In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, what is different about Brutus at the end of the play?

It appears that by the end of Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar that Brutus has lost sight of his purpose in killing
Caesar, may be suffering from remorse while he tries to convince himself of his noble
purpose, and that he makes some poor decisions with regard to the battle between his
army and Antony's.

The only reason that Brutus agreed to
help murder Caesar is that he feared when Caesar became king, he would change, and that
it would harm Rome. Brutus puts the good of Rome before his own good. However, he seems
to struggle with that decision throughout the play: he loved Caesar almost as much as he
loves Rome.

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...it is within the anguished workings of
Brutus's mind that the issue of tyranny versus freedom is played
out.

It is possible that
Brutus sees the outcome of Caesar's murder differently than he had imagined. Even while
he addresses the people of Rome defending his actions and they initially agree with him,
Mark Antony is a powerful speaker who turns the hearts of Rome's citizens against
Brutus. Then civil war breaks out. This certainly cannot be what Brutus had hoped for in
guaranteeing Rome's welfare.

Brutus and Cassius's agreement
to kill Caesar is based on Cassius' lies; they begin to fight—Brutus must know that
Cassius does not care for Rome as much as he cares for himself. Brutus continues to
insist that his actions were motivated by his love of Rome. Then he hears of his wife,
Portia's, suicide. This is another blow.

Even when Cassius
suggests that they fight when their army is well-rested, Brutus (for some fateful
reason) disagrees, and then attacks Antony's army too
soon.

It has
been suggested that...Brutus[ is unable] to distinguish his own motives from noble
principles.

Brutus is a man
who believes that anything done for the good of Rome is a noble cause. He enters into
the conspiracy to kill Caesar with earnest and honorable intentions, at least as
he sees it. However, Brutus loves Caesar and sacrifices the life of
his ruler for his "republican" principles. He murders the leader of Rome, which is
dishonorable—it would seem even as Brutus struggles to convince himself that he was
justified in his actions. Throughout the horror of the murder, civil war, conflict with
his "compatriots," the loss of his wife, and struggles with making the correct
decisions, perhaps Brutus is unable to "have his cake and eat it too." One is honorable
by acting with honor. It seems impossible to me that dishonorable behavior can be
justified by an "honorable" man.

Although Octavius provides
a soldier's burial for Brutus, and even Antony praises him by saying that Brutus was a
great and honorable man—the essence of a real man—that Brutus cannot believe these
things of himself. Antony says of Brutus:

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This was the noblest Roman of them
all.

All the conspirators, save only he,
(75)

Did that they did in envy of great
Caesar;

He only, in a general honest
thought

And common good to all, made one of
them.

His life was gentle, and the
elements

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
(80)

And say to all the world, “This was a
man!”

Brutus follows his
heart for Rome's sake, but perhaps it would have been better to consult his
conscience—his moral compass—as well.