[499] This passage is obscure in the original. The parentage of M. Junius Brutus, the father of this Brutus, does not appear to be ascertained.
[500] See the Life of Lucullus, c. 42.
[501] See the Life of Cicero, c. 4. Cicero mentions Ariston, which is probably the true name, in his Tusculanæ Quæstiones, v. 8.
[502] Nothing more is known of him.
[503] The original is obscure. See Sintenis, note; and Schæfer, note. Kaltwasser follows the reading πρὸς τὰς ἐξόδους, which he translates “für den Kriegsdienst.”
[504] See the Life of the Younger Cato, c. 35, &c.
[505] Coræs explains the original (σχολαστὴς) to mean “one who is engaged about learning and philosophy.”
[506] The father of this Brutus was of the faction of Marius, and tribunus plebis B.C. 83. After Sulla’s return he lost all power, and after Sulla’s death Pompeius (B.C. 77) marched against Brutus, who shut himself up in Mutina (Modena). A mutiny among his troops compelled him to open the gates, and Pompeius ordered him to be put to death, contrary to the promise which he had given (Life of Pompeius, c. 16).
The allusion at the beginning of this chapter is to the outbreak between Pompeius and Cæsar, B.C. 49.
[507] P. Sextius was governor of Cilicia. In the text of Plutarch Sicilia stands erroneously in place of Cilicia: this is probably an error of the copyists, who often confound these names (see Life of Pompeius, c. 61; Cicero, Ad Attic. viii. 14; ix. 7).