[101.10] ‘son-in-law.’
[101.11] On this day the consuls went out of office.
[101.12] ‘wondrous.’
[101.13] causal subjunctive.
[Text-only version] [XXIX.] Mārcus Brūtus
M. Brūtus, ex illā gente, quae Rōmā Tarquiniōs
ēiēcerat, oriundus,[1] Athēnīs philosophiam,
Rhodī ēloquentiam didicit. Ēius pater, quī Sullae
partibus adversābātur, iussū Pompēī interfectus
[5] erat, unde Brūtus cum eō gravēs gesserat[2]
simultātēs. Bellō tamen cīvīlī Pompēī causam,
quod iūstior vidērētur, secūtus dolōrem suum reī
pūblicae ūtilitātī posthabuit. Victō Pompēiō
Brūtus ā Caesare servātus est et praetor etiam
[10] factus. Posteā vērō, cum Caesar superbiā ēlātus senātum
contemnere et rēgnum adfectāre[3] coepisset, populus, praesentī statū
haud laetus, vindicem[4] lībērtātis requīrēbat. Subscrīpsēre quīdam
L. Brūtī[5] statuae: “Utinam[6] vīverēs!” Item ipsīus Caesaris
statuae: “Brūtus, quia rēgēs ēiēcit, prīmus cōnsul factus
[15] est; hīc, quia cōnsulēs ēiēcit, postrēmō rēx factus est.” Īnscrīptum
quoque est M. Brūtī praetōris tribūnālī: “Dormīs,[7] Brūte!”
Cōgnitā populī Rōmānī voluntāte, Brūtus adversus Caesarem
cōnspīrāvit. Prīdiē quam Caesar est occīsus, Porcia, Brūtī uxor,
Catōnis fīlia, cōnsiliī[8] cōnscia, ēgressō cubiculum[9] Brūtō,
[20] cultellum[10] tōnsōrium quasi unguium[11] resecandōrum causā popōscit
eōque velut forte ēlāpsō sē vulnerāvit. Clāmōre deinde ancillārum[12]
in cubiculum revocātus obiūrgāre[13] eam coepit, quod tōnsōris
praeripuisset officium. Cuī sēcrētō Porcia “Nōn est” inquit
“hōc temerārium[14] factum meum, sed in tālī statū nostrō meī
[25] ergā tē amōris certissimum indicium. Experīrī enim voluī, sī[15]
tibi prōpositum ex sententiā parum cessisset, quam aequō animō
mē ferrō essem interēmptūra.” Quibus verbīs audītīs Brūtus ad
caelum manūs et oculōs sustulisse dīcitur et exclāmāvisse: “Utinam
dīgnus tālī cōniuge marītus vidērī possem!”
[30] Interfectō Caesare, cum Antōnius vestem ēius sanguinolentam[1]
ostentāns populum velutī furōre quōdam adversus coniūrātōs
īnflammāsset, Brūtus in Macedoniam concessit ibique apud urbem
Philippōs adversus Antōnium et Octāviānum dīmicāvit. Victus
aciē, cum in tumulum[2] sē nocte recēpisset, audītā Cassiī morte,
[35] nē in hostium manūs venīret, ūnī ex comitibus latus trānsfodiendum
praebuit. Antōnius Brūtī corpus lībertō suō sepeliendum[3]
trādidit, quōque[4] honōrātius cremārētur, inicī eī suum
palūdāmentum[5] iussit, iacentem[6] nōn hostem, sed cīvem dēpositō
exīstimāns odiō. Cumque interceptum ā lībertō palūdāmentum
[40] comperisset, īrā percitus[7] prōtinus in eum animadvertit, praefātus:
“Quid? tū īgnōrāstī cūius tibi virī sepultūram commīsissem?”
Nōn eadem fuit Octāviānī ergā Brūtum moderātiō, is
enim āvulsum[8] Brūtī caput Rōmam mīsit, ut Gāī Caesaris
statuae subicerētur. Porcia cum victum et interēmptum virum suum
[45] cōgnōvisset, quia ferrum nōn dabātur, ārdentēs ōre carbōnes[9]
hausit, virīlem patris[10] exitum mulier[11] imitāta novō mortis
genere.
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