The Dramatization of History in Shakespeare's

Julius Caesar
As the Elizabethan Age was in the process of growth and development, it was
also in great demand for new means of livelihood. In the field of arts and drama, for
instance, it was customary for the playwrights to follow the taste of the people in the
kind of plots they show. History was number one to capture their attention, and the
Roman history seemed to have served the case specially when introduced in the
English form which fed the Elizabethans' pride.
Shakespeare's enactment of the Roman history in the Elizabethan theatre
displays the Roman virtue on English stages. The history of Rome as an empire,
republic, and culture provides various plots to Shakespeare who, by reading many
English writings about the Roman history, has attained a good deal of knowledge about
them.1 In fact, the "Roman history was a discourse that one could not afford to
ignore…one had to make use of it".2 This wide familiarity with the Roman culture has
paved the way for the 'Englishness' to appear in the Roman settings, and, nevertheless,
for the 'Romanness' to be anglicized.3 Hence, the perception of Rome undergoes an
English theatrical representation in the form of soldierly and self-controlled
characters.4 Rome is politically regarded as a mirror that reflects the image of the
present and future of England.5 As a dramatist familiar with the political life in
England, Shakespeare has given a wider space for the Roman history in his dramas.
Besides, such themes as the Capitol, the Senate, and the image of the Roman festival
pageant have recurrently appeared in the royal entries and coronation pageants of
England, specially, Queen Elizabeth's celebrations of the victory of England over the
Spanish Armada.6
Such images of celebrated pageants function a great deal in Shakespeare's Julius
Caesar as Roman ceremonies but have been envisaged as purely English, for the
Elizabethans are used to such splendid sights of triumph. Shakespeare's Caesar appears
as more English than Roman. This requires a certain adaptation of the real history of
Caesar. Shakespeare manipulates the historical facts with what is suitable to the
requisites of the Elizabethan drama keeping in mind the audience's fondness of history,
mainly that of Rome.7

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 Shakespeare's Julius Caesar deals with the final years of Caesar's life and the
battle of Philippi that has decided the future of Rome. Shakespeare relies heavily on
Thomas North's translation of the narrative account of Plutarch's Parallel Lives of
Greeks and Romans. The acts of the play are very much a combination of the three
historical lives of Caesar, Brutus and Antony though the last two acts depend highly on
the life of Brutus.8
Julius Caesar highlights the theme of ambition and intrigue that result in
destruction. The play begins with the Plebeians celebrating both Caesar's triumph at
Munda in October 45 B.C. as he overcomes Pompey's sons, "we make holiday to see
Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph." (I. i. 31-2),9 and the Lupercalia, "You know it is
the feast of Lupercal."(I. i. 68) As a history, the feast of Lupercal follows this triumph
in four months, i.e., in February 44 B.C,10 but Shakespeare incorporates these two
events together mainly for the purpose of dramatic intensity. Besides, since the
Lupercal feast is a religious ritual in which the gods Lupercal and Faunus are honoured
for purgation and fertility,11 Shakespeare, most likely, has had in mind reminding
people of Jesus when, in triumph, he enters Jerusalem only to be betrayed later on and
crossed.12 Hence, the play may bear a very subtle analogy: Caesar's entering Rome is,
therefore, akin to Jesus's and lots of both are also sunder.
It is Shakespeare's technique to open his plays with a powerful enactment of a
certain event to win the attention of the audience. Hence, he makes Flavius and
Marullus shout at the crowd of mobs who come to see Caesar's procession, "Why dost
thou lead these men about the streets?", "Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he
home?" (I. i. 29, 33).
Despite the fact that the play deals with the Roman history, it is of an English
mood addressing the Elizabethans' culture. The dramatist refers, for instance, to the
point that the two tribunes feel angry with the mobs because these simple workers do
not carry the motto of their trades. This is, in fact, a sign for the Elizabethan workers
who should abide by law, wear their uniforms, and carry their work tools. 13 More
interestingly, this opening scene is highly dramatic, for it illustrates how easily and
formidably the mobs can change.
From the very beginning of the play, Shakespeare foreshadows the main
conflict that will later on lead to the conspiracy against Caesar and the horrible

2
consequences of the assassination; Julius Caesar is not very welcome by all the
Romans,

do you now put on your best attire?

