by William Shakespeare

orn in England in 1564, William Shake- speare wrote Julius Caesar in 1599. The THE LITERARY WORK Bplay follows events that actually took place A play set in ancient , about 45 B.C.; first in ancient Rome in the first century B.C., but also performed in 1599. reflects to some degree the realities of English life in the late sixteenth century, during what is SYNOPSIS known as the Elizabethan era. Julius Caesar is assassinated by a conspiracy of senators, a murder that has important Events in History at the Time the Play consequences. Takes Place The Roman Senate. All the central characters of served during alternate months for about one Julius Caesar—Caesar, , the con- year. A consulship was the supreme honor avail- spirators—are members of the senate, Rome's able to a Roman citizen. Consuls summoned and main governing body. The senate controlled both presided over the senate, conducted the main domestic and foreign policy, publishing decrees, elections, and commanded armies during war- arresting and convicting citizens, levying fines, time. Though they wielded great influence, their and convening public assemblies. Senate mem- power was checked by the presence of the sec- bers generally worked hard; their meetings ond consul with whom they served and the short started very early in the day and often continued duration of their term in office. until dark. Though its size varied over the years, the Roman Senate had about 600 members dur- The rise of Julius Caesar. In 60 B.C., about fif- ing the time covered in Julius Caesar. Any adult teen years before the events depicted in Julius male citizen automatically became a senator af- Caesar took place, Caesar, Gneius Pompeius ter serving as a junior government official. In (Pompey), and Marcus Licinius Crassus were practice, the body was dominated by Rome's aris- three of the most powerful senators in Rome. tocrats, who were called patricians. This domi- They decided to form a pact to support each nance of the senate by rich citizens was due in other politically. This pact, which became known part to the low salaries pulled in at even high- as the , allowed each to support level government posts; one had to be wealthy the others in accomplishing their respective po- to be able to afford to take such a position. litical goals. Armed with such power, the three The principal officials of the senate, and of allied senators were able to get laws passed more Rome, were two consuls. Selected from among easily than they had been able to do individu- the senators by the general population, they each ally. The alliance served each of the senators well

LITERATURE AND ITS TIMES VOLUME 1 189 for a number of years. In 53 B.C., however, Cras- followed as well. A religious temple—where fes- I Julius sus was killed in a war and the alliance between tivals in his honor would be celebrated annu- I Caesar Caesar and Pompey gradually began to disinte- ally—was to be built in memory of the peace grate. Caesar tried to salvage the relationship. He Caesar had restored. An ivory statue of his like- offered to divorce his wife, Calpurnia, and marry ness was to be carried with those of the gods in Pompey's daughter, Pompeia. At the same time, processions. His birthday was made a public hol- Pompey would marry Caesar's great-niece Oc- iday and the month Quinctilis renamed as July tavia. Such intermarriage between families was a in his honor. On February 15, 44 B.C., he as- common way of solidifying political bonds. Pom- sumed the title dictator perpetuus: "dictator for pey refused the proposal, however, and married life." Previously, dictators had only been ap- the daughter of one of Caesar's enemies, a cer- pointed to serve temporarily to deal with state tain sign of hostility. Before long, violence and emergencies. As dictator perpetuus, however, civil war broke out between supporters of Cae- Julius Caesar was assured that he would be sar and supporters of Pompey. In 49 B.C., Cae- the most powerful man in Rome for the rest of sar's army forced Pompey and his followers out his life. of Italy. Battles continued between the two for a What Caesar was really like. Though not de- number of years in such places as Greece, Egypt, scribed as a particularly likable man, Caesar had and Africa. Caesar finally emerged victorious in such skill in politics, generalship, public speak- 45 B.C. at the , Spain. ing, and writing that he has been called a genius. So generous was he to the enemies he had de- feated (if they were Roman) that he forgave some without doling out punishment. Sometimes he ROMAN NAMES even gave them posts in his own government. Two such former foes were Cassius and Brutus. Both would later turn against Caesar. Caesar's patrician or aristocratic families had three names— pained cry, "Et tu, Brute?" (And you, Brutus?) M praenomen, nornen, and