The Shakespearian macaronic line "Et Tu Brutè?" in the First Folio from 1623.
This 1888 painting by William Holmes Sullivan is named Et tu Brute and is located in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Photograph of the Mercury Theatre production of Caesar, the scene in which Julius Caesar (Joseph Holland, center) addresses the conspirators including Brutus (Orson Welles, left).
Et tu, Brute? (pronounced [ɛt ˈtuː ˈbruːtɛ]) is a Latin
phrase literally meaning 'and you, Brutus?' or 'also you, Brutus?',
often translated as 'You as well, Brutus?' or 'Even you, Brutus?'.
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 phrase καὶ σύ, τέκνον, which means 'You too, child?' or 'You too, young man?' to Brutus. Another commonly quoted variation of this Greek sentence in Latin is Tu quoque, Brute?
The quote is notable for its occurrence in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, where it is spoken by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus at the moment of Caesar's assassination. The first known occurrences of the phrase are said to be in two earlier Elizabethan plays; Henry VI, Part 3 by Shakespeare, and an even earlier play, Caesar Interfectus, by Richard Eedes. The phrase is often used apart from the plays to signify an unexpected betrayal by a friend.
Caesar utters these words in Act III, scene 1, as he is being
stabbed to death, having recognized his friend and protégé Brutus as one
of the assassins. However, there is no evidence that the historical
Caesar spoke these words. 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 masculine noun, appears in the phrase in the vocative case, and so the ‑us ending of the nominative case is replaced by ‑e.
Context
On March 15 (the Ides of March), 44 BC, the historic Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including Brutus,
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 who also reports that Caesar said nothing, but merely pulled his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators.
Caesar saying Et tu, Brute? in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (1599) was not the first time the phrase was used in a dramatic play. Edmond Malone claimed that it appeared in a work that has since been lost—Richard Eedes'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 Henry VI, Part 3.
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. 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".
