Brutus: The Noble Conspirator by Kathryn Tempest (review)

Writing biography is a tricky business, especially when the subject has been dead for more than two millennia and left few direct traces in the historical record. The task is even more daunting when the subject has taken on a rich afterlife, being remembered and re-imagined over generations. How can we know such a person? How are we to uncover motivations as well as actions? Tempest navigates this treacherous path with great skill as she produces an insightful account of the life and legacy of Marcus Junius Brutus (c. 85–42 bc). Throughout, Tempest keeps the evidence front and center, critically examining the sources and carefully distinguishing between contemporary accounts and later reflections that characterize the actions of Brutus in light of the interests of individual authors and the concerns of later times.

In some ways, Tempest's book takes the shape of a traditional biography, tracing the life of Brutus from birth to death, with a particular focus on the assassination of Julius Caesar and its aftermath. While reconstructing Brutus' life, however, Tempest aims at avoiding the mode of historical hindsight that has too often colored our judgment. Her approach is best illustrated in her close readings of the letters of Cicero and Brutus that reconstruct Brutus' thoughts and actions after the Ides of March. Here Tempest intentionally downplays the early role of Octavian by focusing exclusively on contemporary sources, revealing the uncertainty of the times and the complexity of Brutus' relationship with Cicero. After Cicero's death both the nature and the date of our sources change. Leaving behind contemporary accounts, in the writings of Plutarch, Appian, and Dio we can see the ways in which Brutus' actions are recast to serve the narrative direction of each author. This is made particularly evident in Appendix 2, where Tempest presents, side-by-side, the accounts of Plutarch, Appian and Dio for the events of 42 bc.

Complementing the ancient evidence for Brutus' life, Tempest draws upon the most recent scholarship to situate Brutus within the changing political culture of his day. We come to understand Brutus' actions as the individual choices of a man faced with particular circumstances; yet Brutus can also serve as an example of a young Roman aristocrat faced with the erosion of the political system upon which his status and identity depended. The subtitle of the book, "The Noble Conspirator," points to this theme, and Tempest offers a clear and compelling narrative of the upheaval of Republican political culture in the first century. Where sources for Brutus himself are lacking, and this is particularly the case for Brutus' early years, our rich knowledge of contemporary society, morals, and values provides a context for understanding him. Furthermore, by grounding her study in this material, Tempest has ensured that her book will be accessible to a wide audience, from the informed general reader and advanced undergraduate to specialist scholars.

Tempest does not aim to present a definitive narrative of Brutus' life. Indeed, such a narrative would be impossible, as Tempest notes at the conclusion of the book that "even to those who knew him in life, Brutus was an enigma" (237). Instead, Tempest carefully presents what we know about Brutus from contemporary sources, what later Greek and Roman writers had to say about Brutus, and the diversity of views of Brutus in the post-Classical tradition that range from characterizing him as the greatest of sinners (in Dante's Inferno, where Brutus shares the lowest circle of hell with Cassius and Judas Iscariot) to "the noblest Roman of them all" (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 5.5.69).

For the clarity of her narrative, transparent use of sources, and up-to-date bibliography, Tempest's book should be the starting point for any future work. More than this, Tempest has provided a model for a different type of biography of ancient figures, one that reaches conclusions with great caution, strives to avoid anachronism and historical hindsight, and acknowledges the...