Julius Caesar’s Last Words Were “Et Tu, Brute?” What Does This Mean?

It is recorded that these words ("You too, Brutus?") were indeed Caesar's last, and Shakespeare gives them in the original Latin, followed by "Then fall, Caesar!" as he dies. In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," which draws closely on contemporary accounts, a group of conspirators plot to assassinate him, led by Casca and Cassius. Caesar's friend Brutus is persuaded to join them despite his love for Caesar, because they convince him that Caesar's death will restore the Roman Republic. Caesar is naturally used to having enemies and doesn't trust Cassius or Casca anyway, but he never imagined that Brutus could be capable of such treachery. His last words express his shock and hurt at this betrayal, and a sense that he is now willing to die ("Then fall, Caesar.")
Later, when Brutus himself has been killed, Mark Antony, whose "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech has stirred up the citizens to crush the conspiracy, mourns his death, saying, "This was the noblest Roman of them all." Throughout the play, Shakespeare represents Brutus as acting from the highest of motives.

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