Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and Volumnius enter. They are tired from battle, and Brutus whispers a request first to Clitus and then to Dardanius; he wants one of the men to kill him. They both refuse him. He tells Volumnius that Caesar's ghost appeared to him again; he knows that it is time for him to die. Volumnius disagrees, but Brutus argues that the enemy has them cornered, and he asks Volumnius to hold his sword while he runs onto it. Volumnius refuses, believing it an improper act for a friend to perform. An alarm signals the approach of the enemy, and Clitus warns Brutus to flee. Brutus wishes his comrades farewell, including Strato, who has awakened from a quick nap; he repeats that it is time for him to die. Offstage shouts prompt him to send his soldiers onward, and he and Strato remain alone. Strato agrees to hold Brutus' sword; they shake hands, and Brutus runs onto the sword, killing himself.
Amid alarms signaling the rout of Brutus' army, Octavius, Antony, Messala, Lucilius, and others enter and come upon Strato with Brutus' body. Octavius offers to take into his service all who have followed Brutus, and Antony delivers a brief and now-famous oration over the body of Brutus beginning, "This was the noblest Roman of them all." Antony believes that all the other conspirators attacked Caesar because of personal envy; Brutus alone did it because he believed that it would be for the general good of Rome. Octavius promises an appropriate funeral for Brutus and gives orders to stop the battle. Finally, he calls on his colleagues to join him in celebrating their victory.
