In his Life of Brutus Plutarch presents the reconciliation of Brutus and Cassius. Cassius is driven to make peace by one politically decisive consideration: everyone he approaches with the proposal of a violent attempt to eliminate Caesar replies that he would be party to it only if Brutus were to take the lead. Should Brutus refuse, then any such enterprise must be considered a failure, precisely because Brutus had rejected it! This is why Cassius decided to restore the contact with Brutus that had been broken off when he found himself competing with him for the praetorship. The first question he asked him – during their first meeting after the rupture – was whether he intended to take part in the Senate meeting on 1 March, the sitting at which, it was said, Caesar's friends would propose the elevation of Caesar to king. Brutus replied that he would stay away. ‘What if we are summoned there as praetors, what shall we do then, my good Brutus?’ ‘I will defend my country to the death’, he replied. At this point Cassius, seeing Brutus well disposed, deployed what he considered the very effective argument of the ‘anonymous’ propaganda that for some time had been inciting Brutus to action. The rest is well known: Brutus joined and began seeking support, and, apart from the occasional refusal, he was personally successful.