Julius Caesar

Book Details

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy written by William Shakespeare and first performed in 1599. The play dramatizes the events surrounding the 44 BCE assassination of Julius Caesar, a Roman general and statesman. Shakespeare’s main source material for the play was Plutarch’s Lives, a series of biographies of famous men, published in the second century CE and translated into English by Thomas North in 1579. Shakespeare sometimes deviated from his source material, presumably to make it easier to stage the play without having to explain long intervals of time in between the story’s main events.

Themes

Julius Caesar is one of four Shakespearean tragedies set in Ancient Rome, alongside Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Titus Andronicus. Its setting in the waning days of the Roman Republic informs its thematic interests, which include the dangers of tyranny, the nature of political virtue, The Persuasive Power of Rhetoric in civic life, and How Hubric Can Lead to One's Downfall.

Film Adaptations

Julius Caesar is one of the most famous and most often performed of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It has been adapted for film many times, most famously in a 1953 version starring Marlon Brando and James Mason. Its cultural impact is evidenced by its many oft-repeated lines, including “Beware the ides of March,” “Friends, Romans, countrymen,” and “Et tu, Brute?”

Content Warning

The play and this guide contain references to suicide and violent death.

This guide was written using The Norton Shakespeare, second edition.

Plot Summary

Caesar marches into Rome after defeating the sons of his rival, Pompey, in battle. As he parades through the city, a soothsayer—a person who tells the future—tells Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” meaning the 15th of March, a holiday that represented the paying off of debts. Caesar dismisses the warning. Although Caesar secretly wants to rule Rome as a monarch, he presents himself as uninterested in becoming king. Fearing the public’s reaction to his ascension to the throne, Caesar denies the crown three times when Mark Antony, one of his generals and supporters, presents it to him.

Meanwhile, Roman Senator Caius Cassius plots Caesar’s assassination, manipulating senators who are unsure, like Brutus and Casca, to join the conspiracy. He and his fellow Roman senator conspirators are nervous about what Caesar would do with more power; they believe his ambition makes him dangerous to the future of Rome as a free republic. Brutus is ambivalent about getting rid of Caesar, as they are close friends and Brutus believes Caesar is a good man. Nevertheless, he ultimately decides that killing Caesar is the only way to save Rome from possible tyranny.

As the conspirators decide how they will kill Caesar, Caesar himself feels a sense of foreboding. He almost decides to stay at home on the 15th of March but ultimately decides it would be weak to do so due to bad omens alone. Caesar ignores warnings from soothsayers, priests, and even his wife, Calpurnia, who dreamed of his death.

The conspirators distract Mark Antony, who would come to Caesar’s aid if he were present. Cimber, one of the conspirators, pleads to Caesar for his brother to be able to return to Rome from exile, but Caesar tells him he will not allow his brother back without reason. Brutus, Cassius, and others prostrate themselves before Caesar, which confuses him. It is all a distraction, as Casca strikes the first blow and stabs Caesar, with Brutus striking last. Caesar, shocked by Brutus's betrayal, then dies.

Devastated by the death of Caesar, Mark Antony is careful how he acts around the conspirators lest they decide to do away with him as well. He burns for revenge but keeps those feelings a secret.

Although the conspirators agree to let Mark Antony publicly eulogize Caesar, they insist Brutus explain their actions first. Brutus explains to the public that Caesar’s death was for the good of Rome—his ambition was dangerous. He proclaims that while Caesar was good and honorable, Brutus would do anything for Rome, even murder his best friend. The public praises him and claims he should be the next Caesar, but Brutus brushes this off.

Mark Antony then gives his eulogy. He reminds the crowd of Caesar’s goodness and generosity toward the Roman citizens, saying that although Brutus claims Caesar was ambitious, Caesar behaved in a way that was not markedly ambitious. Manipulatively, he reminds the crowd not to blame Brutus, as he is honorable as well. The public begins to wonder if the conspirators betrayed Caesar.

Antony takes advantage of their reaction and shows them the wounds on Caesar’s body. The crowd begins to rally against the conspirators. Antony holds them off to tell them that Caesar’s will dictates that upon his death every Roman citizen shall receive 75 drachmas. The crowd then descends into chaos.

The play moves to Mark Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, the future leaders of Rome in the Second Triumvirate. There is some tension between Octavius and Mark Antony.

Meanwhile, Brutus and Cassius meet again, somewhat at odds. Brutus accuses Cassius of taking bribes, soiling Brutus’s belief that their murder of Caesar was noble. They argue but ultimately reconcile, as Brutus declares he has no emotional strength left after his wife Portia’s suicide. They speak of the inevitable war coming against Antony and Octavius. When Brutus goes to sleep that night, he is met by the ghost of Caesar, who tells Brutus he will see him at Philippi, where the battle will take place.

The battle then begins. With defeat all but certain, Cassius and Brutus agree they will not be led through Rome in chains and depart from each other. Distraught after hearing that his best friend Titinius is captured, Cassius forces his servant to kill him, remarking that Caesar is avenged. Titinius, who had not really been captured, returns and dies by suicide at the sight of his best friend’s body.

Brutus survives the battle, but he knows his side has lost. He ultimately dies by suicide on his own sword, held by a servant; his sense of honor will not allow him to be led away as a captive. Antony and Octavius discover Brutus’s body. Antony praises Brutus as a noble man and the only one of the conspirators who had a selfless reason for killing Caesar. The play ends with Octavius’s call to celebrate the outcome of the day.