And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way,
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? (I. i. 49-52)

Interestingly enough, the way this crowd of mob is easily affected and swayed
has dramatic significance, for it yields the same behaviour ,later on, when Antony
stimulates the Commons' sympathy for Caesar. One can quickly change their minds.
Shakespeare by now presents two contrasting images: one of triumph of
Caesar's victories and the other of hatred and malice against him, represented by
removing decorations of joy from Caesar's statues,

Disrobe the images,

If you find them decked with ceremonies.
…………………………………………..
Let no images
Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about,
And drive away the vulgar from the streets. (I. i. 65-6, 69-71)

Plutarch mentions that the two tribunes imprison those who have put laurel
crown on Caesar's statues. On hearing this, Caesar becomes upset and deposes the
tribunes from office as well as expels them from Senate.14 Shakespeare does not
mention Caesar's reaction in order to portray him as a civilized leader and politician,
being indifferent to the status of the 'king'. Although the real act of decorating Caesar's
statues occurs after Antony has offered Caesar the crown, Shakespeare associates it
with Caesar's coming, condensing by that three important events far in time from each
other, in one exciting scene. It is, however, not without suspense, for the audience
anxiously awaits the next events, foreshadowing, as well, the conspirators' schemes.
In a typically Shakespearean way, the next scene, for instance, provides an
account about the main characters in the play: Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus.
Marjorie Garber states that Shakespeare’s audience would certainly have been familiar
with the story of Julius Caesar, hence, there is no need ,in fact, to establish Caesar's

3
greatness in the play.15 Rome for them is indeed a precedent and Caesar is the "Roman
who bestrode the world like a colossus"16 whom the dramatist redefines in another way
altering his qualities for the dramatic purpose of the play. Shakespeare presents Cassius
and Brutus talking together about their friendship which becomes recently weak:
Brutus, I do observe you now of late.
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have.
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend, that loves you. (I. ii. 32-6)

Shakespeare does not refer to the idea that there has been a kind of clash
between them for the political status of "praetorship" which Caesar gives first to Brutus
then to Cassius though he admits Cassius is the best.17 Shakespeare rather shuns to
aimlessly scatter the audiences' thoughts about such temporary conflicts between
Cassius and Brutus. Therefore, in this play, Cassius and Brutus easily renew their
friendship so that Cassius can flatter the decency and greatness of Brutus and finally
express his intention to drop Caesar. He is encouraged by Brutus's resentment for the
idea of crowning Caesar.18

I do fear people
Choose Caesar for their king. (I. ii. 79-80)

This is the first explicit exposition of Brutus's fear. Dramatically, this statement
is the cornerstone upon which the whole plot of assassination is based. Although
Cassius does not refer directly to Caesar, Brutus's comment on hearing the people
shout does make it easy for Cassius to unfold his words against Caesar.
According to Cassius's speech, Caesar is depicted contrary to that strong, heroic
well-known historical figure.19 Instead, he is arrogant, ambitious, proud and tyrant:

he doth bestride the narrow world

Like a colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves. (I. ii. 134-7)

This suggestive image of Caesar moves the audience's feelings against him and
creates a good and logical ground for the conspiracy. It may become a cause by which
the spectator may agree with the plot.
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 In the play, Caska narrates to Brutus and Cassius as well as to the audience
what has happened off stage. Antony offers Caesar the crown of laurel three times, but
Caesar refuses it with resentment because the mob shouts loudly at his refusal
indicating that they do not like him wearing a crown like a king. Caska describes how
Caesar's health has then failed him: "He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at
mouth, and he was speechless." (I. ii. 251-2). Again, this enhances the audience's
sympathy for Caesar and reflects a pessimistic view of him. Shakespeare truly depicts
this historical event.20 However, he makes Caska the one who reports Caesar's
crowning. Shakespeare invents a new character for the historical figure, Caska. He
introduces him as a humble common person who cannot tell what Cicero has told
people when he speaks in Greek,
those that understood him, smiled at
one another, and shook their heads; but for mine own
part, it was Greek to me. (I. ii. 281-3)

