Empylus

Empylus of Rhodes was a Rhodian rhetorician and historian of the 1st century BC. He was a companion and housemate of Marcus Junius Brutus, and wrote a short historical work entitled Brutus about the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Life

Empylus lived in Rome in the household of Brutus and was mentioned by Brutus and his friends in their letters.

Works

Empylus wrote a short work entitled Brutus, concerning the assassination of Julius Caesar. Plutarch describes it as a brief but excellent account of Caesar's assassination.

Empylus's Brutus appears to have been one of the sources used by Plutarch in his Life of Brutus. Modern scholarship has identified possible traces of Empylus's account in several parts of the Life, particularly in passages concerning the relationship and characters of Brutus and Cassius and the recruitment of the conspirators. Empylus's account appears to have been strongly favorable towards Brutus and the conspirators, although it may preserve historically significant information alongside material of questionable reliability.