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Brutus: Patriot or Traitor? by Hanuman

Hanuman Durina

Honors English 2B

May 25, 2014

Brutus, the Back-stabber

When white abolitionist John Brown and his followers planned to raid the armory at Harper’s Ferry in 1859, he knew they would be committing treason. He did it anyway, because he felt so strongly that his cause, the abolition of slavery, was just, that he felt that any action he took would be morally justified. In the same way, Brutus justified his role in the assassination of Julius Caesar by arguing that his only goal was to stop Rome’s advance towards imperial rule. Justifying the means to an end is all Brutus is really doing, and as an honorable man, he had to ignore his conscience so as to carry out the heinous crime of stabbing Caesar. Some may argue that Brutus was just doing as he was told by Cassius, the ringleader of the assassins, and that eliminating Caesar was the only way to stop Caesar from rising to power as the Emperor of Rome. However, an intelligent man like Brutus should have foreseen that Caesar’s death alone would not stop the fall of the Roman Republic, as many powerful men besides Caesar desired to become the sole controller of Rome. Brutus proposes his solution to the Caesar problem when he says to himself: “And that craves wary walking. Crown him? And then, I grant, we put a sting in him.“ But this only solves the immediate problem, rather than actually preventing Rome from becoming an Empire. He also should have seen that envious Cassius’s intentions were not pure and been more wary of his counsel. Despite the friendship they shared, Brutus was willing to kill Caesar with no regard for his life or the lives of his family, showing that he betrayed both Caesar and himself by falling prey to the flattering and false words of the conspirators, especially Cassius.

Brutus was an honorable man, and so most people throughout time have believed his claim that his motive was never to hurt Caesar, but only to stop Rome from becoming an empire, a fate he thought so terrible that it justified killing his best friend. However, despite his intentions, Brutus didn’t stop Rome from becoming an empire, he just stopped Caesar from becoming emperor. This path ultimately led to a civil war between the triumvirate, and the eventual reign of an empire more dictatorial than any led by Caesar. Even if Caesar had been crowned, his rule would have been tempered by the Senators, many of whom opposed a strong central system. After Caesar’s death, though, the senators were powerless to restrain the Emperors. Even the citizens knew this to be true; as one said, “I fear there will a worse come in his place.” Another strong argument that can be made in Brutus’s defense is that Brutus was just following the orders he was given by Cassius and the other noble conspirators. Perhaps he let his trust in the Republic and its leaders cloud his judgment and prevent him from seeing Cassius’s greed, hate, and envy at Caesar’s rise to power. But the fact is, Brutus was not simply following orders; his actual role in the horrible act was one of a willing participant.  He was not a fool or a low-minded person, who blindly followed others. Rather, Brutus’s hero complex was the driving force behind the supposedly altruistic assassination. Only such a tragic flaw could inspire a great man to kill a dear friend over mere politics. Caesar clearly expected loyalty from his dear friend Brutus, and was saddened to find that he had taken the side of the murderous conspirators, as shown when Caesar said his famous line: “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar.”

Brutus killed Caesar. Like many of the killers and conspirators, he was a close friend of Caesar. Not only did he take part in the slaying, but he did it in an underhanded way, ganging up on him and stabbing him in the back. This is not the behavior of an “honorable man.” This one cowardly act led to the end of both Caesar’s and his own lives, along with Brutus’s wife. Many noblemen, conspirators and not, died in the ensuing battle, as did countless soldiers and innocent people like Cinna the poet, who was beaten just for sharing one of the conspirators’ name.  Moreover, his stated “reasons… of such good regard.” which even the son of Caesar should be “satisfied with”, were completely undermined by the outrage and strife resulting from Caesar’s bloody slaughter.  He listened to Cassius, and ignored the obvious personal envy and hatred in his words.  Cassius states in Act I, scene II,

“Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
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
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
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 colour fly,
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his lustre: I did hear him 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
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world
And bear the palm alone.

Why did the “noble” Brutus not hear the anger and desire for vengeance in Cassius’s words as you surely do? Caesar also noted the hatred of Cassius: “Let me have men about me that are fat;/ Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:/ Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;/ He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.” Cassius himself said if he were Brutus, he would not trust Cassius, and that is why he decided to throw the false letters of concern into Brutus’s house at night. Brutus should have been more wary of the counsel of such a snakelike man. He should have used his influence, which was said to be second only to Caesar’s, to lead the conspirators and others to find a less bloody and more reasonable long-term solution to the problems the republic was facing.

To this day, a back-stabber is a despised person. He is a liar, a coward, and a traitor. Of course, today we use the phrase only metaphorically. But Brutus, who “loved Caesar well” actually stabbed his friend in the back with a knife. Maybe, as Brutus believed, his reasons were good, and the act was justified. But if his actions were so well-reasoned, why did the plan backfire on him and the other conspirators? Influenced by Cassius’s flattery and caught up in the mob-mentality of the conspiracy, he committed a murder far beneath the honorable reputation he was so proud of. He spoke of his love for Rome: “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved/ Rome more.” But he is simply using the ends to justify the means. He is falsely claiming that because he loved Rome, the only choice he had was to kill Caesar. Was there no other option? Mark Anthony said it correctly when he called Brutus’s stabbing of Caesar “the unkindest cut of all,” because it caused not only physical pain, but also was a terrible betrayal of Caesar, a dear friend, and betrayal of Rome as well.