In fact, the historical Caska knows Greek.21 Caska now represents somehow a
comic Elizabethan character of ordinary status, yet he will surprise the audience, later
on, as to be the first to stab Cesar, thinking that he can overcome him easily due to his
weakness. Furthermore, Caska is made to speak in prose so as to present an often
common-type Roman character on an Elizabethan stage. His harsh speech and rough-
tongue suggests Brutus's exclamation "What a blunt fellow is this grown to be!/He was
quick mettle when he went to school."(I. ii. 294-5)
The night before the day of assassination, Caska appears terrified of the stormy
atmosphere. He tells Cicero of the portents he has seen:

I have seen tempests when the scolding winds

Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th' ambitious ocean swell, and rage, and foam,
To be exalted with the threatening clouds (I. iii. 5-8)

In addition, he mentions other things "more wonderful" (I. iii. 14) :

A common slave- you know him well by sight-

Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches joined; and yet his hand,
Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. (I. iii. 15-18)
5
 Shakespeare follows different sources in his account of the portents preceding
Caesar's murder. He depends on Plutarch's Lives taking only nine of these signs.22
Kenneth Muir includes Ovid's Metamorphoses XV as a source of the rest of the
portents. However, Muir even assumes that this atmosphere of thunder and lightning is
most likely derived from another source, most probably Virgil's Georgics.23 Caska
attributes the portents to

Either there is a civil strife in heaven,

Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction. ( I. iii. 11-13)

This can be linked with the Soothsayer's speech to Caesar, "Beware the Ides of
March", repeated twice (I. ii. 18, 23). Caesar considers him a dreamer and so he
neglects him. Such omens or prophecies are meant to be powerful devices for dramatic
anticipation. The Elizabethans believe in dreams, omens, and prophecies but Caesar's
short exchange with the Soothsayer reveals part of his complex character: he is
portrayed as interested in controlling his fate, not being controlled by it.24
The ides of March follows the Lupercalia in a month.25 But in the play, the time
between these two events is so condensed as to keep on the unity of the play by
intensifying the pessimistic fortune expected by Cassius's "worse days" (I. ii. 321)
which are in fact of Caesar, along with the horrible portents that precede it. This tumult
in nature reflects the condition of Rome after Caesar's assassination. The "tempest
dropping fire"(I. iii. 10) and the image of the lion in front of the Capitol anticipate
destruction and violence.26
Concerning these supernatural events, Shakespeare has been selective in the
different portents he borrows from various sources. Sometimes he joins them creating
new ones, for example, he changes the bird scene into an owl because the Elizabethans
think of the owl as a bad omen.27 Significantly, the owl as a specific kind of bird is
easily imagined by the audience for it is usually associated with dark atmosphere.
Similarly, other portents are mentioned by Calphurnia:

A lioness hath whelped in the streets,

And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead.
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds
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 In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. (II. ii. 17-24)

She never believes in them but they do fright her now, "Caesar, I never stood
on ceremonies,/Yet now they fright me." (II. ii. 13-14) The blood foreshadows Caesar
being murdered at the Capitol and these battles are the echo of the future battles. These
superstitious images permeate through the play even after Caesar's death. In the final
scenes as Cassius's army moves from Sardis to Philippi, Cassius observes "Two mighty
eagles fell and there they perched,/Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands,"(V. i.
78-9). Reaching Philippi where the battle is settled, he again notices

ravens, crows and kites

Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us
As we were sickly prey: their shadows seem
A canopy most fatal, under which
Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. (V. i. 82-6)

