Caesar’s death is depicted in a piece painted by Vincenzo Camuccini in 1805 and 1806. Capodimonte Museum, Naples
(SCALA, FLORENCE)IN THE CURIA OF POMPEY , where the Senate met on the ides of March, Julius Caesar’s assassins had already surrounded and wounded him when he saw Brutus approach, brandishing a dagger. Perhaps that was the moment when Caesar abandoned all resistance and covered his face with his toga.
Shakespeare put three memorable words in the dictator’s mouth: “Et tu, Brute?—You too, Brutus?” However, the phrase is a Renaissance invention. Suetonius and Cassius Dio (neither of whom were contemporaries) are the only writers who, without giving it credibility, reported the claim that Caesar said in Greek, “Kai su, teknon?—You too, my child?” This would have been an expression of bitter disappointment. But the attack was so swift that it is quite possible, as Suetonius also notes, that Caesar died without saying a word. ■