cognomen. For example, Cae- became famous; it is often used today by those sar's full name was Gaius Julius Caesar The no/ne/T—Julius- who wish to convey feelings of betrayal. indicated the person's clan. The cognomen—Caesar—speci- How well did Caesar rule? As dictator, Julius fied the family branch of the clan. This was the name that a Caesar proved generous in granting Roman citi- person was normally called by colleagues. The praenomen— zenship to foreigners. He also had the cities of Corinth and Carthage rebuilt for his discharged Caius—was only used by relatives or close friends. Women of soldiers and for the workers of Rome. He further the period legally had no name* They were called by the fem- increased the size of the senate and made it bet- inine form of the nomen, their clan name. Thus, Caesar's ter represent all of Rome. But Caesar also had an daughter was called JuHa, If a family had more than one daugh- air of haughtiness that apparently contributed to ter, affectionate personal names could be used within the fam- his downfall. He, for example, disregarded pub- ily to avoid confusion. lic opinion when, in 46 B.C., he welcomed the Egyptian ruler to Rome. Along with other ill-considered acts, such disdain for public sentiment was one factor that prompted old Caesar's popularity grew tremendously dur- friends to turn against him. ing the civil war. In 46 B.C. the senate appointed While Caesar had the support of the senate, him to be "dictator" for ten years. This new sta- some members were not happy about his rise to tus as Rome's supreme leader made him much dictatorship. They chafed under a political ar- more powerful than a consul. Upon his tri- rangement that greatly diminished their influ- umphant return to Rome in 45 B.C., the senate ence. In addition, Rome's republican tradition voted him a great number of honors. He was seemed to be in tremendous jeopardy. Prior to awarded the title pater patriae (father of the coun- Caesar's ascendancy, even the most influential try). His statue was placed in all the temples of Romans had checks on their powers in the form Rome and the towns of Italy. He was also allowed of popular elections and term limits for consuls. to use several significant emblems of power on No single person had ever before wielded so all occasions. These symbols included a ward- much power. So, as reenacted in Shakespeare's robe of a purple triumphal toga and a laurel play, a conspiracy that included about sixty sen- wreath and use of a gilded chair. Other honors ators formed. Led by Gaius Cassius Longinus

190 LITERATURE AND ITS TIMES VOLUME 1 Julius Caesar

(Cassius) and Marcus Junius Brutus (Brutus), the offering of sacred cakes. The priests smeared conspirators assassinated Caesar on March 15, blood on the foreheads of two young men from 44 B.C. noble families. Afterwards the blood was wiped off with wool dipped in milk and the young men Roman religious holidays. The Romans be- laughed in accordance with the rules of the rit- lieved in a pantheon of gods, each linked to a ual. A feast followed. Next the priests cut up the particular human activity. For example, there sacrificial goat skins into strips. Naked except for were gods of war (Mars), home life (Vesta), and the skins, the priests ran from Lupercal, travel- agriculture (Ceres). Every activity was performed ing several times around the Palatine hill. Along under the authority of a particular god. Before the way they struck bystanders—especially wom- beginning any significant action, people custom- en who wanted to be cured of barrenness—with arily performed a ritual or made a sacrifice in thongs. Mark Antony is portrayed in Julius Cae- honor of the appropriate god. The Roman cal- sar as one of the Lupercal runners. Caesar alludes endar also consisted of a large mixture of regu- to this when he tells him: lar daily, monthly, and yearly religious rituals cel- ebrating the cult of a particular god or gods. Forget not in your speed... Some of these holidays, such as the To touch Calpurnia, for our elders say and the Feast of Lupercal, are mentioned in Julius The barren, touched in this holy chase, Caesar. Shake off their sterile curse. (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1.2.6-8) The Feast of Lupercal was a major public event that took place yearly on February 15. The Jupiter, the god of the sky, was also the Luperci were a group of priests associated with supreme god of the Roman pantheon. In fact, the Mars, the god of war. Every February 15 they city of Rome was a domain dedicated to him, and met at Lupercal, a sacred cave at the southwest his temple on the capitol was the center of na- foot of the Palatine hill in Rome. According to tional religious life. The Ides, or midpoint, of legend, this was the place where a wolf had suck- every month was devoted to him; honorary rit- led Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars uals called for a number of sheep to be led along and the mythic founders of Rome. The ritual be- a road called the Via Sacra and then sacrificed to gan with a sacrifice of goats and a dog, and an Jupiter. In addition to this ritual of recognition

