ACT 3
Act 3, Prologue
Enter Discord.
Discord:
Now Caesar rides triumphantly through Rome,
And decks the Capitol with Pompey’s spoil:
Ambition now doth virtue’s seat usurp.
Then thou, revengeful great Adastria queen,[165]
Awake with horror of thy dubbing drum[166] 5
And call the snaky furies from below
To dash the joy of their triumphing pride.
Erinyes:[167] kindle now thy stygian brands
In discontented Brutus’ boiling breast.
Let Caesar die a bleeding sacrifice 10
Unto the soul of thy dead country Rome.
Why sleepest thou Cassius? Wake thee from thy dream -
And yet thou naught dost dream but blood and death,
For dreadful visions do affright thy sleep
And howling ghosts, with ghastly horrors, cry 15
“By Cassius’ hand must wicked Caesar die!”
Now Rome: cast off thy gaudy painted robes
And clothe thyself in sable coloured weeds!
Change thy vain triumphs into funeral pomps!
And Caesar: cast thy laurel crown apart, 20
And bind thy temples with sad cypress tree.
Of wars thus peace ensues, of peace more harms
Than erst was wrought by tragic war’s alarms.
Exit [Discord].
Act 3, Scene 1
Enter Cassius.
Cassius:
Hark how Caesarians[168] with resounding shouts
Tell heavens of their pomps and victories.
Caesar (that long in pleasure’s idle lap,
And dalliance vain of his proud courtesan,
Had lulled his stern and bloody thoughts asleep) 5
Now in Rome’s streets o’er Romans comes to triumph,
And, to the Romans, shows those trophies sad
Which from the Romans he with blood did get.
The tyrant, mounted in his golden chair,
Rides, drawn with milk-white palfries in like pride 10
As Phoebus, from his oriental gate,[169]
Mounted upon the fiery Phlegeton’s[170] backs,
Comes prancing forth, shaking his dewy locks.[171]
Caesar, thou art in glory’s chiefest pride:
Thy sun is mounted in the highest point: 15
Thou placed art in top of fortune’s wheel.
Her wheel must turn, thy glory must eclipse,
Thy sun descend and lose his radiant light,
And if none be, whose country’s ardent love
And loss of Roman liberty can move, 20
I’ll be the man that shall this task perform.
Cassius hath vowed it to dead Pompey’s soul;
Cassius hath vowed it to afflicted Rome:
Cassius hath vowed it: witness heaven and earth!
Exit.
Act 3, Scene 2
Enter Caesar, Anthony, Dolobella, Lords, two Romans, & others.
Caesar:
Now have I shaked off these womanish links,
In which my captived thoughts were chained afore
By that fair charming Circe’s wounding look,
And now, like that same ten years’ traveller
Leaving behind me all my troubles past,[172] 5
I come awaited with attending fame:
Who through her shrill triumph doth my name resound,
And makes proud Tiber and Lygurian Po[173]
(Yet a sad winter of the sungod’s loss)
Bear my name’s glory to the ocean main: 10
Which to the world’s end shall it bound it again,
As from Phaegieàn fields[174] the king of gods[175]
With conquering spoils and trophies proud returned,
When great Typheus[176] fell by thundering darts,[177]
And rode away with their celestial troops 15
In greatest pride through heaven's smooth paved way:
So shall the pompous glory of my train,
Daring to match old Saturn’s kingly son,[178]
Call down these golden lamps[179] from the bright sky
And leave heaven blind, my greatness to admire. 20
This laurel garland, in fair conquest made,
Shall stain the pride of Ariadne’s crown[180]
Clad in the beauty of my glorious lamps:
Cassiopeia, leave thy starry chair[181]
And on my sun-bright chariot wheels attend: 25
Which, in triumphing pomp, doth Caesar bear.
To earth's astonishment, and amaze of heaven.
Now look, proud Rome, from thy seven-fold seat[182]
And see the world, thy subject, at thy feet,
And Caesar ruling over all the world. 30
Dolobella:
Now let us cease to boast of Romulus,[183]
First author of high Rome and Roman’s name,
Nor talk of Scaurus,[184] worthy Africans[185]
The scourge of Libya and of Carthage pride,
Nor of unconquered Paulus' dauntless mind,[186] 35
Since Caesar’s glory them exceeds as far
As shining Phoebe[187] doth the dimmest star.
Anthony:
Like as the ship-man that hath lost the star,[188]
By which his doubtful ship he did direct,
Wanders in darkness and in cloudy night, 40
So, having lost my star, my governess
Which did direct me with her sun-bright ray,
In grief I wander and in sad dismay:
And though of triumphs and of victories
I do the outward signs and trophies bear, 45
Yet see mine inward mind under that face
Whose colours to these triumphs is disgrace.
Lord:
As when, from vanquished Macedonia
Triumphing o'er King Perseus overthrow,
Conquering Aemelius in great glory came[189] 50
Showing the world’s spoils[190] which he had bereft
From the successors of great Alexander:[191]
With such high pomp, yea greater victories,
Caesar triumphing comes into fair Rome.
First Roman:
In this one champion all is comprehended 55
Which ancient times in several men commended:
Alcides’ strength, Achilles’ dauntless heart,
Great Philip’s son by magnanimity.
Stern Pyrrhus’ valour,[192] and great Hector’s might,
And all the prowess that either Greece or Troy 60
Brought forth in that same ten years’ Trojans' war.
Second Roman:
Fair Rome! Great monument of Romulus,
Thou mighty seat of consuls and of kings,
Over-victorious, now earth’s conquerer,
Welcome thy valiant son that to thee brings 65
Spoils of the world, and exequies of kings.
Caesar:
The conquering issue of immortal Jove,[193]
Which in the Persian spoils first fetch his fame,
(Then through Hydaspes,[194] and the Caspian waves,
Unto the sea unknown his praise did propagate) 70
Must to my glory vail his conquering crest.
The Libyan[195] sands, and Affrick Sirts[196] he passed
Bactrians[197] and Zogdians,[198] known but by their names,
Whereby, his arms' resistless powers subdued,
And Ganges' streams, congealed with Indian blood, 75
Could not transport his burden to the sea.
But these ne'er learned at Mars his games to play,
Nor tossed these bloody balls of dread and death.