Such unnatural images indicate the inescapable destiny that awaits the army.
Shakespeare's portents and the assassination have political implications. This type of
action would have been condemned in England for the English view their monarchs as
ruling through the divine right. The king or queen is appointed by the head of the
Anglican church and rules England by the order and will of God. Hence, people should
believe in passive obedience to the power of the king who is a God-appointed
sovereign in the state.28 Indeed, people may rebel against the king; however, the
English people have learned some lessons from wars of their past, as the Wars of the
Roses, which are still in their memory. They know what could happen if the monarch
is ruined especially when Queen Elizabeth has refused to name a successor, leading to
worries that a civil war similar to that of Rome might break out after her death.29
This gloomy and violent atmosphere of the previous supernatural images
accompanies the preparation for the conspiracy. Shakespeare attributes the whole idea
of the conspiracy to Cassius who appears to be the main schemer. He is made to
instigate Brutus and tempt him against Caesar. Cassius plans to write letters with
different lines and send them to Brutus. Here, Shakespeare alters the fact that it has
been those who desire Brutus to be their lord and no one else, who write these letters to
7
Brutus because they lack the courage to tell him directly.30 People know how much
Brutus loves Caesar and how much the latter trusts him, yet Cassius could guide Brutus
astray. Winning Brutus at Cassius's side encourages others to join the conspiracy.
Now, the conspirators have met in Brutus's house. On discussing who should
partake in the conspiracy, they suggest Cicero. But Brutus refuses saying that Cicero
"will never follow anything/That other men begin."(II. i. 150-1). However, Plutarch
mentions that the conspirators, including Brutus, do love Cicero but refuse him for his
cowardly nature that he may hamper the achievement of their goal. Hence,
Shakespeare departs from history in altering the reason behind rejecting Cicero's
membership to show that the conspirators change their minds of Cicero only because
of their respect of Brutus's mind.31 This also adds to the causes of the conspiracy that
some people join the conspiracy only because Brutus is a member of it, which is
exactly what Cassius has planned for.
Brutus's character is revealed through Cassius's speech in Act One.
Shakespeare depicts the same features of the historical Brutus; a noble, honorable man
who cares much for his country, "I love/ The name of honour more than I fear
death."(I. ii. 88-9) On the contrary, Cassius confesses in a soliloquy that he is of evil
spirit and could seduce Brutus making him the leader of the conspiracy:
Well, Brutus, thou art noble: yet I see
Thy honourable mettle may be wrought
From that it is disposed. Therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced? (I. ii. 307-11)

However, Brutus's good nature is going to change after Caesar's assassination.

He becomes much similar to Caesar. He uses the same way of speech which he has
considered a Caesarean disposition of ambition and pride,

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats:

For I am armed so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not. (IV. III. 66-9)

On the day of assassination, Caesar appears in his nightgown showing that

Calphurnia has dreamt of him and cried three times "‘Help ho: they murder
Caesar.’"(II. ii. 3) For this reason, he asks his servant to tell the priests to do sacrifice
8
in order to foretell the fortune of what Caesar must do this day. Caesar has to go to the
Capitol for it is the supposed day of crowning him, i.e., it is the Ides of March. The
servant returns saying that the priest advises Caesar not to leave home today for when
they have sacrificed a beast, they find it without a heart. Shakespeare makes Caesar
look afraid in his privacy and confused of his wife's dream. He is different from the
Caesar the audience knows: he does not show his fears even to his wife. However, he
quickly returns to his god-like behaviour when his wife narrates to him other portent
31
that " Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch." (II. ii. 16) At the time
Calphurnia pleads for Caesar not to go out and to postpone the session at the Senate
House for she expects danger to happen, "You shall not stir out of your house
today."(II. ii. 9), Shakespeare shows Caesar a proud man who fears nothing and insists
on going to the Capitol,
Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me
Ne'er looked but on my back: when they shall see
The face of Caesar, they are vanished. (II. ii. 10-12)

