''Et tu, Brute?'' () is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase literally meaning "and you, Brutus?" or "also you, Brutus?", often translated as "You as well, Brutus?", "You too, Brutus?", or "Even you, Brutus?". The quote appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

'', where it is spoken by the

Roman dictator A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, con ...

, at the moment of his assassination, to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus, upon recognizing him as one of the assassins. The first known occurrences of the phrase are said to be in two earlier Elizabethan plays; ''

Henry VI, Part 3 ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas '' 1 Henry VI'' deals with the loss of Eng ...

'' by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, and an even earlier play, ''

Caesar Interfectus Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

'', by

Richard Edes Richard Edes (or Eedes) (1555–1604) was an English churchman. He became Dean of Worcester, and was nominated one of the translators for the Authorised King James Version, in the Second Oxford Company, but died in the earliest stages of the pro ...

. The phrase is often used apart from the plays to signify an unexpected betrayal by a friend. There is no evidence that the historical Caesar spoke these words. Though the historical Caesar's last words are not known with certainty, the Roman historian Suetonius, a century and a half after the incident, claims Caesar said nothing as he died, but that others reported that Caesar's last words were the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

phrase

Kai su, teknon The last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar are disputed. Ancient chroniclers reported a variety of phrases and post-classical writers have elaborated on the phrases and their interpretation. The two most common theories – prevalent as ea ...

(Και συ τέκνον), which means "You too, child" or "You too, young man" to Brutus. Contrary to popular belief, the words are not Caesar's last in the play, as he says "Then fall Caesar!" right after.

Etymology

The name ''Brutus'', a

second declension The second declension is a category of nouns in Latin and Greek with similar case formation. In particular, these nouns are thematic, with an original ''o'' in most of their forms. In Classical Latin, the short ''o'' of the nominative and accusativ ...

masculine noun, appears in the phrase in the

vocative case In grammar, the vocative case ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and nume ...

, and so the ''-us'' ending of the

nominative case In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...

is replaced by ''-e''.

Context

On March 15 (the

Ides of March The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...

), 44 BC, the historic Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

, who was Caesar's friend and protégé. Caesar initially resisted his attackers, but when he saw Brutus, he reportedly responded as he died. Suetonius mentions the quote merely as a rumor, as does

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

who also reports that Caesar said nothing, but merely pulled his

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators. Caesar saying ''Et tu, Brute?'' in Shakespeare's play ''

'' (1599) was not the first time the phrase was used in a dramatic play.

Edmond Malone Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare. Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first p ...

claimed that it appeared in a work that has since been lost—

's Latin play ''Caesar Interfectus'' of 1582. The phrase had also occurred in another play by Shakespeare, ''The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke, and the death of good King Henrie the Sixth, with the Whole Contention betweene the two Houses Lancaster and Yorke'' of 1595, which is the earliest printed version of ''

''.

Interpretation

It has been argued that the phrase can be interpreted as a curse or warning. One theory states that the historic Caesar adapted the words of a Greek sentence which to the Romans had long since become proverbial: The complete phrase is said to have been "You too, my son, will have a taste of power", of which Caesar only needed to invoke the opening words to foreshadow Brutus' own violent death, in response to his assassination.Woodman, A. J. The Annals of Tacitus: Books 5–6; Volume 55 of Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries. Cambridge University Press, 2016. . The poem ''Satires; Book I, Satire 7'' by Horace, written approximately 30 BC, mentions Brutus and his tyrannicide; in discussing that poem, author John Henderson considers that the expression ''E-t t-u Br-u-t-e'', (as he hyphenates it), can be interpreted as a complaint containing a "suggestion of mimetic compulsion".

References

External links

Et tu, Brute?
on Merriam-Webster {{DEFAULTSORT:Et Tu, Brute? Julius Caesar (play) Latin quotations Shakespearean phrases 16th-century neologisms

Etymology

Context

Interpretation

See also

References

External links