Arar[199] and proud Saramna[200] speaks my praise,
Rhodians[201] shrill tritons, through their brazen trumps, 80
Echo my fame against the Gallian Towers,
And Isis wept to see her daughter Thames[202]
Change her clear crystal to vermilion sad.
The big boned German and Helvetian stout,
Which well have learned to toss a tuskèd spear 85
And well can curb a noble stomached horse,
Can Caesar’s valour witness, to their grief.
Juba, [203] the mighty Affrick[204] Potentate,
That with his coal-black negroes to the field,
Backed with Numidian and Getulian[205] horse, 90
Hath felt the puissance of a Roman sword.
I entered Asia with my banners spread,
Displayed the Eagle on the Euxine Sea[206]
(By Jason first and ventrous Argo cut),
And in the rough Cimmerian Bosphorus[207] 95
A heavy witness of Pharnaces'[208] flight:
And now am come to triumph here in Rome
With greater glory than e'er Roman did.
Exeunt [Omnes].
Sound drums and Trumpets amain.
Enter Anthony.
Anthony:
Alas! These triumphs move not me at all,
But only do renew remembrance sad 100
Of her triumphing and imperious looks
Which is the saint and idol of my thoughts.
First was I wounded by her piercing eye,
Next prisoner ta'en by her captiving speech,
And now she triumphs o'er my conquered heart, 105
In Cupid’s chariot riding in her pride,
And leads me captive, bound in beauty’s bonds.
Caesar’s lip-love, that never touched his heart,
By present triumph and the absent fire
Is now waxed cold; but mine, that was more deep 110
Engraven in the marble of my breast,
Nor time nor fortune e'er can raze it out.
Enter Anthony's bonus genius.[209]
Genius:
Anthony! Base female Anthony!
Thou woman’s soldier, fit for night's assaults.
Hast thou so soon forgot the discipline 115
And wilsome tasks thy youth was trainèd to?
Thy soft down pillow was a helm of steel;
The cold damp earth, a bed to ease thy toil:
Affrigted slumbers were thy golden sleeps:
Hunger and thirst, thy sweetest delicates: 120
Stern horror, ghastly wounds, pale grisly death,
Thy wind-depressing[210] pleasures and delights:
And now, so soon, hath one enchanted face
These manly labours lulled in drowsy sleep?
The gods (whose messenger I here do stand) 125
Will not then drown thy fame in idleness:
Yet must Philippi[211] see thy high exploits,
And all the world ring of thy victories.
Anthony:
Say what thou art, that in this dreadful sort
Forbidd'st me of my Cleopatra's love. 130
Genius:
I am thy bonus Genius, Anthony,
Which to thy dull ears this do prophesy:
That fatal face, which now doth so bewitch thee,
Like to that vain unconstant Greekish dame[212]
Which made the stately Ilian[213] towers to smoke, 135
Shall thousand bleeding Romans lay on ground:
Hymen,[214] in sable not in saffron robes,[215]
Instead of rounds shall doleful dirges sing:
For nuptial tapers, shall the furies bear
Blue-burning torches to increase your fear: 140
The bridegroom’s skull shall make the bridal bonds:
And hellborn hags shall dance an antic round,
While "Hecate[216] Hymen heu, heu" Hymen cries.
And now methinks I see the sea’s blue face
Hidden with ships, and now the trumpets sound, 145
And weak Canopus[217] with the Eagle strives.[218]
Neptune, amazed at this dreadful sight,
Calls blue sea gods for to behold the fight:
Glaucus[219] and Panopea[220], Proteus[221] old,
VVho now for fear changeth his wonted shape. 150
Thus your vain love, which with delight began
In idle sport, shall end with blood and shame.
Exit [Genius].
Anthony:
What – was’t my Genius that me threatened thus?
They say that from our birth he doth preserve:
And on me will he pour these miseries? 155
What burning torches, what alarums of war,
What shames did he to my loves prophesy?
O no, he comes as wingèd Mercury
From his great father Jove, t' Anchises' son[222]
To warn him leave the wanton dalliance 160
And charming pleasures of the Tyrian Court.[223]
Then wake thee, Anthony, from this idle dream!
Cast off these base effeminate passions
Which melt the courage of thy manlike mind,
And with thy sword receive[224] thy sleeping praise. 165
Exit [Anthony].
Act 3, Scene 3
Enter Brutus.
Brutus:
How long in base ignoble patience
Shall I behold my country's woeful fall?
O you brave Romans, and amongst the rest
Most noble Brutus, fair befall your souls:
Let peace and fame your honoured graves await 5
Who, through such perils and such tedious wars,
Won your great labour's prize, sweet liberty.
But we, that with our life did freedoms take
(And did no sooner men, than free men, breathe)
To lose it now, continuing so long 10
And with such laws, such vows, such oaths confirmed,
Can nothing but disgrace and shame expect.
But soft what see I written on my seat?
"O utinam Brute viveres." [225]
What meaneth this? Thy courage dead - 15
But stay, read forward, "Brute mortuus es."[226]
Aye, thou art dead indeed: thy courage dead,
Thy care and love, thy dearest country dead,
Thy wonted spirit and noble stomach dead.
Enter Cassius.
Cassius:
The times draw near by gracious heavens assigned 20
When Philip's son must fall in Babylon[227]
In his triumphing proud presumptìon -[228]
But see where melancholy Brutus walks
Whose mind is hammering on no mean conceit:
Then sound him, Cassius, see how he's[229] inclined. 25
How fares young Brutus in this tottering state?
Brutus:
Even as an idle gazer, that beholds
His country's wrecks and cannot succour bring.
Cassius:
But will Brute always in this dream remain
And not be moved with his country's moan? 30
Brutus:
O that I might in Lethe's endless sleep[230]
And near awaking pleasant rest of death
Close up mine eyes, that I no more might see
Poor Rome's distress and country's misery.
Casius:
No, Brutus, live, and wake thy sleepy mind: 35
Stir up those dying sparks of honour's fire
Which in thy gentle breast were wont to flame.
See how poor Rome, oppressed with country's wrongs,
Implores thine aid, that bred thee to that end.
Thy kinsman's soul from heaven commands thine aid 40
That lastly must by thee receive his end.
