Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus ( born April 27 , " ca . " 85 – 81 BC , died 43 BC ) was a Roman politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar ' s assassination . Decimus Brutus is not to be confused with the more famous Brutus among the conspirators , Marcus Brutus . Life . Early life . Decimus Brutus was a distant cousin of Julius Caesar , and on several occasions Caesar expressed how he loved Brutus like a son . Ronald Syme argued that if a Brutus was the natural son of Caesar , Decimus was more likely than Marcus ( another distant cousin ) . Decimus was named an heir in the second degree in Caesar ' s will . Decimus Brutus spent his youth mainly in the company of Publius Clodius , Gaius Curio and Mark Antony . His mother was Sempronia Tuditani , wife of Decimus Junius Brutus who was consul in 77 BC . He was adopted by Aulus Postumius Albinus , but kept his own family name , only adding his adoptive father ' s " cognomen " Albinus . During the Wars . He was a legate in Caesar ' s army during the Gallic wars and was given the command of the fleet in the war against the Veneti . In a decisive sea battle Decimus Brutus succeeded in destroying the Veneti fleet . Using sickle - like hooks fitted on long poles , Decimus Brutus attacked the enemy ' s sails , leaving them immobilized and easy prey to Roman boarding parties . When the Republican Civil War broke out , Decimus Brutus sided with his commander , Caesar , and was entrusted once again with fleet operations . The Greek city of Massilia ( present - day Marseille ) sided with Pompey the Great , and Caesar , in a hurry to reach Hispania and cut Pompey off from his legions , left Decimus Brutus in charge of the naval blockade of Massilia . Within thirty days , Decimus Brutus built a fleet from scratch and secured the capitulation of Massilia . Ides of March . When Caesar returned to Rome as dictator after the final defeat of the Republican faction in the Battle of Munda ( 45 BC ) , Marcus Brutus joined the conspiracy against Caesar , after being convinced by Cassius and Decimus Brutus . In 44 BC , he was made ( Decimus ) praetor peregrinus by personal appointment of Caesar and was destined to be the governor of Cisalpine Gaul in the following year . On the Ides of March ( March 15 ) , when Caesar decided not to attend the Senate meeting due to the concerns of his wife , he was persuaded to attend by Decimus Brutus , who escorted him to the senate house , and neatly evaded Mark Antony , who wished to tell Caesar of the assassination plot . After Caesar was attacked by the first assassin , Decimus and the rest of the conspirators attacked and assassinated him . According to Nicolaus of Damascus , Decimus Brutus was the third to strike Caesar , stabbing him in the side . Consequences and Death . The assassins received an amnesty the next day , issued by the senate at the instigation of Mark Antony , Caesar ' s fellow consul . But the situation was not peaceful , Rome ' s population and Caesar ' s legionaries wanted to see the conspirators punished . The group decided to lie low and Decimus used his office of Praetor Peregrinus to stay away from Rome . The climate of reconciliation soon passed and slowly the conspirators were starting to feel the strain of the assassination . Thus , at the beginning of 43 BC , Decimus Brutus hurried to Gallia Cisalpina , the province assigned to him as pro - praetor , and started to levy his own troops . He was ordered by the Senate to surrender his province to Antony but refused . This was the act of provocation to which Antony was only too happy to respond . With his own political situation on the verge of disaster and himself declared public enemy , defeating Decimus Brutus was a way for Antony to regain his ascendancy and get control of the strategically important Italian Gaul . In 43 BC Decimus Brutus occupied Mutina , laying in provisions for a protracted siege . Antony obliged him , and blockaded Decimus Brutus ' forces , intent on starving them out . Nevertheless , the consuls of the year , Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus , marched northward to raise the siege . Guided by Cicero , the Senate was inclined to view Mark Antony as an enemy . Octavian , the nineteen - year - old heir of Caesar , and already raised to the rank of Propraetor , accompanied Gaius Pansa north . The first confrontation occurred on April 14 at the battle of Forum Gallorum , where Antony hoped to deal with his opponents piecemeal . Antony defeated the forces of Gaius Pansa and Octavian , which resulted in Pansa suffering mortal wounds ; however , Antony was then defeated by a surprise attack from Hirtius . A second battle on 21 April at Mutina resulted in a further defeat for Antony and Hirtius ' death . Antony withdrew , unwilling to become the subject of a double circumvallation as Caesar had done to Vercingetorix at Alesia . With the siege raised , Decimus Brutus cautiously thanked Octavian , now commander of the legions that had rescued him , from the other side of the river . Octavian coldly indicated he had come to oppose Antony , not aid Caesar ' s murderers . Decimus Brutus was given the command to wage war against Antony , but many of his soldiers deserted to Octavian . His position deteriorating by the day , Decimus Brutus fled Italy , abandoning his legions . He attempted to reach Macedonia , where Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus had stationed themselves but was executed en route by a Gallic chief loyal to Mark Antony , becoming the first of Caesar ' s assassins to be killed . Several letters written by Decimus Brutus during the last two years of his life are preserved among Cicero ' s collected correspondence . In literature . In Shakespeare ' s " Julius Caesar " , Decimus Brutus is mistakenly called " Decius " . In Allan Massie ' s 1993 book entitled " Caesar " , Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus narrates his story and reason for joining in Caesar ' s assassination while being held captive by the Gallic chief . Decimus Brutus is an important character in " Caesar " and " The October Horse " by Colleen McCullough . In these novels , he and Gaius Trebonius are portrayed as the real leaders of the assassination conspiracy . In Conn Iggulden ' s Emperor Series the historical figures of Decimus Brutus and Marcus Brutus are blended together into the one character named Marcus Brutus . In Ben Kane ' s books The Forgotten Legion , The Silver Eagle and Road To Rome , Decimus Brutus is shown as a fairly major character to the plot and the rest of the book as Fabiola ' s lover .