Did Caesar Really Say 'Et Tu, Brute?'
The short answer, the myth, and what Suetonius and Plutarch actually record about Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE
No. The Latin line "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?") was written by William Shakespeare for his 1599 play Julius Caesar — it does not appear in any ancient Roman source. It is a piece of stagecraft, not a historical record of Caesar's last words.
The two ancient biographers who describe the assassination of 15 March (the Ides of March) 44 BCE do not agree with each other or with Shakespeare. Suetonius, writing about 150 years later, reports that some sources say Caesar said nothing as he was stabbed, while others claim that when he saw Marcus Brutus coming at him he said, in Greek, "kai su, teknon" ("you too, child" or "you too, my son"). Plutarch, writing around the same period, says Caesar tried to fight off his attackers but, on seeing Brutus among them, gave up resisting, pulled his toga over his head, and said nothing further. Neither ancient account has Caesar speaking Latin to Brutus, and neither uses the words "Et tu, Brute."
Myth vs. record
Myth: Caesar's last words, spoken directly to Brutus, were the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" Record: this exact Latin line has no ancient source. It was popularized by Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599), Act 3, Scene 1, and it built on an earlier, similar English line ("Et tu, Brute") that had already appeared in older, now-lost or obscure Elizabethan plays about Caesar — Shakespeare did not invent the idea from nothing, but he is the reason the phrase became immortal.
Myth: all ancient writers agree on what Caesar said. Record: they don't. Suetonius (Life of the Deified Julius, written c. 121 CE) gives two competing traditions — one in which Caesar said nothing at all while being stabbed, and another in which he addressed Brutus in Greek with the words "kai su, teknon" (καὶ σύ, τέκνον), usually translated "you too, child" or "you too, my son." Suetonius does not endorse either version as definitely true; he reports both as things that were said to have happened.
Myth: Caesar fought back until the end. Record: Plutarch (Life of Caesar, written c. 110s CE) reports that Caesar initially resisted, parrying blows and shouting, but that when he saw Brutus among the conspirators with a drawn dagger, he stopped fighting, covered his head with his toga, and let himself be struck down — dying, in Plutarch's account, in silence. Plutarch does not report the Greek phrase at all.
What historians debate
Whether Caesar said anything at all in his final moments cannot be established with certainty — no eyewitness account survives, and both Suetonius and Plutarch were writing roughly 150–160 years after the fact, drawing on earlier, now-lost histories and oral tradition. Even the Greek line "kai su, teknon" is ambiguous: some historians read "teknon" (child/son) as evidence for a persistent rumor that Brutus was Caesar's illegitimate son (his mother Servilia was one of Caesar's mistresses), while others read it as a more general, even ironic or threatening address — closer to "you too, boy" — rather than a literal claim of paternity. Modern historians broadly agree on two points: the ancient tradition is divided and secondhand, and the specific Latin words "Et tu, Brute" are a later literary invention, not a translation of anything in Suetonius or Plutarch.
How the phrase entered popular memory
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, first performed around 1599, dramatizes the assassination with Caesar's dying line "Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!" immediately followed by his death. The play was enormously popular and widely read in English-language schools for centuries, and the four-word phrase proved memorable enough to escape the theater entirely — it now functions as a stock English idiom for any betrayal by a trusted friend or ally, quoted in politics, business, and everyday speech by people who have never read the play or any Roman history. That afterlife is what cemented the myth: because the line is so quotable and so widely taught as Caesar's 'famous last words,' many readers assume it is a translation of an ancient source rather than a 16th-century English playwright's invention.
Frequently asked questions
Did Julius Caesar really say 'Et tu, Brute?'
No. That exact Latin phrase appears nowhere in any ancient Roman source. It was written by William Shakespeare for his play Julius Caesar (c. 1599). The two ancient biographers of Caesar, Suetonius and Plutarch, give different and non-Latin accounts of his final moments.
What does Suetonius say Caesar's last words were?
Suetonius (writing c. 121 CE) reports two competing traditions: some sources said Caesar spoke no words at all while being stabbed, while others said that on seeing Brutus attacking him, he said in Greek, 'kai su, teknon' (καὶ σύ, τέκνον) — 'you too, child' or 'you too, my son.' Suetonius presents both versions without declaring one definitively true.
What does Plutarch say happened when Caesar saw Brutus?
Plutarch (writing c. 110s CE) says Caesar fought back against his attackers until he saw Brutus among them with a dagger drawn. At that point Caesar stopped resisting, pulled his toga over his head to cover his face, and said nothing more as he was killed.
Where does the phrase 'Et tu, Brute' come from if not from Rome?
It comes from English Renaissance drama, most famously William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (c. 1599), where Caesar's dying line is 'Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!' Shakespeare was likely drawing on an earlier English theatrical tradition about Caesar's assassination rather than any Latin or Greek historical source.
What does the Greek phrase 'kai su, teknon' mean, and was Brutus Caesar's son?
Literally 'you too, child' or 'you too, my son.' Some historians connect it to persistent rumors that Brutus was Caesar's illegitimate son, since Caesar had a long affair with Brutus's mother, Servilia — but this is speculative and disputed. Other historians read the phrase more generally, as an address to a much younger man, without a literal claim of paternity. It is not established fact either way.
Explore related events on the timeline
- Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon and the fall of the Republic
- Augustus and the rise of the Roman Empire after Caesar's death
Related guides
Sources consulted
- Suetonius, Life of the Deified Julius, ch. 82 (Caesar's assassination) — LacusCurtius / Loeb
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar, ch. 66 (Caesar's assassination) — Perseus Digital Library
Researched with AI and verified against mainstream scholarship and the cited sources on this page. See our methodology and corrections policy.