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Brutus:*
Brutus had once been close to Caesar but eventually came to oppose him and allied with the Optimates led by Pompey the Great. Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC; Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty. Tensions remained however due to Caesar's increasingly monarchical behaviour. Several senators, calling themselves "Liberators" plotted to assassinate him & recruited Brutus, who took a leading role in the plot (March 15, 44 B.C. the Ides of March). The Senate, at the request of the Consul Mark Antony, granted amnesty to the assassins but a populist uprising forced Brutus to leave Rome. In 43 B.C., Caesar's grandnephew, Consul Octavian, passed a resolution declaring the conspirators, including Brutus, to be murderers. This led to civil war, pitting the supporters of Caesar (the Second Triumvirate) against those who opposed Caesar. Octavian with Antony decisively defeated Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, after which Brutus committed suicide.