LITERATURE AND ITS TIMES VOLUME 1 191 of the Ides of March, another festival dedicated the senators' positions in it—seem to be in great I Julius to Anna Perenna was celebrated. In ancient Rome jeopardy. Cassius forms a conspiracy to kill Cae- I Caesar March was the first month of the year, and Anna sar that includes a large number of senators. Perenna was honored as the goddess of the new Brutus, a well-respected senator, is ap- year. Her festival took place in a grove near proached by Cassius and informed of the plot. Rome's Tiber River. After a formal sacrifice and He deliberates over whether to become involved public prayers to secure a healthy year, people in the conspiracy. During a night full of ominous spent the day socializing, drinking, singing pop- thunder, lightning, storms, and strange happen- ular songs, and dancing. It was in 44 B.C., on the ings, he finally decides that his duty is to help same day these festivities would have been tak- save the Roman republic; Caesar must be killed. ing place, that Caesar was killed in the senate. The conspirators meet Brutus at his house, and they agree to carry out their plan that day. The foreboding storms of the night, along with her own nightmares, have disturbed Cae- BRUTUS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE REPUBLIC sar's wife Calpurnia. Interpreting them as warn- ings that something terrible is about to happen According to Roman legend, the city of Rome was founded in to Caesar, she begs him to stay home that day. the eighth century B.C. Before then, it was one of many small, The conspirators convince him otherwise, how- ever, and escort him to the senate. Soon after independent cities in Italy ruled by a line of kings. Its oppres- his arrival, he is stabbed to death by the con- sive seventh king, Lucius Tarqutnius Superbus/ was overthrown spirators. toward the end of the sixth century B.C. Lucius Junius Brutus, Despite Caesar's popularity, the conspirators who led the revolt, was known as the traditional founder of believe that they will be able to convince the Ro- the Roman Republic and served as one of its first consuls. Mar- man people of the Tightness of their action. At cus Brutus was the descendant of this esteemed leader, a fact Caesar's funeral, Brutus's speech does win them that is referred to in Julius Caesar. As Cassius says to him: over, but only temporarily. After Brutus leaves, Mark Antony convinces them instead that Cae- G, you and I have heard our fathers say sar's death was unjust, and he manages to work There was a Brutus once that would have brooked the crowd into a fury against the murderers. Th'eternaJ devil to keep his state in Rome Brutus and Cassius flee Rome and gather an As easily as a king. army. At Philippi, in Macedonia, they fight a bat- (Julius Caesar, 1.2.158-61) tle against the armies of Mark Antony and Oc- tavius, who is Caesar's great-nephew. Cassius, Brutus later remarks that "rny ancestors did from the streets of believing the war to be lost, commits suicide. Rome / The Tarquin drive when he was called a king" (Julius Soon after, Brutus decides to run upon his own sword, held by his faithful servant Strato, rather Caesar, 2.1,53-4}. Brutus ultimately follows the precedent set than die at the hands of enemies. Rome is thus for him by his famous ancestor and joins the conspiracy to de- left in the control of Mark Antony and Octavius. stroy Caesar, seen by the plotters as the contemporary threat The character of Brutus. Brutus seems to be to the republic. guided in the play at least partly by the philos- ophy of stoicism, a school of thought that was popular among the ancient Romans. Stoics be- lieved that there was a rational force pervading The Play in Focus reality and guiding all things to their perfection. The plot. The play opens on the Roman religious Every person had a share of this force. It was feast of Lupercal. In addition to the feast, Julius one's duty to try to identify oneself with the force Caesar's triumph over Pompey and his followers while training oneself to feel indifference to and his recent return to Rome are also being cel- everything else. According to the Stoics, the ra- ebrated. Caesar is cautioned by a soothsayer to tional soul should dominate one's actions. Per- beware the Ides of March, but he decides to ig- sonal emotions, which are motivated by service nore the warning. A number of senators express to oneself rather than by rational consideration concern about Caesar's rapidly increasing power of what is universally beneficial, are seen as pow- and popularity, especially after he is publicly of- erful and disabling distractions. The Stoics be- fered a crown by Mark Antony. Though he re- lieved that only by putting aside passion, unjust fuses it, Rome's long tradition as a republic—and thoughts, and self-indulgence, and by performing