The Battle of the Alamo: a Research Paper by Vidura

The Battle of the Alamo

The Alamo was founded in 1718 as a Spanish mission called Francisco mission of San Antonio de Valero after that it was abandoned for about one hundred years before the battle of the Alamo, and right before that the Alamo was used by the Mexican army too as a base but was taken over and re-fortified by the Texans.

The Battle of the Alamo was caused by the revolution of Texas. The Texas revolution happened because Texas couldn’t gain statehood— its population was too low. Meanwhile, American settlers saw the good land and started moving into the Mexican-controlled territory. Because of this, the population of Texas increased drastically from 1823-1828. The Mexican government was not happy that the settlers were moving in because they could see that it was sparking a revolution. The Tejanos, on the other hand, were happy because they saw it as a chance for Texas to gain statehood. The Mexican government was angry, so to stop the revolution they made it so that no American settlers were allowed to enter the Mexican territory. That only made the settlers and Tejanos angrier, and that was the real reason for the Texas revolution. 

The battle of the Alamo lasted for many days and the number of people killed topped an astounding   1,800. The number of people injured were countless. All though we don’t know exactly how many people there where, we know that all of the 187 Texan defenders were killed, and in the fort only a few people such as slave and a woman with her child were spared. At the battle of the Alamo, the Texans did lose but they actually got more kills. But General Santa Anna fought hard to make sure all Texan troops were killed because he did not want one to be spared. He also did not want to keep any captives not even the Texan army generals (such as William Travis).  

David Crocket was a famous speaker, a congressman, and a very good hunter. He wanted move to Texas when he saw a nice plot of land, although his wife did not want to move and she thought that they were perfectly fine were they were. Later, when the Texas revolution started he and 12 of his men fought in it and died defending the Alamo from the Mexican troops. The reason he fought was because he could see that the Mexican government was being very unfair to the people living in Texas. David Crocket is now commonly known as Davy Crocket although back when he was still alive people always called him David, not Davy.

James Bowie was also a famous man even before the battle of the Alamo. His brother Reza Bowie invented the bowie knife which is still used today. James Bowie used the bowie knife while fighting at the Alamo and the other Texas volunteers used similar knifes. James Bowie spent most of his time growing up in Louisiana although he was born in Kentucky. He moved to Texas in 1830 were he married the vice governor’s daughter Ursula Veramendi. He was a nineteenth century, smuggler, pioneer, slave trader, soldier, and speculator.

Unlike David Crocket and James Bowie, William Travis was really famous before he dies at the Alamo. William Travis went to Sparta academy were he learned subjects such as Greek, Latin, History, and Mathematics. After his education was finished at the age of 18, he became an assistant teacher at Monroe County were fell in love with Rosanna Cato. William and Rosanna married in October 1828. Just a year after their marriage Rosanna gave birth to their first son Charlie. He took charge of the defenders of the Alamo when Colonel James Neill had to leave due to sickness in his family.

The defenders of the Alamo were mostly American settlers who moved to Texas and didn’t think the Mexican government was doing a good job ruling over the Texas province. The Alamo defenders were besieged for about thirteen days starting in late-February and ending in early march. On one of the walls, there were cut down trees and an armored deck with cannons. The defenders dropped loads like stones on the attackers below. One of the main defenses of the Alamo were the heavy cannons. The defenders also had ditches on many of the walls where the defenders could lay on their stomachs and shoot at the Mexicans.

General Santa Anna was also not just a general but the president of Mexico too. General Santa Anna had almost 2,400 troops in San Antonio, although more were also coming. One tactic the Mexican soldiers used was put ladders up to the walls; this meant that the front row of defenders would die. The reason so many Mexican troops died was because Santa Anna was careless. One time when the Mexican officers protested against the ladder tactic because it would lose too many men, he held up a piece of chicken that he was in the middle of eating and said: “What are the lives of soldiers more than so many chickens? I tell you, the Alamo must fall, and my orders must be obeyed at all hazards. If our soldiers are driven back, the next line in their rear must force those before them forward, and compel them to scale the walls, cost what it may (Walker, 47).”          

Children and women were also in the Alamo, so because the Mexican government didn’t want everyone to think they were careless, they had to be careful not to kill children and mothers who were civilians and didn’t pose any threat upon the Mexican government. The battle of the Alamo had many effects. First of all, it gave people something to fight for. At later battles, people were heard screaming, “REMEMBER THE ALAMO!” and having so much courage that they could destroy enemy lines easily. Because of this battle cry, the Texans were able to win battles easily.          

    At the battle of the Alamo, the Mexican army suffered over 600 hundred Casualties and all 187 Texan defenders were killed. That means that if there were the same amount of Texans as there were Mexican soldiers, the Texans would have won the battle of the Alamo which would have made it even more famous than it is today. The battle of the Alamo made its defenders into martyrs and heroes. The famous men Davy Crockett, William Travis, and James Bowie were among them. Texans could also have more to fight for then they did before.

  

Works Cited

Alphin, Elaine M, and Tim Parlin. Davy Crockett. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co, 2003. Print.

Connor, Seymour V. "Alamo, The." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.

The Official Alamo Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.

Riehecky, Janet. The Siege of the Alamo. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2002. Print.

Walker, Paul R. Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans Tell Their Stories. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2007. Print.