After his defeat at the second battle of Philippi, Marcus Junius Brutus, a key conspirator in Julius Caesar’s assassination, takes his own life.
Believing he was aiding in the restoration of the Roman Republic, Brutus joined forces with Gaius Cassius Longinus two years prior in the conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar. However, the assassination led to a new wave of civil wars in Rome, with Republican forces led by Brutus and Cassius contesting against Octavian and Mark Antony. Following a defeat by Antony at a battle in Philippi, Greece, in October 42 B.C., Cassius committed suicide. Subsequently, on October 23, Brutus’ forces were defeated by Octavian and Antony in the second battle at Philippi, prompting Brutus to end his life.
Soon after, Antony and Octavian turned upon each other, culminating in the loss of the Roman Republic in 27 B.C., when Octavian rose to power as Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome.
