SYNOPSIS Coriolanus is a tragedy set in ancient Rome, where a struggle for power is being waged between plebeians and patricians. The citizens, suffering from shortage of food, rebel against Caius Marcius, a brilliant general and a rigorous upholderof the virtues and values of his class. Marcius, filled by hs mother Volumnia with such pride that he cannot compromise hs aristrocatic principals, hates the common people, and they inturn hate him. Despite his opposition to the plebeians' demands, the senate allows five tribunes to represent them, including Junius Brutus and Sicinius Velutus, demagogues who despise Marcius. His fiiend Menenius Agrippa, who is popular with the plebeians, tries to mdate between him and the people, but his efforts are cut short by news of impending war: the Volscians, neighboring people led by Tullus Aufidius, plan to march on Rome. Marcius and the other generals go to stop the Volscians. At the Battle of Corioli, Marcius' bravery inspires his troops, and they defeat the enemy. Disdaining both praise and spoils, he is given the honoured title "Coriolanus." On his return to Rome, the senate nominates him as a candidate for consul. To win this ofice, Coriolanus reluctantly follows the custom that the candidate must display his wounds and gain the crowd's support in a public ceremony, and he wins scattered approval. Later, however, Sicinius and Brutus, representing the common people, refuse to endorse his appointment and persuade the mob not to vote for hlm. His friends persuade him that he should try to mollify the citizens, but goaded by the tribunes, he loses hs temper, publicly denounces the people, and is banished. Cursing Rome, Coriolanus joins Aufidius, who again plans to attack the city. Together they march on Rome. Before the gates of the city, Coriolanus appears deaf to appeals by his friends; but not to an appeal by his mother to his nobility and patriotism. He withdraws his troops to Corioli, where the jealous Aufidius denounces him as a traitor. During the confusion that follows, the mob urged on by Aufidius, stabs Coriolanus to death, and then Aufidius, filled with remorse, vows to honor his memory. .