Though generally Shakespeare dramatizes the same details of the ides of

March, he alters the fact that Caesar has been afraid and does suspect something
wrong. Besides, it is Calphurnia who suggests to resort to the Soothsayers , and not the
priests, to do sacrifices to advise him of what will happen.33 The play has only one
Soothsayer who has warned Caesar of the ides of March in Act One and will appear
again in Caesar's way to the Capitol to warn him. Shakespeare changes the identity of
the Soothsayer into a priest, "Go bid the priests do present sacrifice"(II. ii. 5) to show
that Caesar arrogantly does not believe in those dreamers and predictors.
Later on, Caesar submits to Calphurnia's insistence and agrees to send Antony
to tell the Senate that Caesar "will not come today."(II. ii. 64) The dramatist makes
Caesar justify his absence for his will and nothing else, i.e., not for being sick as
Calphurnia suggests, in order to reinforce Caesar's pride of himself.
Presenting Caesar in such a way serves twofold: one might prove the
conspirators' opinion of Caesar as ambitious and tyrant, in that his will is sufficient to
adjourn the session of the Senate. The other reflects Caesar's complex nature that he
fears nothing, but he yields to Calphurnia's request, and belittles the superstitions, yet it
is better to consider some seriously. These contradicting thoughts in his mind are
employed to enrich his character; at the beginning of the play, he neglects the prophecy
9
of the Soothsayer calling him "a dreamer" (I. ii. 24), whereas he resorts to the prophecy
of the priests after Calphurnia's dream. Furthermore, he does not fear anything, but he
fears Cassius, "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look:/ He thinks too much: such
men are dangerous." (I. ii. 193-4) The last is historically true,34 but is made as a
dramatic irony wherefore Shakespeare, perhaps, wants to say that though Caesar is
proud of himself, he is aware that some men bear spite against him.
During that debate about Cesar's going out, Decius Brutus comes to flatter
Caesar and convince him to go to the Senate House as planned by the conspirators.
Shakespeare displays what the historical Decius has done in that he tries to tempt
Caesar by revealing the idea that the Senate would crown him a king of the whole
Empire:

I have, when you have heard what I can say.

And know it now: the Senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. (II. ii. 92-4)

He convinces Caesar that his absence might cause the senators change their
minds for they would feel Caesar mock them,35

If you shall send them word you will not come,

Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be rendered, for some one to say,
‘Break up the Senate till another time
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.’ (II. ii. 95-9)

Calphurnia sees Caesar's statue pour blood like a fountain with many spouts
watched by "lusty Romans/ Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it."(II. ii. 78-9)
This dream is certainly of Shakespeare's dramatic imagination: it is his own creation.
Shakespeare's historical source mentions two stories for Calphurnia's dream. First, she
dreams of Caesar being murdered lying down in her arms, and second tells that an
ornament made by the Senate on the top of Caesar's house is found broken and so she
weeps for it and not for Caesar's death.36 Shakespeare's alteration of Calphurnia's
dream allows dramatically for a second interpretation that he gets from Decius.37
Decius says that the dream

Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck

Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
11
 For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance. (II. ii. 87-9)

This interpretation foreshadows what would happen after the assassination. The
conspirators will bathe their hands in Caesar's blood to the elbows, "And let us bathe
our hands in Caesar's blood/Up to the elbows and besmear our swords."(III. i. 106-7)
By this, Calphurnia's dream is fulfilled and Caesar should have believed it. This is
again a sign for the Elizabethans who are known to be cautious of superstitious
happenings, that bad dreams may contain warnings which must be taken in
consideration and never to make light of it.
Proceeding towards the Capitol followed by a crowd of people, Caesar is made
to meet again the Soothsayer who have met Caesar at the Lupercal to remind him of
the Ides of March. Caesar passes by arrogantly retelling that "The Ides of March are
come."(III. i. 1) Equally ironical is the Soothsayer's reply that "Ay, Caesar, but not
gone."(III. i. 2). Shakespeare makes the same Soothsayer appear twice whereas the
source suggests another one who does the sacrifice and bids Caesar stay at home,38 in
order to show Caesar as unbeliever of prophecies and dreams to the last moments of
his life. Shakespeare's creation of this second meeting is meant to reveal Caesar as
proud and arrogant; simultaneously, it adds much to the suspense of the play as drama:
the audience are so excited that they might be interested in watching the drama and see
whether or not the deed of murder will be done.
As Caesar receives letters and proposals from people, a letter is handed to him
by Artemidorus whom Shakespeare depicts truly. The historical Artemidorus is a
teacher who knows much about the conspiracy from some of his students who are
conspirators and so wants to warn Caesar by giving him a letter where names of
conspirators are enlisted.39 But Shakespeare's Artemidorus acts differently, for as soon
as he sees Caesar, he gives him a letter pleading "O Caesar, read mine first, for mine's
a suit/That touches Caesar nearer."(III. i. 6-7) Shakespeare shows Caesar humbler and
nobler than Plutarch's for he refuses to read something that is of importance to himself
before he reads people's petitions, "What touches us ourself shall be last served."(III. i.
8) By this, Shakespeare alters Plutarch's Caesar who, on his way to the Senate, takes
petitions from people and gives them straight to his men hoping to read them later on.
However, he keeps that specific letter of Artemidorus in his hand for it touches him.

