Throughout history Marcus Brutus has been blamed for the death of Caesar and ultimate downfall of Rome; upon taking a closer look Burtus is not entirely to blame. Brutuses actions were based only for good of Rome, and even then he was acting on the false letters that were sent to him by Cassius. It can also be said the Cassius was as much to blame as Brutus, after all he was the one sending the fake letters to him. But most unlikely of all people, it was Julius Caesar that caused his own death. Brutus was a loyal and trusted friend of Caesar’s and also one of the main players in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
He was also the only one of that bunch the was doing it for the good of Rome. The thought of the demise of Rome was so great, Burtus was willing to kill a friend for no personal reason; “I have no personal reason to spurn at him, but for the General” (II,i,10-14). He once compared him to a “serpent’s egg”(II,i,32) because the egg starts out harmless, but after time it hatches and eventually grows mischievous. In his eyes it was better to kill it in the egg before it could do any damage. On the other, hand Cassius only had one reason for killing Julius Caesar.
He was jealous and thought he was better than Caesar: For once upon a raw and gusty day, The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me “Darest thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point? ” Upon the word And bade him follow: so indeed he did. The torrent roared, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews, throwing it aside And stemming it with hearts of controversy. But ere we could arrive the point proposed Caesar cried “Help me, Cassius, or I sink! ” Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber Did I the tired Caesar.
And this man A wretched creature, and must bend his body If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. He had a fever when he was in Spain, And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did shake: ’tis true, this god did shake. His coward lips did from their fly, And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his luster: I did hear his groan; Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans Mark him and write his speeches in their books, Alas, it cried ” Give me some drink, Titinius,” As a sick girl. Ye gods! It doth amaze me, So get the start of the majestic world, and bear the palm alone. “(I,ii,100-132).
In actuality he paled in comparison to Caesar. Whenever things did not look his way, his solution was suicide(V,iii,46). He was so jealous of Caesar he even used the same sword that killed Caesar to kill himself. But it was infact Caesar himself that caused his own demise. He grew too powerful, and arrogant. He was too high and mighty to catch on to the plan. There were even people like Artemidorus that tried to warn him about his assassination (I,ii,23) (II,iiii,1-15). He was also very indecisive, for example he changed his mind three times when he was deciding whether to go to the Senate House.
In conclusion, it is not fair to put all the blame on Brutus(the only one with good intentions) because there were many others that played a part in the death of Julius Caesar. If any other person was put in Burtuses place, they would have done the same thing. The way it would have tuned out would have been different, because Brutus made many bad decisions (partly because he was not very political). There were also many other factors you have to add in. So one person, no matter who it is, could not be responsible. So, while history may blame Brutus, history is far from the truth.
