He ran himself through with a sword rather than surrender. According to Antony, even in death Brutus was noble. Of all the conspirators, Brutus was the only one to believe Caesar's death was for the good of all everyone else acted out of jealousy. Antony cites Brutus's naive nature as to the reason for his nobleness. What does it mean? In the final scene of the play, and in the wake of Brutus's suicide, Antony gives Brutus's eulogy. "This was the noblest Roman of them all." (Act V, Scene V, line 68) Antony's words about Caesar and Rome move the crowd to such an emotional frenzy the downfall of the conspirators is clearly on the horizon. In this pivotal scene, Antony performs a masterful feat he manages to turn the crowd against the conspirators. He's acknowledging the crowd as his peers and says he has no motives besides burying Caesar. Julius Caesar What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also. What does it mean? Antony opens his funeral speech with this famous line. I love the name of honor, more than I fear death. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." (Act III, Scene II, line 77-78) As one of the play's most complex characters, Brutus grapples with the murder of Caesar, even after the fact. Brutus is known as an honorable man, but also a tad naive. Translated, the line reads, "and you too, Brutus?" Caesar cannot believe his friend participated in his assassination. What does it mean? After being stabbed by his comrades, Caesar addresses Brutus. Although not an original conspirator, Casca joins the night before Caesar's assassination and even stabs Caesar first. Casca is unrefined and crude, sometimes brutish. What does it mean? Casca is literally saying, "I don't know what he said, it was in Greek and I don't speak Greek." But on another level, his inability to understand the language develops Casca character further. "But, for my own part, it was Greek to me." (Act I, Scene II, line 285-286) The warning of his assassination also foreshadows it. Such carelessness helps foreshadow Caesar's death in an ironic way. As Cassius stated in Julius Caesar, 'Alas, Caesar cried, Give me some drink, Titinius, As a sick doth amaze me a man of such feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone' (7), Caesar himself. With his ego so inflated, Caesar is unable to recognize a warning when it is blatantly given to him. In a sense, the spirit of Gaius Julius Caesar is greater than Caesar himself. Caesar brushes off the soothsayer's words and doesn't give them a second thought. What makes it especially important is Caesars reaction. What makes it especially important is Caesar's reaction. 'Beware the ides of March.' (Act I, Scene II, line 23) What does it mean A soothsayer warns Julius Caesar about his impending assassination in this pivotal scene. What does it mean? A soothsayer warns Julius Caesar about his impending assassination in this pivotal scene. Only a month after Caesar’s declaration, a group of senators, among them Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar’s second choice as heir, and Gaius Cassius Longinus assassinated Caesar in fear of his absolute power."Beware the ides of March." (Act I, Scene II, line 23) His increasing power and great ambition agitated many senators who feared Caesar aspired to be king. In 44 B.C.E., Caesar declared himself dictator for life. He also granted citizenship to foreigners living within the Roman Republic. At the same time, he sponsored the building of the Forum Iulium and rebuilt two city-states, Carthage and Corinth. He wielded his power to enlarge the senate, created needed government reforms, and decreased Rome’s debt. Returning to Italy, Caesar consolidated his power and made himself dictator. This sparked a civil war between Caesar’s forces and forces of his chief rival for power, Pompey, from which Caesar emerged victorious. When his rivals in Rome demanded he return as a private citizen, he used these riches to support his army and marched them across the Rubicon River, crossing from Gaul into Italy. Throughout his eight-year governorship, he increased his military power and, more importantly, acquired plunder from Gaul. His Roman troops conquered Gallic tribes by exploiting tribal rivalries. Returning to Rome, he formed political alliances that helped him become governor of Gaul, an area that included what is now France and Belgium. Seizing the opportunity, Caesar advanced in the political system and briefly became governor of Spain, a Roman province. During his youth, the Roman Republic was in chaos. Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician who named himself dictator of the Roman Empire, a rule that lasted less than one year before he was famously assassinated by political rivals in 44 B.C.E.Ĭaesar was born on July 12 or 13 in 100 B.C.E.
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