Marcus Junius Brutus: his life, times and writings

Over all his public life he is to be praised for his sincerity, his tenacity of purpose, his faithfulness to duty even unto death - a point which is frequently forgotten - his vigorous pursuit of an approved policy, his conscientious application of the highest moral principles, and his complete unselfishness. On the other scale are the slowness of his mind which made his decisions hard to come by, the stubborness that made him loth to admit his errors, the ignorance of the world immediately around him and of the men in it that vitiated all his expectations and underlying everything the fatal conservatism:of his thought.In considering the more private elements of his nature we must guard against being too much influenced by the details of Cicero's letters, which, however welcome they may be, present a picture which cannot avoid being one-sided. We see him there haughty and overbearing, conceited and thoughtless, frigid and unsociable. he was certainly all of these at one time or another towards Cicero; but there was much in the latter, especially his instability and flightiness, which Brutus despised and much, like his quick-wittedness and the modernity of his thought, which Brutus could not appreciate. The essential differences in their natures raised a barrier between them and like a true noble Brutus merely stood on his dignity when he failed to understand the sharp- minded parvenu, more intelligent than himself. When Brutus was most distant and aloof towards him, Cicero had mainly his own shameless flattery to thank. They were seldom on easy terms with each other and one thinks with no little pleasure of their meeting at Velia on August 17th 44 B.C., when for a short hour or two they achieved a true intimacy. With his other friends, of whom in his later life he had not a few, he was on better terms. his women -folks - mother, sisters, and wife - had obviously much affection for him, which they could hardly have felt for one so cold and dislikeable as he is so often, shown by Cicero. Indeed his marriage with Porcia, who was so like himself in many ways, is one of the more beautiful things in his life. Towards his other intimates he was kindly and considerate, ever ready to help even the humblest of them. although not jovial he was..not morose and was fond of those dinner parties where intelligent conversation was the most important item. It seems proper to end this study of him with the same thoughts which were his just before his death, Though far from being a social lion like Caesar, he attracted to himself a circle of friends whose loyalty was proof against all his vicissitudes. Their fidelity and his acknowledgement of it at his death form not only "the most attractive story that is told of Brutus" but also the highest compliment to his personal qualities