11
He tries to read it several times but he never could because of the crowd surrounding
him.40
In the Capitol, Caesar takes his place and the conspirators get ready to put their
plan into effect. They quickly surround Caesar and begin to plea for their friend
Metellus Cimber's brother to be forgiven from his banishment. Shakespeare is loyal to
history in depicting the scene of assassinating Caesar. Nevertheless, he changes the
signal of killing him. Caska is made the first to stab Caesar and then all the murderers
stab him, "Speak hands for me!"(III. i. 76) From the historical point of view, it is
Cimber who gives the sign by holding Caesar's toga, pulling it over his neck and taking
Caesar's hands apart, just then, Caska stabs Caesar in his neck.41 In addition,
Shakespeare overlooks the fact that Caesar does not die from the first blow for he does
resist Caska who calls his brother to help him. In fact, Caesar keeps defending himself
till he sees Brutus stab him and so he stops resistance and surrenders to their swords.
He is thrown at Pompey's statue to die there.42 Such details cannot, actually, be acted
on the stage in a live show, in front of the audience. But it can be a great cinematic
action where such images can be manipulated successfully. That is why Shakespeare
has been economic in the way Caesar is murdered using the Stage Direction (They stab
Caesar) (S.D. III. i. 76). Nevertheless, Shakespeare's version of the murder scene is
much more dramatic than the historical anecdote because Shakespeare essentially
focuses on Brutus's role in both the conspiracy and the murder. For Caesar, the actual
and most fatal blow is that of his friend Brutus, hence Caesar's most eloquent reflection
"Et tu, Brute?- Then fall, Caesar."(III. i. 77) This brief but very tragically effective
scene of the murder attributes much to the audience's sympathy going for Caesar, let
alone the likelihood of the psychological burden Caesar's remark might have caused
Brutus, though at the moment, it might have subconsciously gone unnoticed.
For Caesar, Brutus is a very trusted person who cannot be suspected to hold
such a project against Caesar. Bullough mentions that the historical Brutus is taken a
prisoner when fighting with Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia and it is Caesar who sets
him and whoever Brutus chooses among prisoners, free; besides, it is suspected that
Brutus is Caesar's illegal son. It is believed that Caesar has been in relation with
Brutus's mother, Servilia, who after that gives birth to Brutus.43 All these events have
not been mentioned in the play, for they may change the mood of the play. On the
other hand, one aspect of the scheme to win Brutus to the conspirators' company rests
12
on the idea that Brutus is the son of the heroic Brutus who has fired the royalist
Tarquin for the republican freedom:

O, you and I have heard our fathers say

There was a Brutus once that would have brooked
Th'eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king. (I. ii. 157-60)

However, it would not have been quite functional had Brutus been presented as
Caesar's son, for in such circumstances Brutus will never yield to the conspirators and
sheds Caesar's blood in vain.
Upon the time of Caesar's murder, Brutus suggests to "bathe our hands in
Caesar's blood/Up to the elbows and besmear our swords."(III. i. 106-7). By this, the
conspirators reenact the ceremony of the Lupercal festival of sacrificing an animal and
smearing the hands with its blood.44 Hence, Brutus will continue to convince himself
that this act is holy and just. However, smearing their hands with Caesar's blood, the
conspirators reflect a powerful image in which the audience are free to suggest this
deed as barbaric in which the butchers are stained with the victim's blood, or a
sacrificial one symbolizing purification, that they have purified Rome of its tyrant. On
the other hand, this frightful scene causes the Senators run out and the city of Rome
fall in uproar that "Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run,/As it were
doomsday."(III. i. 97-8) Politically, Shakespeare gives a real example of the conditions
of a country whose ruler or the head of the state is murdered. Thus, it is a message that
warns people of the terrible life they will lead if their leader and protector was
assassinated. This moral lesson is not meant to be presented to the Elizabethans only
but also to readers at different times and places for indeed history repeats itself and
such a scene will always take place:
How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
In states unborn and accents yet unknown? (III. i. 111-3)

