# etu brutus **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360 "2003-11-20T20:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/1 "2003-11-20T20:11:17Z")
Hi, I was just curious what “etu brutus?” means, or if someone was to say the word “etu” in front of my name? Thanks skin2skin ---
**Author:** ![voxnihili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@voxnihili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voxnihili)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/2 "2003-11-20T20:16:38Z")
thats ‘et tu, brutus’ (And you, brutus?) said to cesar when he saw that brutus was amongst those conspiring against him ---
**Author:** ![voxnihili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@voxnihili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voxnihili)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/3 "2003-11-20T20:19:49Z")
sorry, that should be “said by cesar” ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/4 "2003-11-20T20:33:52Z")
actually wasn’t it “Et tu brutE”. The e at the end being the vocative case. Could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/5 "2003-11-20T20:34:54Z")
Great…thanks a lot!! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/6 "2003-11-20T20:38:19Z")
To elaborate a bit more: Brutus was a friend of Julius Caesar, but he joined the conspiracy against Caesar “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome the more”. He believed that Caesar’s dictatorship was so dangerous for Rome that it would be better for him to be killed than to continue in power. Legend has it that Caesar tried to resist his attackers at first, until he saw that Brutus was among them. Once he saw that his own friend was one of the ones attacking him, he gave up. So if someone says “Et tu, skin2skin”, they’re saying that you’re a backstabbing traitor, and they expected better from you. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/7 "2003-11-20T20:48:23Z")
**TitoBenito** , I’m not sure about the grammar part of it, but Shakespeare apparently agreed with you 🙂 “Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar” is the whole quote ([_Julius Caesar_ Act 3, Scene 1](http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/julius_caesar/julius_caesar.3.1.html)) critter42 ---
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/8 "2003-11-20T21:28:52Z")
> [@](#): > > So if someone says “Et tu, skin2skin”, they’re saying that you’re a backstabbing traitor, and they expected better from you. lol…I hope that he is not saying that. I think it was more along the line of “and you”, as in; I agree with another person, too. ---
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/9 "2003-11-20T21:41:27Z")
Caesar pardoned Brutus after he fought on the losing side at the battle of Pharsalia, and appointed him to several high offices. There were also rumors that Brutus was actually Caesar’s natural son, making the betrayal all the worse. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/10 "2003-11-20T23:06:35Z")
Jethro and his pal Brutus was eatin’ some hog haunches one day down by the waterin’ hole, and Brutus asked his buddy “Hey, how many of them things has you et, anyhow?” and Jethro answered… ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etu-brutus/214360/11 "2003-11-21T16:16:56Z")
From Plutarch: > [@](#): > > And by this time, finding himself struck by a great many hands, and looking around about him to see if he could force his way out, when he saw Brutus with his dagger drawn against him, he let go Cascas hand, that he had hold of and covering his head with his robe, gave up his body to their blows. So Plutarch has Caesar saying nothing at all. Another source (I’m not sure whom) reported that Caesar actually said (in Greek), “You, also, my son?” Which falls neatly in with the theory some have expressed that Caesar was Brutus’ father. It was well known that Caesar and Brutus’ mother, Servilia, were lovers. I don’t think anyone really buys the theory any more. One of my profs once mentioned that the “You, also, my son?” line was suspiciously close to the Attic Greek equivalent of “You son of a bitch!”