Brutus

Family: Trojans · Role: first king of the Britons · First appears: Book I 1–3

Brutus was born to Sylvius and was delivered to a nurse after his mother died in childbirth. Fifteen years later, while hunting in Italy, he accidentally killed Sylvius and was expelled from Italy by his kinsmen. In Greece, he accepted the Trojans’ request to lead their revolt, was chosen commander, and defeated the Greek forces of Pandrasus, capturing Antigonus and Anacletus. He kept Pandrasus alive as a prisoner, and after further attacks on the Greek camp, secured ships and provisions by having Pandrasus release his power and marry his daughter Ignoge to him.

After leaving Greece, Brutus defeated pirates, then joined forces with Corineus, whose people became valuable allies in his engagements. Together they defeated Goffarius Pictus and the Gauls, while Brutus devastated Aquitaine and established a fortified camp at the future site of Tours. At Albion, he and his followers drove the giants into the mountains and divided the country among themselves; he also preserved Goemagot so that Corineus could fight him. Brutus renamed Albion Britain after himself and his companions Britons, then built New Troy beside the Thames.

Brutus selected citizens for the new city and prescribed laws for peaceful government. He and Ignoge had three sons, Locrin, Albanact, and Kamber, while his wider kin included Turonus and Sylvius AEneas, the son of AEneas. Brutus died in the twenty-fourth year after arriving in Britain, and his sons buried him in the city he had built before dividing the kingdom among themselves.