... of her courageous kings, Brute Green-Shield, to whose name we providence impute Divinely to revive the land’s first conqueror, Brute.  Drayton, Polyolbion, viii. (1612).

BRUTUS (Lucius Junius), first consul of Rome, who condemned his own two sons to death for joining a conspiracy to restore Tarquin to the throne, from which he had been banished.  This subject has been dramatized by N. Lee (1679) and John H. Payne, under the title of Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin (1820).  Alfieri has an Italian tragedy on the same subject.  In French we have the tragedies of Arnault (1792) and Ponsard (1843). (See LUCRETIA.)

The elder Kean on one occasion consented to appear at the Glasgow theatre for his son’s benefit.  The play chosen was Payne’s Brutus, in which the father took the part of “Brutus” and Charles Kean that of “Titus.”  The audience sat suffused in tears during the pathetic interview, till “Brutus” falls on the neck of “Titus,” exclaiming in a burst of agony, “Embrace thy wretched father!” when the whole house broke forth into peals of approbation.  Edmund Kean then whispered in his son’s ear, “Charlie, we are doing the trick.”—­W.  C. Russell, Representative Actors, p. 476.

Junius Brutus.  So James Lynch Fitz-Stephen has been called, because (like the first consul of Rome) he condemned his own son to death for murder, and to prevent a rescue caused him to be executed from the window of his own house in Galway (1493).

The Spanish Brutus, Alfonso Perez de Gruzman, governor of Tarifa in 1293.  Here he was besieged by the infant don Juan, who had revolted against his brother, king Sancho IV., and having Guzman’s son in his power threatened to kill him unless Tarifa was given up to him.  Guzman replied, “Sooner than be guilty of such treason I will lend Juan a dagger to slay my son;” and so saying tossed his dagger over the wall.  Sad to say, Juan took the dagger, and assassinated the young man there and then (1258-1309).

Brutus (Marcus), said to be the son of Julius Caesar by Servilia.

  Brutus’ bastard hand
  Stabb’d Julius Caesar. 
  Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act iv. sc. 1 (1591).

This Brutus is introduced by Shakespeare in his tragedy of Julius Caesar, and the poet endows him with every quality of a true patriot.  He loved Caesar much, but he loved Rome more.

Brutus.  Et tu, Brute.  Shakespeare, on the authority of Suetonius, puts these words into the mouth of Caesar when Brutus stabbed him.  Shakespeare’s drama was written in 1607, and probably he had seen The True Tragedy of Richard duke of York (1600), where these words occur; but even before that date H. Stephens had said: 

Jule Cesar, quand il vit que Brutus aussi estoit de ceux qui luy tirient des coups d’espee, luy dit, Kai sy tecnon? c’est a dire....  Et toy mon fils, en es tu aussi.—­Deux Dial. du Noveau Lang.  Franc (1583).