Then purchase honour by a glorious death,
Or live renowned by ending Caesar's life.
Brutus:
I can no longer bear the tyrant's pride.
I cannot hear my country cry for aid 45
And not be movèd with her pitious moan.
Brutus, thy soul shall never more complain
That, from thy lineage and most virtuous stock,
A bastard weak degenerate branch is born
For to distain the honour of thy house. 50
No more shall now the Romans call me dead:
I'll live again and rouse my sleepy thoughts,
And with the tyrant's death begin this life.
Rome, now I come to rear thy states decayed,
When e'er this hand shall cure thy fatal wound, 55
Or else this heart by bleeding on the ground.
Cassius:
Now heaven I see applauds this enterprise,
And Rhadamanth into the fatal urn,[231]
That loatheth death, hath thrust the tyrant's name,
Caesar, the life that thou in blood hast led 60
Shall heap a bloody vengeance on thine head.
Exeunt.
Act 3, Scene 4
Enter Caesar, Anthony, Dolobella, Lords, and others.
Caesar:
Now servile Parthia, proud in Roman spoil,
Shall pay her ransom unto Caesar’s ghost[232]
Which, unrevenged, roves by the stygian strond,[233]
Exclaiming on our sluggish negligence.
Leave to lament, brave Romans: lo I come, 5
Like to the god of battle, mad with rage,
To dye their rivers with vermilion red:
I’ll fill Armenian’s plains and Median’s hills[234]
With carcasses of bastard Scythian brood,
And their proud princes will I bring to Rome, 10
Chained in fetters to my chariot wheels.
Desire of fame and hope of sweet revenge,
(Which in my breast hath kindled such a flame
As nor Euphrates nor sweet Tiber’s stream
Can quench or stack this fervent boiling heat) 15
These conquering soldiers that have followed me
From vanquished France to sun-burnt Meroè,
Matching the best of Alexander’s troops,
Shall with their looks put Parthian foes to flight,
And make them twice turn their deceitful looks.[235] 20
Anthony:
This restless mind that harbours sorrowing thoughts,
And is with child of noble enterprise,
Doth never cease from honour’s toilsome task
Till it brings forth eternal glory’s brood.
So you, fair branch of virtue’s great descent, 25
Now having finished civil war’s sad brawls
Intend by Parthian triumphs to enlarge
Your country's limits, and your own renown.
But ‘cause in Sybil’s[236] civil writs we find,
None but a king that conquest can achieve, 30
Both for to crown your deeds with due reward
And as auspicious signs of victory,
We here present you with this diadem.
Lord:
And e'en as kings were banished Rome’s high throne
‘Cause their base vice her honour did destain, 35
So to your rule doth she submit herself,
That her renown thereby might brighter shine.
Caesar:
Why think you Lords that ‘tis ambition's spur
That pricketh Caesar to these high attempts?
Or hope of crowns or thought of diadems 40
That made me wade through honour’s perilous deep?
Virtue unto itself a sure reward.
My labours all shall have a pleasing doom,
If you but judge I will deserve of Rome.
Did those old Romans suffer so much ill, 45
Such tedious sieges, such enduring wars,
Tarquinius’ hates, and great Porsenna’s threats,[237]
To banish proud imperious tyrant’s rule,
And shall my ever-daring thoughts contend
To mar what they have brought to happy end? 50
Or think you, ‘cause my fortune hath expelled[238]
My friends - come let us march in jollity -
I’ll triumph monarch-like o’er conquering Rome
Or end my conquests with my country's spoils?
Dolobella:
O noble princely resolutìon. 55
These are not victories that we so call,
That only blood and murderous spoils can vaunt.
But this shall be thy victory, brave prince,
That thou hast conquered thine own climbing thoughts,
And with thy virtue beat ambition down: 60
And this no less emblazon shall thy fame
Than those great deeds and chivalrous attempts
That made thee conqueror in Thessalia.[239]
Anthony:
This noble mind and princely modesty,
Which, in contempt of honour’s brightness, shines, 65
Makes us to wish the more for such a prince
Whose virtue, not ambition, won that praise.
Nor shall we think it loss of liberty,
Or Roman liberty any way impeached,
For to subject us to his princely rule, 70
Whose thoughts fair virtue and true honour guides:
Vouchsafe then to accept this golden crown,
A gift not equal to thy dignity.
Caesar:
Content you, Lords, for I will be no king -
An odious name unto the Roman ear. 75
Caesar I am, and will be Caesar still
(No other title shall my fortunes grace)
Which I will make a name of higher state
Than monarch, king or world's great potentate.
Of Jove in heaven, shall ruled be the sky, 80
The earth of Caesar, with like majesty.
This is the sceptre that my crown shall bear,
And this the golden diadem I’ll wear;
A far more rich and royal ornament
Than all the crowns that the proud Persian gave.[240] 85
Forward my Lords, let trumpets sound our march
And drums strike up revenge’s sad alarms.
Parthia we come with like incensèd heat
As great Atrides with the angry Greeks
Marching in fury to pale walls of Troy. 90
Act 3, Scene 5
Enter Cassius, Brutus, Trebonius, Cumber, Casca.
Trebonius:
Brave Lords, whose forward resolutìon
Shows you descended from true Roman line,
See how old Rome, in winter of her age,
Rejoiceth in such princely budding hopes:
No less than once she in Decius[241] virtue did, 5
Or great Camillus bringing back of spoils.[242]
On then, brave Lords, of this attempt begun.
The sacred Senate doth commend the deed;
Your country’s love incites you to the deed;
Virtue herself makes warrant of the deed: 10
Then, noble Romans, as you have begun
Never desist until this deed be done.
Casius:
To thee, revenge, doth Cassius kneel him down:
Thou that brings quiet to perplexèd souls,
And, born in hell, yet harbourest heaven’s joys; 15
Whose savour slaughter is, and dandling death,
Bloodthirsty pleasures and misboding blisses;
Brought forth of fury, nurse of cankered hate,
To drown in woe the pleasures of the world.
Thou shalt no more in duskish Erebus[243] 20
And darksome hell obscure thy deity.