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sar incorporate phrases that are very similar to its high point around the time Shakespeare wrote Julius those employed by Plutarch. this play, illustrates this fact. I Caesar In the 1590s the charismatic Essex became Plutarch a favorite of the queen and one of the most pop- "I dare assure thee, that no enemy hath taken ular men in England. His career began to de- nor shall take Marcus Brutus alive ... for cline toward the end of the decade, however. wheresoever he be found, alive or dead, he will He was appointed to crush a rebellion in Ire- be found like himself." land and left on March 27, 1599. After six (Dorsch in Shakespeare, p. xiv) Shakespeare months there, he concluded a truce that was ex- tremely favorable to the Irish and returned to "I dare assure thee that no enemy shall ever take alive the noble Brutus / ... When you do find England against orders. Bursting into Queen him, or alive or dead, / He will be found like Elizabeth's chamber early on September 28, Brutus, like himself." 1599, he threw himself on her mercy. The next (Julius Caesar, 5.4.21-5) day he was taken prisoner. He underwent trial and was eventually freed from custody on June Other similar examples can be found through- 5, 1600. Disgraced by the experience, Essex was out the play. Still, while Plutarch evidently pro- also financially ruined when the queen deprived vided a basis for some of the elements of Shake- him of a monopoly on sweet wines from which speare's Julius Caesar, there were marked dif- he drew his income. ferences between the versions. For example, Essex's anger against the queen grew; he raved Shakespeare condenses the actions described by to one colleague about "the old woman, as Plutarch a great deal. The play moves very crooked in her mind as in her carcase" (Essex in quickly from scene to scene. What really took Halliday, p. 226). In those times, it was a very place over the course of two years seems in serious matter to criticize the monarch in this Shakespeare's play to unfold in less than a way. Essex went further, however. He began to month. Moreover, the scene in which Cassius form a conspiracy against the government. On and Brutus first speak about Caesar is presented February 3, 1601, he and five other conspirators in much more detail by Shakespeare. Finally, the laid plans for seizing the court and gathering the playwright added the speeches Brutus and support of the people. The next day some of Es- Antony give to the Roman people after Caesar's sex's followers staged Shakespeare's Richard II (a death. Though Plutarch's narrative seems to have play that chronicles the successful overthrow of been an important influence, the play that Shake- a monarch), most likely as a means of gathering speare wrote is ultimately his own interpretation support for their cause. On the morning of Feb- of the story. ruary 8 about 300 followers met at Essex's house. Numerous other plays were written about Essex and his followers marched into London, Julius Caesar in the Elizabethan era. These in- brandishing swords and appealing to their fellow cluded Caesar Interfectus, presented at Oxford in citizens to rise up and join them. None did. 1582, the anonymous Caesar's Revenge, and Sir When a royal herald publicly proclaimed Essex William Alexander's Tragedy of Julius Caesar. to be a traitor, his own followers deserted him. Shakespeare's work was first staged in September The plot quickly deteriorated. Essex turned back 1599 and proved immediately popular. The play toward home and was soon arrested. Within two was later included in the first published collection weeks he was convicted of treason. He was exe- of Shakespeare's plays, the First Folio, in 1623. cuted on February 25, 1601. Shakespeare finished Julius Caesar during 1599, the same year of Essex's disgraced return Events in History at the Time the Play from Ireland. By the time of the failed conspiracy Was Written of 1601, the play was widely known. The Eng- lish people took note of the similarities between Shakespeare and Elizabethan politics. Al- the play and the actual events that unfolded and though the political events that take place in marveled anew at Shakespeare's work. Julius Caesar do not correspond directly to events of the Elizabethan era, there were similarities be- The Elizabethan conception of the world. tween the two. Like the rule of Julius Caesar, Though Julius Caesar takes place in ancient Rome, Queen Elizabeth's monarchy was not immune to Shakespeare's Elizabethan conception of the plots and conspiracies against it. The career of world influenced the content of the play. One el- Robert Devereux, Lord of Essex, which reached ement reflected in his work is the common belief

