter.

• Ad M. Brutum 1.15 §8 I decreed that Brutus's name be inscribed in the calendar against that day

  Cicero proposed that Decimus Brutus's liberation from the siege of Mutina (April 43 BC) be commemorated in the official Roman calendar (fasti) on the day it occurred, which happened also to be Decimus's birthday — a rare public honour normally given to gods or deified figures.

• Ad M. Brutum 2.1 §1 Grim letters and reports about our friend Brutus

  "Our friend Brutus" here refers to Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus (not Marcus Brutus, the letter's recipient), who had been besieged at Mutina and was now attempting to lead his army north to join Plancus in Gaul; Cicero was receiving alarming dispatches about his deteriorating position.

• Ad Familiares 8.7 §2 she is to marry D. Brutus

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, later one of Caesar's assassins; Paula Valeria's hasty divorce was arranged so she could marry him.

• Ad Familiares 10.6 §1 your colleague, that most illustrious man, is being besieged

  Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus (not the more famous Marcus Brutus) had been appointed governor of Cisalpine Gaul by Julius Caesar and held it for the senate after the assassination; he was besieged in Mutina (Modena) by Mark Antony from late 44 until April 43 BC.

• Ad Familiares 10.11 §2 Brutus and Mutina freed from siege

  Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins, had been blockaded in Mutina (Modena) by Antony since autumn 44 BC; the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina (14 and 21 April 43 BC) broke the siege.

• Ad Familiares 10.15 §4 it will be Brutus's office to meet him

  The Brutus here is Decimus Brutus Albinus, governor of Cisalpine Gaul, just freed from the siege of Mutina and positioned to intercept Antony should he fall back into Italy rather than press west into Gaul.

• Ad Familiares 10.18 §2 to wait at the Is\`ere until Brutus brought his army across

  The Brutus here is Decimus Brutus Albinus, who after the relief of Mutina was marching from Cisalpine Gaul to join Plancus; the cautious plan was to await his crossing before engaging Antony. The two never effectively combined, and Decimus was killed fleeing Gaul later in 43 BC.

• Ad Familiares 10.20 §2 I have had a letter from your colleague, dated the Ides of May

  Plancus's "colleague" is Decimus Brutus Albinus, his fellow consul-designate for 42 BC; the two were jointly responsible for the war against Antony in Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul. The Ides of May fell on 15 May.

• Ad Familiares 10.22 §1 Your concord, which was declared to the Senate in the letter from the two of you

  Plancus and Decimus Brutus, the consuls-designate for 42 BC, sent a joint despatch announcing their cooperation; the Senate welcomed this concordia as the basis of the campaign against Antony.

• Ad Familiares 10.26 §1 the concord of Plancus and Brutus

  After Antony's defeat at Mutina, Plancus's army and Decimus Brutus's army joined in Cisalpine Gaul; their cooperation was the republicans' best hope against Antony and Lepidus.

• Ad Familiares 10.33 §5 Brutus, I hear, has seventeen cohorts

  This is Decimus Brutus, just relieved at Mutina, to whom the survivors of the consuls' army would naturally rally — not Marcus Brutus, who was in Macedonia.

• Ad Familiares 11.6 §1 D. BRVTO IMP. COS. DESIG.

  Decimus Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins and governor of Cisalpine Gaul, here saluted as imperator (a victorious general acclaimed by his troops) and consul-designate for 42 BC. He is distinct from Marcus Brutus the Liberator.

• Ad Familiares 11.8 §1 D. BRVTO IMP. COS. DESIG.

  Decimus Brutus is addressed with his titles: IMP. (imperator, the soldiers' acclamation won by his defense of Mutina) and COS. DESIG. (consul-designate, named for 42 BC). The salutation formula S. D. is salutem dicit, "sends greetings."

• Ad Familiares 11.13 §1 D. BRVTVS IMP. COS. DES. S. D. M. CICERONI

  Decimus Brutus signs with his titles: imperator (a general acclaimed by his troops) and consul designate for 42 BC. The letter is his eyewitness report of the pursuit of Antony after the relief of Mutina in May 43 BC.

• Ad Familiares 11.14 §3 on your birthday

  Decimus Brutus's birthday happened to fall around the relief of Mutina (late April 43 BC), so that the victory and his birthday were celebrated together at Rome.

• Ad Familiares 11.18 §1 D. BRVTO IMP. COS. DESIG.

  Decimus Brutus Albinus, hailed imperator after his defence of Mutina and already consul-designate for 42 BC; "IMP. COS. DESIG." abbreviates imperator, consul designatus.

• Ad Familiares 12.5 §2 the entire decisive issue of the whole war seemed to rest on D. Brutus

  Decimus Brutus (a different Brutus from Marcus) was besieged by Antony in Mutina; relieving him was the central objective of the consuls' campaign in early 43 BC.

• Ad Familiares 12.6 §2 Brutus, at Mutina, is barely holding on now

  This Brutus is Decimus Brutus Albinus (not M. Brutus, named just before), besieged by Antony in Mutina (modern Modena) in spring 43 BC. His survival was the hinge of the war.

• Twelfth Philippic §3 the safety of Decimus Brutus had dazzled the edge of my mind

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, an assassin of Caesar, was besieged by Antony in Mutina; the hope of relieving him is what Cicero says blinded him into supporting the embassy.

• Thirteenth Philippic §11 those Geese be driven off who now assault Mutina and besiege Decimus Brutus

  Decimus Brutus, one of Caesar's assassins and governor of Cisalpine Gaul, was besieged by Antony in Mutina (Modena); his relief was the central war aim of 43 BC. "Geese" puns on the Alaudae ("Larks").

• Third Philippic §1 Decimus Brutus

  Decimus Iunius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins, governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 44 BC. His refusal to surrender the province to Antony and his besieging at Mutina are the occasion of the Third Philippic, delivered to the Senate on 20 December 44 BC.

• Fourth Philippic §7 Decimus Brutus

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins and governor of Cisalpine Gaul, which Antony was demanding for himself. His edict refusing to surrender the province made him the bulwark against Antony in the north.

• Fourth Philippic §7 the race and name of the Bruti

  Cicero invokes the legendary tyrannicide tradition of the Bruti, conflating Decimus Brutus with Lucius Junius Brutus (expeller of the kings) and Marcus Junius Brutus (Caesar's chief assassin) as liberators of the commonwealth.

• Eighth Philippic §5 Decimus Brutus

  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins, governor of Cisalpine Gaul and consul-designate for 42 BC; he was besieged by Antony at Mutina (Modena). Not to be confused with Marcus Brutus the Liberator.