Instead of Jove thou shalt my goddess be:
To thee fair temples Cassius will erect:
And on thine altar built of Parian stone
Whole hecatombas will I offer up.[244] 25
Laugh, gentle goddess, on my bold attempt:
Yet in thy laughter let pale meagre death
Be wrapped in wrinkles of thy murdering spoils.
Brutus:
Another Tarquin is to be expelled -
Another Brutus lives to act the deed. 30
‘Tis not one nation that this Tarquin wrongs:
All Rome is stained with his unruled desires.
She, whose imperial sceptre was inured
To conquer kings and to control the world,
Cannot abate the glory of her state 35
To yield or bow to one man’s proud desires:
Sweet country Rome, here Brutus vows to thee
To lose his life or else to set thee free.
Cassius:
Shame be his share that doth his life so prize
That to Rome’s weal it would not sacrifice. 40
My poniard's point shall pierce his heart as deep
As erst his sword Rome’s bleeding side did gore,
And change his garments to the purple dye
With which our blood had stained sad Thessaly.
Camber:
He doth refuse the title of a king, 45
But we do see he doth usurp the thing.
Trebonius:
Our ancient freedom he empeacheth more
Then ever king or tyrant did before.
Casca:
The Senators by him are quite disgraced:
Rome, Romans, city, freedom, all defaced. 50
Cassius:
We come not, Lords, as unresolvèd men
For to show causes of the deed decreed.
This shall dispute for me and tell him why
This heart, hand, mind, hath marked him out to die.
If it be true that furies’ quenchless thirst 55
Is pleased with quaffing of ambitious blood,
Then all you devils whet my poniard's point
And I will broach you a bloodsucking heart
(Which full of blood, must blood store to you yield)
Were it a pierce to flint or marble stone.[245] 60
Why so it is, for Caesar’s heart's a stone,
Else would be movèd with my country’s moan.
They say you furies instigate men's minds
And push their arms to finish bloody deeds.
Prick then mine elbow: goad my bloody hand 65
That it may gore Caesar’s ambitious heart.
Exeunt.
Act 3, Scene 6
Enter Caesar, Calphurnia.
Caesar:
Why thinks my love to fright me with her dreams?
Shall bugbears[246] fear Caesar’s undaunted heart,
Whom Pompey's fortune never could amaze,
Nor the French horse, nor Mauretanian[247] bow:
And now shall vain illusions me affright 5
Or shadows daunt, whom substance could not quell?
Calphurnia:
O dearest Caesar, hadst thou seen thyself
(As troubled dreams to me did feign thee seen)
Torn, wounded, maimed, blood-slaughtered, slain,
O thou thyself wouldst then have dread thyself 10
And feared to thrust thy life to danger’s mouth.
Caesar:
There you betray the folly of your dream
For I am well, alive, uncaught, untouched.
Calphurnia:
‘Twas in the Senate-house I saw thee so,
And yet thou, dreadless, thither needs will go. 15
Caesar:
The Senate is a place of peace, not death,
But these were but deluding visìons.
Calphurnia:
O, do not set so little by the heavens.
Dreams are divine: men say they come from Jove.
Beware betimes, and be not wise too late: 20
Men’s good endeavours change the wills of fate.
Caesar:
Weep not, fair love. Let not thy woeful tears
Bode[248] me: I know what thou would’st not have to hap.
It will distain mine honour won in fight
To say a woman’s dream could me affright. 25
Calphurnia:
O Caesar! No dishonour canst thou get
In seeking to prevent unlucky chance:
Foolhardy men do run upon their death.
Be thou in this persuaded by thy wife:
No valour bids thee cast away thy life. 30
Caesar:
‘Tis dastard cowardice and childish fear
To dread those dangers that do not appear.
Calphurnia:
Thou must sad chance, by forecast wise, resist
Or, being done, say bootless had I wist.
Caesar:
But for to fear where's no suspicìon, 35
Will to my greatness be derisìon.
Calphurnia:
There lurks an adder in the greenest grass:
Dangers of purpose always hide their face.
Caesar:
Persuade no more. Caesar's resolved to go.
Calphurnia:
The heavens resolve that he may safe return: 40
For if aught happen to my love but well,
His danger shall be doubled with my death.
Exit Calphurnia.
Enter Augur.
Augur:
Aye, come they are, but yet they are not gone.[249]
Caesar:
What? Hast thou sacrificed, as custom is,
Before we enter in the Senate-house? 45
Augur:
O stay those steps that lead thee to thy death.
The angry heavens, with threatening dire aspect
Boding mischance and baleful massacres,
Menace the overthrow of Caesar’s power:
Saturn sits frowning on the god of war, 50
Who in their sad conjunction do conspire
(Uniting both their baleful influences)
To heap mischance, and danger to thy life.
The sacrificing beast is heartless found:
Sad ghastly sights and raisèd ghosts appear 55
Which fill the silent woods with groaning cries:
The hoarse night-raven tunes the cheerless voice,
And calls the baleful owl and howling dog
To make a concert, in whose sad song is this:
“Near is the overthrow of Caesar’s bliss.” 60
Exit Augur.
Caesar:
The world is set to fray me from my wits.
Here's heartless sacrifice and visìons,
Howling and cries, and ghastly groans of ghosts -
Soft, Caesar, do not make a mockery
Of these prodigious signs sent from the heavens. 65
Calphurnia’s dream Iumping with[250] augur’s words
Show (if thou mark'st it Caesar) cause to fear.
This day the Senate there shall be dissolved,
And I'll return to my Calphurnia home.
[Praecentor enters and][251] gives him a paper.
What hast thou here that thou presents us with? 70
Praecentor:
A thing my Lord that doth concern your life,
Which love to you and hate of such a deed
Makes me reveal unto your excellence.
Caesar laughs.
Smil'st thou, or think'st thou it some idle toy?
Thou’t frown anon to read so many names 75
That have conspired and sworn thy bloody death.
Exit.
Enter Cassius.
Cassius:
Now must I come, and with close subtle girds[252]
Deceive the prey that I'll devour anon.
My Lord, the sacred Senate doth expect
Your royal presence in Pompey’s court.[253] 80
Caesar:
Cassius, they tell me that some danger’s nigh,
And death pretended in the Senate house.
Cassius:
What danger or what wrong can be
Where harmless gravity and virtue sits?