194 LITERATURE AND ITS TIMES VOLUME 1 in a direct connection between the phenomena of Humour Associated Personality the natural world and the course of human Traits Julius events. A belief in the influence of the stars upon Choler Impetuous, cunning, quick to Caesar weather, plant and animal life, people, and events anger, lean, greedy was probably held by a majority of Shakespeare's Phlegm Sluggish, forgetful, dull, slow audience. While many were skeptical of claims of Sanguine Cheerful, talkative specific knowledge about individuals based on as- (Blood) trological information, general predictions about future events were quite respected. A number of Melancholy Stable, grave, deliberate distinguished astronomers, including Tycho Cassius is characterized in Julius Caesar as Brahe (1546-1601) and Johannes Kepler (1571- choleric. While arguing with him, Brutus says, 1630), were also practicing astrologers. Further- "Must I give way and room to your rash choler?... more, it was common for people of the Eliza- Go show your slaves how choleric you are, / And bethan period to interpret comets, eclipses of the make your bondmen tremble" (Julius Caesar, sun or moon, earthquakes, and unusual sights as 4.3.39-44). In accordance with Elizabethan be- portents or warnings. When something of major lief, Cassius's choler made him quick to anger importance was about to happen, or people were but also quick to calm down. Though extremely in any particular danger of suffering from divine angry at the beginning of the discussion, Cassius anger for misdeeds, they believed that God pro- becomes immediately apologetic when he learns vided warning in the form of portents. that Brutus's wife, Portia, is dead. Other charac- Such ominous signs are plentiful in Julius Cae- teristics associated with choler were leanness and sar—thunder, lightning, storms, and many greediness, two qualities linked to Cassius dur- strange happenings occur the night before Cae- ing the play. Caesar notes at one point that he sar's murder. The characters experiencing these distrusts such a lean, cunning-looking man, phenomena interpret them as omens for the fu- while Brutus later accuses him of accepting ture. As Casca says, bribes and having "an itchy palm" (Julius Caesar, ... never till tonight, never till now, 4.3.10). Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. On the other hand, Brutus is remembered as Either there is a civil strife in heaven, a man whose humours were well-balanced. Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, Antony says of Brutus, Incenses them to send destruction. (Julius Caesar, 1.3.9-13) His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up He goes on to describe other strange images And say to the world, This was a man!' he has seen that night—a man's hand on fire yet (Julius Caesar, 5.5.73-5) not burned, a lion near the capitol, and a hun- dred ghastly women who swore they saw men on fire walking the streets. Caesar's wife Calpur- For More Information nia is concerned as well, disturbed by accounts Crawford, Michael. The Roman Republic. Cam- of strange sights seen by the night watchmen— bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, graves opening up, blood drizzling upon the 1992. capitol, and ghosts. She also has nightmares of Dodd, A. H. Life in Elizabethan England. New York: Caesar being murdered. She takes these portents G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1961. very seriously and begs her husband not to leave Dupont, Florence. Daily Life in Ancient Rome. Trans- the house the next day. He does so anyway and lated by Christopher Woodall. Cambridge, is subsequently killed. Mass.: Blackwell, 1989. Another Elizabethan belief reflected in Julius Guy, John. Tudor England. Oxford: Oxford Uni- Caesar is that human beings were composed of versity Press, 1988. four elements, or humours: choler, phlegm, san- Halliday, F. E. Shakespeare in His Age. London: Gerald Duckworth, 1956. guine (blood), and melancholy. These humours Kay, Dennis. Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era. were constantly flowing and never completely New York: William Morrow, 1992. stable. When these elements were in balance, a Scullard, H. H. Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman person was at the height of mental and physical Republic. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, health. Any humour could become dominant for 1981. a period of time, however, thus affecting per- Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Edited by T. S. sonalities in particular ways. Dorsch. London: Methuen, 1977.

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