Act 5, Scene 4

Another part of the field.

[Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both armies; then Brutus, young Cato, Lucilius, and Others.]
Marcus Brutus
2466 Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads!
Young Cato
2467 What bastard doth not? Who will go with me?
2468 I will proclaim my name about the field:—
2469 I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!
2470 A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend;
2471 I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!
[Charges the enemy.]
Marcus Brutus
2472 And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I;
2473 Brutus, my country's friend; know me for Brutus!
[Exit, charging the enemy. Cato is overpowered, and falls.]
Lucilius
2474 O young and noble Cato, art thou down?
2475 Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius;
2476 And mayst be honour'd, being Cato's son.
First Soldier
2477 Yield, or thou diest.
Lucilius
2478 Only I yield to die:
2479 There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight;
[Offering money.]
Lucilius
2480 Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death.
First Soldier
2481 We must not. A noble prisoner!
Second Soldier
2482 Room, ho! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en.
First Soldier
2483 I'll tell the news. Here comes the General.—
[Enter Antony.]
First Soldier
2484 Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord.
Mark Antony
2485 Where is he?
Lucilius
2486 Safe, Antony; Brutus is safe enough:
2487 I dare assure thee that no enemy
2488 Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus:
2489 The gods defend him from so great a shame!
2490 When you do find him, or alive or dead,
2491 He will be found like Brutus, like himself.
Mark Antony
2492 This is not Brutus, friend; but, I assure you,
2493 A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe,
2494 Give him all kindness; I had rather have
2495 Such men my friends than enemies. Go on,
2496 And see whether Brutus be alive or dead;
2497 And bring us word unto Octavius' tent
2498 How everything is chanced.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 2467archaic vocab
“What bastard doth not”
Here 'bastard' does not mean only an illegitimate child; it also meant a person of base or cowardly spirit. Young Cato is daring any man without shame to hang back when he himself presses forward.
TLN 2469historical topical
“I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho”
Marcus Cato (Cato the Younger, 95-46 BCE) was the most celebrated Stoic republican of his age. He died by suicide at Utica rather than submit to Julius Caesar, making his name synonymous with uncompromising liberty and principled resistance to tyranny. Young Cato shouts this lineage to announce his cause as much as his identity.
historical Cato the Younger
TLN 2475cultural context
“thou diest as bravely as Titinius; And mayst be honour'd, being Cato's son”
Titinius died just before this scene (5.3): finding Cassius's body, he crowned it with the garland he had brought as a sign of victory, then killed himself rather than outlive his general. Lucilius praises Young Cato by comparing his death in open combat to that noble act. The comparison also reinforces that to die fighting or by one's own hand was considered honourable in the Roman tradition, while capture was shameful.
historical The antique Roman: honourable suicide
TLN 2478syntax grammar
“Only I yield to die: There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight”
Lucilius speaks a deliberate paradox: 'I yield' normally means 'I surrender,' but he qualifies it to mean 'I surrender only to death — not to captivity.' The next line explains: he offers the soldier money ('There is so much') as payment to be killed on the spot, not taken prisoner. He is pretending to be Brutus to draw attention away from the real Brutus.
TLN 2493historical topical
“A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe, Give him all kindness; I had rather have Such men my friends than enemies”
Antony's response to discovering the deception is to spare Lucilius and enlist him rather than punish him. In Roman military culture, a man who displayed such fierce personal loyalty to his general was a valuable commodity; Antony recognises that a soldier willing to die for Brutus might serve equally well for him. This also echoes Antony's consistent pattern throughout the play of being drawn to honourable conduct in his opponents.
classical Plutarch's Lives (North's Translation)