‘Tis past all danger: present death it is, [Aside] 85
Nor is it wrong to render due desert.
To fear the Senators without a cause, [To Caesar]
Will be a cause why they'll be to be feared,
Caesar:
The Senate stays for me in Pompey’s court,
And Caesar’s here and dares not go to them. 90
Pack hence all dread of danger and of death:
What must be must be; Caesar’s pressed for all.
Cassius:
Now have I sent him headlong to his end,
Vengeance and death awaiting at his heels.
Caesar, thy life now hangeth on a twine 95
Which by my poniard must be cut in twain.
Thy chair of state now turned is to thy bier,
Thy princely robes to make thy winding sheet,
The Senators the mourners o'er the hearse,
And Pompey’s court thy dreadful grave shall be. 100
[A curtain is pulled back revealing the interior of the Senate house including a large statue of Pompey, and the Senators.][254]
Senators cry all at once.
Omnes:
Hold down the tyrant! Stab him to the death!
Cassius:
Now doth the music play, and this the song
That Cassius’ heart hath thirsted for so long:
And now my poniard in this mazing sound
Must strike that touch that must his life confound. 105
Stab on! Stab on! Thus should your poniards play
A loud deep note upon this trembling key.
Stabs him.
Bucolian:
Bucolian sends thee this.
Stabs him.
Cumber:
And Cumber this.
Stabs him.
Casca:
Take this from Casca for to quiet Rome’s wrongs.
Caesar:
Why, murderous villains, know you who you strike? 110
‘Tis Caesar! Caesar whom your poniards pierce:
Caesar whose name might well affright such slaves.
O heavens that see and hate this heinous guilt
And thou immortal Jove that idle holdest
Deluding thunder in thy fainting hand, 115
Why stay'st thy dreadful doom, and dost withhold
Thy three-forked engine to revenge my death?[255]
But if my plaints the heavens cannot move,
Then blackest hell and Pluto be thou judge: [256]
You grisly daughters of the cheerless night,[257] 120
Whose hearts nor prayer nor pity e'er could lend,
Leave the black dungeon of your chaos deep:
Come and, with flaming brands into the world,
Revenge and death bring, seated in your eyes,
And plague these villains for their treacheries. 125
Enter Brutus.
Brutus:
I have held Anthony with a vain discourse
The whilst the deed's in executìòn -
But lives he still? Yet doth the tyrant breathe,
Challenging heavens with his blasphemies?
Here, Brutus maketh a passage for thy soul [Brutus stabs Caesar.] 130
To plead thy cause for them whose aid thou cravest.
Caesar:
What Brutus too? Nay, nay, then let me die.
Nothing wounds deeper than ingratitude.
Brutus:
Aye, bloody Caesar! Caesar, Brutus too
Doth give thee this, and this, to quiet Rome’s wrongs. 135
[Brutus stabs Caesar twice more. Caesar dies.]
Cassius:
O! had the tyrant had as many lives
As that fell Hydra,[258] born in Lerna lake,
That here I still might stab, and stabbing kill
Till that more lives might be extinguishèd
Than his ambition Romans slaughterèd. 140
Trebonius:
How heavens have justly on the author’s head
Returned the guiltless blood which he hath shed:
And Pompey, he who caused thy tragedy
Here breathless lies before thy noble statue.
Enter Anthony.
Anthony:
What cries of death resound within my ears? 145
Whom I do see? Great Caesar butchered thus?
What, said I “great”? Aye, Caesar, thou wast great,
But O that greatness was that brought thy death.
O unjust heavens (if heavens at all there be
Since virtue’s wrongs makes question of your powers) 150
How could your starry eyes this shame behold?
How could the sun see this and not eclipse?
Fair bud of fame ill cropped before thy time:
What Hyrcan tiger[259] or wild savage boar
(For he more heard than boar or tiger was) 155
Durst do so vile and execrate a deed.
Could not those eyes so full of majesty,
Nor priesthood (o not thus to be profaned),
Nor yet the reverence to this sacred place,
Nor flowing eloquence of thy golden tongue, 160
Nor name made famous through immortal merit
Deter those murderers from so vile[260] a deed?
Sweet friend, accept these obsequies of mine
Which here with tears I do unto thy hearse,
And thou being placed among the shining stars 165
Shalt down from heaven behold what deep revenge
I will inflict upon the murderers.
Exit with Caesar, in his arms.
[Exeunt omnes.]
[165] Line 4: Adastria queen - Nemesis (Invidia) is the Greek goddess of righteous indignation who punished hubris; she reverses excessive good fortune, checks presumption, and punishes wrongdoing. "Nemesis" means "dispenser of dues", and she was seen as the restorer of balance (one of her symbols is the wheel). "Adastria" is a corruption of another of her names, "Adrasteia" meaning "unavoidable".
[166] Line 5: dubbing drum - a "dub" is the sound of a drum when beaten (OED: n3 1.), so "dubbing" is an onomatopaeic description of the beating of a drum (OED: v2 2.).
[167] Line 8: Erinyes - Furies, see note 16.
[168] Line 1: Caesarians - 1. Followers of Cæsar (OED: B. n 1.).
[169] Line 11: oriental gate - "oriental" meaning of or in the eastern part of the sky (OED: A. adj 1.).
[170] Line 12: Phlegeton's backs - Phlegeton is the fiery river in the underworld. It would appear that the author has confused this with Phlegon, the name of one of the horses that pulls the sun god's chariot (the other three being Pyroeis, Eöus and Æthon).
[171] Lines 11-13: As Phoebus...locks - Compare to Spenser's Faerie Queene Bk I, Canto v, V 2, "the golden Orientall gate/ Of greatest heauen gan to open faire/ And Phoebus.fresh, as bridegrome to his mate,/ Came dauncing forth, shaking his deawie haire.".
[172] Lines 3-5: Circe's...past - see note 125. After defeating Circe's wiles, Odysseus stayed with her for a year (in which he fathered several children) before continuing his journey home. However, he did not leave his troubles behind as he had other difficulties to overcome both in the journey and after his return home.
[173] Line 8: Lygurian Po - The River Po (the present day Eridanus) empties into the Lygurian Sea.
