In response to Cassius’ question of what he would do if they lose the battle, Brutus, who imagines himself a strict adherent to the Stoic philosophy, initially gave the expected Stoic answer: he would patiently accept whatever happens in life.

But when faced with the image of his being led in chains behind Antony’s chariot through the streets of Rome, he abandons his Stoic principles, acknowledging that such a humiliation would be intolerable. Today will end in either victory or his death.