# Coincidences between Brutus and Booth. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535 "2010-02-11T06:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/1 "2010-02-11T06:58:32Z")
As I am sure I have made clear by now on these boards, I am drawn to coincidences. Some are quite striking, I think. And yes, some are downright silly. So not to leave the topic undone, I have decided to start a new thread on any and all coincidences between Brutus, assassin of (Gaius) Julius Caesar (100-44BC) and John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Pres. Abraham Lincoln. Marcus Junius Brutus lived c. 85-42BC. John Wilkes Booth lived 1838-65. FYI, Abraham Lincoln lived 1809-65. To start things off, I can think of a couple of coincidences. They both killed beloved leaders. And oddly, Booth’s father’s name was Junius Brutus Booth. He lived 1796-1852. He was born in England. Yeah, I guess my reason for finding coincidences betw. these two men is twofold. One, as I’ve said, I love coincidences. And two, I guess I am looking for evidence to put my mind at ease that coincidences can in fact be found almost anywhere, if you look for it. Please feel free to add coincidences no matter how mundane or (as I’ve said) silly. I would like some more striking ones too, of course. Also, I may share these coincidences elsewhere on the internet. Is this okay (mods?)? Thank you in advance to all who reply:) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/2 "2010-02-11T07:26:04Z")
Well, first off, Booth was an actor, Brutus is most famous as a character in a play. Also, Lincoln and Caesar both fought civil wars. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/3 "2010-02-11T08:36:36Z")
Brutus’ mother Servilia was the mistress of Julius Caesar. Booth’s mother Mary Ann was the mistress of his father, Junius Brutus Booth. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/4 "2010-02-11T08:46:38Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Well, first off, Booth was an actor, Brutus is most famous as a character in a play. And Lincoln was shot while he was _watching_ a play . . . [Keanu Reeves] whoa . . . [/KR] And immediately after Brutus and Booth finished the deed, they may have said something in Latin . . . ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/5 "2010-02-11T09:28:38Z")
What about the coincidences between [Brutus and Bluto](http://www.everwonder.com/david/popeye/b&b.jpg) 🙂 Ok I just wanted to be the first to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/6 "2010-02-11T12:55:25Z")
Brutus did not assassinate Caesar on his own, he conspired to have him murdered. Tillius Cimber was the conspirator who led the attack, and Servilius Casca made the first strike against Caesar. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/7 "2010-02-11T13:48:49Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also, I may share these coincidences elsewhere on the internet. Is this okay (mods?)? [mod hat on] Posts made to the SDMB are copyrighted by the owners of the Straight Dope and by their original authors. You may not copy posts from the SDMB without permission. The _information_ contained in those posts is not, and cannot be, copyrighted. Do your own verification of the facts. Add some research of your own. Phrase things in your own words (not the words of the other posters here), and you’ll be just fine. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/8 "2010-02-11T14:52:27Z")
According to Wikipedia, Booth played Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius caesar, and said it was his favorite role. The line “Sic Semper tyrannus” that he spoke after doing the deed was supposedly a quote from Brutus. Both men brandished knives – although Booth shot Lincoln he stabbed another member of Lincoln’s party. Both assassinations were committed indoors, unlike the majority of assassinations and attempts. And both men have been rumored to have been injured during their respective attacks, although evidence of this is unclear in both cases. (Booth may have been hurt later that evening.) ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/9 "2010-02-11T15:03:47Z")
Both Booth and Brutus begin with B. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/10 "2010-02-11T16:09:48Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Booth played Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius caesar, and said it was his favorite role. The line “Sic Semper tyrannus” Sic semper tyrann **i** s, with the “i.” “Thus always to tyrants,” if memory serves. It’s the state motto of Virginia since 1776, which is morbidly funny if you remember Virginia was a slave state. Wikipedia says Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt with this motto when he was arrested. I presume the OP is based on the infamous “Lincoln and Kennedy Coincidences” urban legend. [See Snopes for an analysis](http://www.snopes.com/history/american/lincoln-kennedy.asp). If you want to parody it, one thing you can do is just outright lie; the Lincoln/Kennedy tale contains numerous total fabrications. For one egregious example, it refers to “Lincoln’s secretary Kennedy.” Not only did Lincoln **not** have a secretary named Kennedy (Hay and Nicolay were his two main secretaries), but Lincoln is perhaps the most extensively-written-about American, and until someone wanted to make this false coincidence claim, there’s never been any suggestion or association that someone named Kennedy was in his administration or the White House of the day. It’s like saying “and Lincoln’s doorman was a Martian” in terms of introducing a complete fabrication into a very-well-known set of circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/11 "2010-02-11T18:15:24Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Both Booth and Brutus begin with B. > > That’s all I got. If you convert the names ‘Booth’ and ‘Brutus’ into numeric values (A=1, B=2, etc.) then convert each value into binary, they both consist exclusively of the digits ‘1’ and ‘0’. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/12 "2010-02-12T17:30:40Z")
Brutus’ neighbor Boothius warned him not to go to Rome (Italy) to kill Caesar. Booth’s neighbor Brutus warned him not to go to Rome (New York) to kill Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/13 "2010-02-12T17:45:29Z")
I’ve been thinking about this-if they ever update Dante’s Divine Comedy I expect John Wilkes Booth to be in the deepest level of Hell along with Brutus and Judas. Booth is the only assassin in recent times that is comparable to Brutus and Judas. Also there are some Booth and Judas parallels. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/14 "2010-02-13T07:28:14Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > What about the coincidences between [Brutus and Bluto](http://www.everwonder.com/david/popeye/b&b.jpg) > > 🙂 Ok I just wanted to be the first to say it. Ya beat me to it. . ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/15 "2010-02-13T08:58:17Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Booth is the only assassin in recent times that is comparable to Brutus and Judas. But Judas (assuming he existed) was not an assassin. Closest description would probably be _police informant_. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coincidences-between-brutus-and-booth/528535/16 "2010-02-14T01:51:33Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > But Judas (assuming he existed) was not an assassin. Closest description would probably be _police informant_. Well Dante compares Brutus and Judas in his work.