[174] Line 12: Phegiean fields - Harry Morgan Ayres corrects this to "Phlegraean fields" in his 1910 article "Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar in the Light of Some Other Versions". This is a 13km wide caldera to the west of Naples, the mythological home of Hephaistos (Vulcan).
[175] Line 12: the king of gods - Zeus.
[176] Line 14: Typheus - Or Typhone was a huge monster human from the waist down but with wings and dragons heads instead of fingers. He terrifed most of the gods who ran away and hid in animal form.
[177] Line 14: thundering darts - Zeus stood and fought whilst the others hid, throwing thunderbolts and slashing him with a sickle. After much too-ing and fro-ing, Zeus had him on the run. As Typheus fled Zeus threw Mount Etna on top of him.
[178] Line 18: old Saturn's kingly son - Saturn (Cronos) is the father of Jupiter.
[179] Line 19: golden lamps - The stars.
[180] Line : Ariadne's crown - Originally thought to refer to the Corona Australis constellation, this was later associated with the Corona Borealis constellation. The story of the crown (with many variations) runs that Theseus was a son of Poseidon and upon his arrival in Crete to fight the minotaur he was tested by Minos. Minos threw a gold ring into the sea and Theseus was expected to find it. The Nereids helped him and either Thetis or Amphitrite gave him a crown. Ariadne, Minos' daughter helped Theseus defeat the minotaur in return for marriage, but Theseus left her on the island of Dia (Naxos) on his way home. Dionysis (Bacchus) found her there, married her and crowned her with Theseus's crown. They had many children and he eventually placed the crown in the heavens to honour her.
[181] Line 24: Cassiopeia ... starry chair - For the myth of Cassiopeia, see note 67. There are a number variations as to how the constellation ended up in the sky: Neptune placed her there chained to her throne to punish her because she tried to renege on the deal with Perseus, that he could marry Andromeda if he saved her; alternatively, she regained enough honour during her lifetime for a position in the stars. However, the Nereids were still angry, so she was placed circling the pole star and has to hang upsidedown in an undignified manner for a part of every night.
[182] Line : seven-fold seat - Rome is "seated" on seven hills.
[183] Line 31: Romulus - Traditionally, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were the founders of Rome. Fathered by Mars, abandoned in a reed basket on the River Tiber, they were rescued by the river god, suckled by a she-wolf, and grew up strong and noble amongst simple farming folks. Romulus killed Remus during the founding of Rome allegedly for the good of the state, and went on to be a very successful leader, and, finally, a god in the form of Quirinus.
[184] Line 33: Scaurus - Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a great and powerful politician. He was involved in the settling of a Numidian civil war, thereby securing trading peace in this part of Africa for Rome.
[185] Line 33: worthy Africans - This may refer to Scaurus as mentioned above. However, the mention of Libya and Carthage in the next line suggest it refers to Scipio Africanus Major who defeated Carthage at the battle of Zama in 202 BC.
[186] Line 35: Paulus' dauntless mind - Lucius Aemilius Paulus was held up as the ideal Philosopher/Statesman. He is renowned for defeating and capturing Perseus the Macedonian king (for which he received the name "Macedonicus"), and celebrated his return to Rome with a spectacular triumph.
[187] Line 37: shining Phoebe - In Greek mythology Phoebe and Coeus were the Titans of the moon until the Olympians replaced them. They are said to be the parents of Leto who, in turn was the mother of Apollo and Artemis. Therefore, Phoebe is another name for the moon.
[188] Line 38: the star - The Pole star is the fixed point in the night sky of the northern hemisphere by which sailors can work out their position.
[189] Lines 48-50: Aemilius - see note 186.
[190] Line 51: world's spoils - Returning triumphant from Macedonia, Aemilius found that his army were unhappy with the amount of spoils they had gained. He therefore took them on a side journey plundering the already subjugated kingdom of Epirus sacking 70 cities and bankrupting the entire region.
[191] Line 52: Alexander - Alexander the Great was the son of Philip of Macedonia.
[192] Line 59: Pyrrhus' valour - Pyrrhus was the second cousin of Alexander the Great, and one of the most successful generals of the Hellenistic period. In the Battle of Asculum (279 BC) against the Romans, he won such a costly victory that he is said to have remarked "One more such victory will undo me.", hence the term "Pyrrhic victory".
[193] Line 67: conquering issue of immortal Jove - Alexander the Great.
[194] Line 69: Hydaspes - A fabulous Indian river, also known as the Jhelum.
[195] Line 72: Libyan - Originally "Lybick" sands, presumably the same quicksands Cornelia would not permit to split her union with Pompey in Act I Scene 5 Line 45 - particularly in their closeness (verbal and geographical) to the "Affrick Sirts". The word "Lybicke" appears twice in Spenser's Faerie Queene. The first instance is "In cruell fight on lybicke Ocean wide" (Bk II, Canto ii, V 22) referring to the meeting of a bear and a tiger, the second refers to Aeneas wandering for years "From shore to shore, emongst the Lybicke sands,/ Ere rest he found." (Bk III, Canto ix, V 41).
[196] Line 72: Affrick Sirts - To update "Affrick" to "African" would harm the metre of the line. Originally "Africk", I have added an extra "f" to standardise with other instances where updating would harm the metre. The Sirt Basin is in Libya and extends out into the Mediterranean. It contains substantial deposits of oil and gas.
[197] Line 73: Bactrians - Bactria is the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus River). It was part of the Persian Empire. Darius' cavalry were from Bactria.
[198] Line 73: Zogdians - Probably the inhabitants of Sogdiana, a historical region of Central Asia currently comprised of Southern Uzbekistan and Western Tajikistan.
[199] Line 79: Arar - The River Arar (currently the Saône River) in Gaul (France) which featured in the Gallic Wars. At the Battle of Arar a quarter of the Helvetii were caught before they could cross the river. Caesar defeated them and continued chasing the ones who had managed to cross.
[200] Line 79: Saramna - C G Moore Smith amends this to the Garumna (Garonne) River (Notes and Queries, 12S. II. Oct. 21, 1916). The Volcae Arecomisci tribe voluntarily surrendered to Caesar; their territory was bordered by the Garonne, the Rhone and the Cévennes (mountains in south central France).