In the play, Shakespeare creates a long conversation between the conspirators

and Mark Antony. The latter, a close friend of Caesar, "Fled to his house amazed"(III.
i. 96) and then sends his servant with a letter asking Brutus to let him come in peace.
Antony comes in search for justification of Caesar's assassination. He is clever enough

13
to pretend friendship with the conspirators by shaking hands with Caesar's murderers,
"Let each man render me his bloody hand."(III. i. 184)
Now, the conversation with the conspirators comes out with a deal between
Brutus and Antony. Against Cassius's will, Brutus agrees that Antony takes the
responsibility of commemorating Caesar on the condition:

You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,

But speak all good you can devise of Caesar,
And say you do't by our permission
Else shall you not have any hand at all
About his funeral. (III. i. 245-9)

This agreement will cause Brutus and his company their lives. Shakespeare
lengthens the sight of Caesar being thrown at the feet of Pompey's statue stained with
his blood so as to increase the audience's suspense for it is a moment of thought for
what is going to happen next.
The conspirators, then, go to the market place with their swords calling people
to defend their liberty. In the source, however, Brutus and his company move first to
the Capitol and not directly to the market place. In the Capitol, they celebrate the fruit
of the act with many who pretend to carry the honour of that act though they do not
share the murder. The next day, Brutus goes to the market place where a crowd of
various people wait to hear his speech.45 Shakespeare makes Brutus's oration on the
same day of assassination so as to keep on the same hot feelings of rage both for the
characters and the audience. Shakespeare's Brutus vindicates to the people his rise
against Caesar saying "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."(III. ii.
21-2) He accuses Caesar of being tyrant and ambitious, "but as he was ambitious, I
slew him."(III. ii. 27)
The content of Brutus's speech is another creation of Shakespeare, upon which
people hail him calling Caesar a tyrant. However, Shakespeare's art and craftsmanship
are better seen in Antony's oration. Antony endeavors to win the citizens' sympathy for
the dead Caesar. His oration seems like a tragic story whose hero has been generous,
honest and a lover of his people but unfortunately slain by his false friends. Antony
yields occular proofs showing Caesar not ambitious as Brutus has said, by reminding
them how Caesar has refused the crown three times when Antony has offered it.
Furthermore, Antony shows them Caesar's body and gown full of wounds. He even
14
tempts them to urge him to read Caesar's will, "It will inflame you, it will make you
mad."(III. ii. 145) Caesar bestows "To every Roman citizen he gives,/To every several
man, seventy-five drachmas." (III. ii. 234-5) and

Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,

His private arbours and new-planted orchards,
On this side Tiber. (III. ii. 238-40)

Caesar's will is depicted truly.46 It is a good evidence of Caesar's generosity and

God's gift to the Romans that his donations and cares extend even after his death.
Again, Shakespeare hints at the idea that the king or the ruler is God's shadow on earth
through Caesar's gifts to all citizens of Rome no matter who and they are. Despite his
death, Caesar is made to appear responsible for his people that he has arranged to make
joy and livelihood available to them.
All this has been enough to stir that simple crowd who is known to be easily
swayed as seen in Act I, Scene I, against the conspirators, "Revenge! About! Seek!
Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay!/Let no a traitor live!" (III. ii. 199-200) They burn Caesar's body
in the market place and decide to go to the conspirators' houses and burn them all.
Antony succeeds in creating what he has predicted when he sees Caesar's body thrown
in the Capitol. He prophecies:

Domestic fury and fierce civil strife

Shall cumber all parts of Italy:
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar, (III. i. 263-6)

This is what Shakespeare expects to have happened as an Elizabethan English

man who knows such misfortunes due to the wars of the previous regimes. Hence, due
to the last incidents of disorder of political and religious life, Shakespeare reminds the
Elizabethans of such miserable consequences.
The sight of bloodshed corresponds with the atmosphere of violence
and destruction the setting now anticipates. The blood symbol functions dramatically
not only of Caesar's body being stained in blood, but it includes others who are not
concerned with the dispute. Shakespeare is after intensifying the confusion and
dichotomy resulting from the murder: murder leads to more murders . Hence,
murdering, especially the innocent, is repeated in the scene of Cinna, the poet.

