Junius Brutus

Family: Rome · Role: tribune · First appears: Coriolanus · Act I, Scene I

Junius Brutus becomes one of Rome’s five tribunes alongside Sicinius Velutus, appointed to defend the people. From the beginning he is a rival of Coriolanus, and when Coriolanus is expected to become consul, Brutus and Sicinius Velutus resolve to turn the people against him: “We must suggest the people in what hatred He still hath held them”. They urge the plebeians to revoke his election, and the people gather at the Capitol, nearly all regretting their choice.

At Rome, Brutus commands the aediles to seize Coriolanus after the people turn against him. When Coriolanus resists with a drawn sword, the confrontation becomes violent, and the tribunes decree, “He dies tonight.” They then suspend the immediate execution so Menenius can bring Coriolanus before a lawful proceeding. After Coriolanus’s departure, Brutus and Sicinius Velutus consolidate their authority, though Volumnia publicly condemns them for banishing her son, telling Brutus, “Whom you have banished, does exceed you all.”