[201] Line 80: Rhodians' - Originally "Rohdans". Caesar went to the island of Rhodes in 74 BC to study rhetoric with Apollonius Molon (teacher of Cicero). En route he was kidnapped by pirates, ransomed and then led a successful attack to capture and execute them. After a short stay on Rhodes, he crossed over to Asia and levied troops to fight Mithridates who was waging war in the province.
[202] Line 82: Isis...Thames - In the upper reaches of the River Thames, it is called the River Isis. The name changes at Dorchester-upon-Thames where the Isis meets the Thame, combining the names.
[203] Line 88: Juba - One of Pompey's client kings, defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC, along with the remains of Pompey's supporters.
[204] Line 88: Affrick - In this case it would damage the metre to change this to "African".
[205] Line 90: Getulian - The Getuli lived in the northern parts of the African desert, south of Mauritania, Numidia and Cyrenaica. They were presented by the ancient authors as a barbarian and violent people, and were such excellent riders that they did not use bridles on their horses.
[206] Line 91: Euxine Sea - The Black Sea.
[207] Line 95: Cimmerian Bosphorus - This is the Kerch Strait which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.
[208] Line 96: Pharnaces - The King of Pontus took advantage of Caesar being distracted by the civil war. However, Caesar vanquished him in 47BC, caming down on him so fast that he was defeated by a small detachment of cavalry. This engagement prompted Caesar to send a letter including the much quoted "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered").
[209] Stage Direction: bonus genius - This may be a guardian angel figure, capable of guiding or warning the character, or the higher part of a person's soul, or part of the world soul.
[210] Line 122: wind-depressing - Possibly "breath-taking". F S Boas suggests "minde" instead of "winde", presumably building on the concept of being drugged by pleasure.
[211] Line 127: Philippi - Philippi in Greece is the venue of the final confrontation between Caesar's murderers and Anthony and Octavian.
[212] Line 134: unconstant Greekish dame - Helen of Troy, who was married to Menelaus, ran off with Paris, and then returned with Menelaus after the war. During the Iliad Helen's feelings fluctuate between her old life and family and her new life with Paris.
[213] Line135: Ilian - Trojan.
[214] Line 137: Hymen - The Roman god of weddings (or of the wedding song sung when the bride was processed through the streets to her new home), usually depicted as a young man with wings carrying a torch or a bridal veil.
[215] Line 137: sable/saffron robes - Roman funeral garb was a black dress called a "lugubria". The bride at a Roman wedding wore a saffron (yellow-orange-red) veil called a "flammeum". Anthony's love for Cleopatra is doomed.
[216] Line 143: Hecate - Originally a goddess of childbirth and wild places from Caria, Hecate gradually became absorbed into other cults. Statues of her were placed in doorways to ward away evil spirits which led to her becoming associated with the borderline between the real and spirit worlds and her connection with witchcraft. She also guarded three-way road intersections.
[217] Line 146: Canopus - An Egyptian city connected with the Ptolomeys and licentious behaviour.
[218] Line 146: Canopus with the Eagle strives - Anthony and Cleopatra finally lose to Octavian's forces at the Battle of Actium. They were stronger on land, but Cleopatra persuaded Anthony to fight at sea. Halfway through the battle she ran away taking her 60 ships with her. Anthony turned tail following her, leaving the rest of his fleet to die.
[219] Line 149: Glaucus - A shiny blue sea god.
[220] Line 149: Panopea - A nereid.
[221] Line 149: Proteus - The old man of the sea, who can tell the future but changes shape to avoid doing so.
[222] Line 159: Anchises' son - Aeneas.
[223] Line 161: Tyrian Court - Carthage was a colony of Tyre. Aeneas stops to rest there and is looked after by their queen, Dido, who falls in love with him. But Aeneas has a destiny to help start the Roman race, so Mercury (Hermes) is sent to prompt him to move on. He leaves Dido who, unable to live without his love, burns herself alive. The Aeneid was written only a few years after Octavian defeated Anthony and Cleopatra, and provides an interesting contrast between the characters of the two women.
[224] Line 166: receive - Perhaps this word should be "revive".
[225] Line 14: O utinam Brute viveres - Latin translation: "If only, Brutus, you were living!"
[226] Line 16: Brute mortuus es - Latin translation: " Brutus you are dead!"
[227] Line 21: Philip's son must fall in Babylon - Alexander the Great died in Babylon aged 32. There is some dispute about what he died from; some people think he was poisoned, but others have suggested influenza with complications or malaria.
[228] Line 22: presumption - Alexander the Great, towards the end of his life began to put on airs. He took up Persian customs which were not popular with his troops, and married Darius' daughter. Since the Egyptians made him a Pharoah, he had accepted that he would be deified after death and began a cult worshipping himself as a god to unite his conquered people under one religion, and expected everyone to bow to him.
[229] Line 25: he's - "hee is" in the original text, but "he's" fits the metre better.
[230] Line 31: Lethe's endless sleep - Lethe is one of the rivers of the underworld. Touching its waters induced forgetfulness and eternal sleep.
[231] Line 58: Rhadamanth into the fatal urn - Judge of the dead, see note 107. In Aeneid Book VI it is Minos who has an urn of justice, not Rhadamanthus.
[232] Lines 1-2: Parthia...Caesar's ghost - Boas suggests "Crassus" rather than "Caesar" which makes sense in this context. Crassus had been defeated by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, and with the civil war over Caesar was planning a new campaign against the Parthians.
[233] Line 3: stygian strond - "strond" means the land bordering a sea, lake, or river (OED: n1 1.a.). In this case the unavenged spirit of Crassus wanders the banks of the River Styx unable to cross to the underworld until he has been avenged.
[234] Line 8: Median's hills - The Median empire covered northwestern portions of present-day Iran, and roughly the areas of present day Kurdistan, Hamedan, Tehran, Azarbaijan, Esfahan and Zanjan.
[235] Line 20: twice turn their deceitful looks - The Parthian light cavalry were archers. Using the Scythian bow which is short and has a double curve, they would race in firing arrows to soften up the enemy. Caesar here refers to their famous tactic of feigning retreat while shooting behind at pursuing enemies (creating the phrase "Parthian shot"); they have turned away to retreat, turning back to fire arrows behind them, but then turned a second time in true retreat.
