Was Caesar the Father of Brutus?
Was Caesar the Father of Brutus?Answer: Caesar went out of his way for Marcus Junius Brutus (aka Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus), sparing Brutus after he had stood against Caesar and with his rival Pompey at Pharsalus, and then choosing him as praetor for 44. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Caesar resolves to die only when he sees that even Brutus is against him. One explanation for this preferential behavior is that Caesar might have been Brutus’ father. Caesar had a passionate and long-term affair with the mother of Brutus, Servilia, the half-sister of Cato, conservative senator and bitter personal enemy of Caesar. [See “Political Alliance by Marriage,” by Franklin H. Potter. The Classical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 9. (Jun., 1934), pp. 663-674.] Could Caesar have sired a son during the affair? Possibly. It is objected that Caesar would have only been 15 at the time, although this hardly precludes the possibility. Still the consensus is that it is unlikely that Caesar was Brutus’ father.