[236] Line 29: Sybil - see note 156.
[237] Line 47: Porsenna...Tarquin - see note 147.
[238] Lines 51-52: Or think you ... jollity - There may be a lacuna here.
[239] Line 63: Thessalia - Thessaly, southern Greece. This refers to the defeat of Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus at the start of the play.
[240] Line 85: crowns that the proud Persian gave - This might refer to an apocryphal story about Xerxes who, on returning from his defeats in Greece travelled by sea in a Phoenician ship. When a great wind arose, the overladen ship was foundering. Xerxes asked the helmsman if there was any way to save the ship. On hearing that the load needed to be lightened, Xerxes asked his followers to save their king by jumping overboard, which many did. Xerxes rewarded the helmsman with a gold crown for saving the king's life, but ordered him executed for causing the deaths of so many Persians.
[241] Line 5: Decius - Publius Decius Mus was the name of three successive Romans in the same family who each devoted themselves to the gods and exposed themselves to the enemy as a sacrifice to guarantee the safety and success of their troops. There is some confusion as to whether the third Decius died or survived.
[242] Line 6: Camillus - The dictator Marcus Furius Camillus in 396 BC led the Romans final attack on Veii, an Etruscan city of great wealth. They finally ended the siege by tunnelling under the walls and attacking from without and within. The spoils were immense.
[243] Line 20: Erebus - The darkness of the underworld, brother to Night (Nyx, Nox).
[244] Line 25: hecatombas – (“hecatombs” in the original text – correction fits into the metre better.) A great public sacrifice (properly of a hundred oxen) among the ancient Greeks and Romans (OED: n 1.).
[245] Line 60: a pierce...stone - This appears to mean that if the devils sharpen his dagger's point he could pierce a heart even if it were made of flint or marble (both stones renowned for being hard and cold).
[246] Line 2: bugbears - A sort of hobgoblin (presumably in the shape of a bear) supposed to devour naughty children; hence, generally, any imaginary being invoked by nurses to frighten children (OED: n 1.).
[247] Line 4: Mauretanian - Mauretania was a north African country located in the area now covered by present day Morocco and Algeria.
[248] Line 23: Bode - G C Moore Smith suggests "forbode me for what I know thou wouldst not wish to happen". However, "forbode" meaning "forbid" (OED: v obsc, rare) seems unlikely in this context. I would suggest "forebode" meaning "to have a presentiment of (usually evil)" (OED: v 2. first usage noted 1603) with the implication that her tears might jinx Caesar's situation.
[249] Line 43: Augur - A lacuna is suspected here as the Augur's first line seems to be an anwer to a missing question. The comment is one assigned by Suetonius to the soothsayer Spurinna who had warned Caesar about the Ides of March. Caesar laughed at him on the day because they had come and he was unharmed.
[250] Line 66: lumping with - In the original text this was "lumping which". However, "with" fits better in this context. The word "lumping" taken here to mean "put together in one lump, mass, sum, group" (OED: v3 2.).
[251] Stage directions: [Praecentor enters and] - Original text was "One" meaning "someone". However, as the speech direction for the person who responds to Caesar's query is designated as "Pre." and who has no stage direction to enter, I have amended it as shown. I have assigned the name "Praecentor" for "Pre." as it is the only name in the Dramatis Personae that begins with "P" and is not mentioned at any point in the rest of the text.
[252] Line 77: girds - A sharp or biting remark directed against a person; a gibe, ‘dig’ (OED: n2 4.). There is also the pun with girdle, and the implications of encompassed and tied in.
[253] Line 80: Pompey's Court - The Senate House had burned down in 52 BC, and Pompey had offered them a new meeting place in the Field of Mars. It was a hall close to his theatre and temple, and housed a large statue of himself. The conspirators left Caesar's dead body lying at Pompey's statue's feet.
[254] There is no stage direction for the entrance of the Senators, hence I suggest that the interior of the Senate house is hidden behind a curtain, to be drawn back as Caesar steps away from Cassius. Cassius appears almost a magician revealing the trap, possibly the grandiose setting with Pompey's statue, and the murder itself.
[255] Lines 114-117: Jove...three-forked engine - see Spenser's Faerie Queene: "As when almightie Iove in wrathfull mood,/ To wreake the guilt of mortall sins is bend,/ Hurles forth his thundring dart.../The fierce threeforked engin" (Bk I, Canto viii, V 9). "engine" in this case means "a machine or instrument used in warfare. Formerly sometimes applied to all offensive weapons" (OED: n 5.a.).
[256] Line 119: Pluto be thou judge - In Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, the ghost, Andreas, is sent by Minos to Pluto for judgement when the other two judges argue about the final location for his soul (explained by Andreas in his Prologue to the main action of the play).
[257] Line 120: grisly daughters of the cheerless night - the Furies, see note 16.
[258] Line 137: Hydra - a serpent-like ancient water beast with multiple heads which breathed out poisonous fumes, said to be sibling to the Nemean Lion, the Chimaera and Cerberus (the three-headed dog that guarded one of the entrances to the underworld). Its lair was in Lake Lerna. The creature was killed by Hercules as one of his twelve labours. Each time he cut off a head two grew in its place. Hercules' nephew Iolaus came up with the solution of cauterising each wound with a flaming brand. After its death, Hercules coated his arrows with its poisonous blood; these were the same arrows with which he slew Nessus, see note 129.
[259] Line 154: Hyrcan tiger - Hyrcania was located in the Caucasian Mountains. The Hyrcanian or Caspian tiger is now extinct but was a common sight in the Roman arena. It was the world’s second largest tiger and had extra long claws. Pliny the Elder describes how to steal a tiger cub, which involved having a series of extremely fast horses and a waiting ship. In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas has to leave Dido, the Queen of Carthage, to complete his destiny with the founding of Rome. Dido, his betrayed lover, rails at him saying (amongst other things) "And rough Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck!" (Aeneid Book IV, L 367, translated by John Dryden). The phrase also appears in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act III Sc iv L101: "The armed rhinocerous, or th’Hyrcan tiger".
[260] Line 162: vile - Original text is "vild". This is an archaic form of "vile" (OED: a A.1.a.).