15
Shakespeare's Cinna is somehow different from the real poet Cinna mentioned in
Plutarch's Lives. In the play, Cinna appears speaking to himself "I dreamt tonight that I
did feast with Caesar,/And things unluckily charge my fantasy."(III. iii. 1-2)
Shakespeare avoids the details of the dream. The real Cinna dreams that he is forced by
Caesar who takes him by hand against his will to have supper with him. 47 Cinna's
dream ironically makes the audience anticipate his fortune which has quickly been
achieved after the plebeians' interrogation. His fate is to die soon after Caesar. Those
vengeances become so aggressive that they destroy everything in their way. Cinna has
been wronged by them when thought to be one of the conspirators; however,
Shakespeare gives the mob a chance to know the real identity of Cinna as the poet.
Yet, he makes them kill him for his name and "bad verses"(III. iii. 30) and not for his
person. Out of personal interest, Shakespeare, perhaps, attacks those who are fighting
his fame as a poet and a dramatist.48 On the other hand, this is another image of blood,
disorder and disintegration Rome has reached. People struggle with each other getting
used to blood sights as Antony has prophesied. Now, destruction and collapse are all
that surround this Empire after many years of victories and greatness. This new
condition of Rome affects the Elizabethans who are on their way of developing
national sense to rise. The greatness of the Empire of Rome has been an example to
other great nations. England follows Rome in ascending the ladder of success to fame
and power. However, when this powerful image is torn and changed into civil wars, its
admirers are disappointed.
The image of blood is repeated several times; in Calphurnia's dream, in Decius'
interpretation of her dream, in Brutus's suggestion of bathing their hands in Caesar's
blood, and in Caesar's body thrown stained with blood. These images suggest that
blood will continually lead to more blood, i.e., blood begets blood. Caesar reaches
emperorship by killing Pompey and his sons and so ends in blood at Pompey's statue.
Similarly, Brutus and his company of conspirators build their `liberty` and fame on
Caesar's blood and thus would get only blood and death. For the Elizabethans, blood is
a familiar image for England is based on generations of executed heads.49 Hence, the
Elizabethans have to keep in mind that whatever the cause is, what comes out of blood
will not be peaceful nor heaven blessed by. Instead, it will face the same destiny
because murdering a soul is against God's will and mercy. Thus, the play sends a moral
lesson which may help to cease corruption and bloody crimes.
16
 Now, young Octavius Caesar comes to claim his place as a lawful heir to the
crown, being Caesar's nephew. Shakespeare synchronizes his arrival with the end of
Antony's oration so that a meeting is arranged with the three: Antony, Octavius and
Lepidus who is another friend of Caesar. They aid each other and make a bill of the
names of the Senators that should be executed. They even, as narrated by North, divide
the Empire between them,50 "we shall determine/How to cut off some charge in
legacies." (IV. i. 8-9), says Antony.
Shakespeare likewise alters the number of the listed names from two hundred
or more to one hundred as mentioned by Brutus's servant, Messala, "Octavius, Antony
and Lepidus/ Have put to death an hundred senators"(IV. iii. 171-2), then into seventy
as stated in the letters that have reached Brutus:51 "Mine speak of seventy senators that
died/ By their proscriptions, Cicero being one."(IV. iii. 174-5) This uncertainty of
labour is meant to expose the confusion among the conspirators. It indicates how the
reports of Brutus's bloc are inaccurate which might give a hint about his army's power
and activity in comparison with Antony's and Octavius' blocs.
The play proceeds to another scene when Brutus and Cassius are shown
gathering armies and money at Sardis after fleeing away from Rome. Brutus is settled
first then attended by Cassius who instead of saluting Brutus, says "Most noble
brother, you have done me wrong."(IV. ii. 37). Cassius starts to accuse Brutus of
wronging him before their armies; however, Brutus convinces him to go to his tent to
unfold their admonition to each other:

Speak your griefs softly. I do know you well.

Before the eyes of both our armies here,
Which should perceive nothing but love from us,
Let us not wrangle. Bid them move away:
Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs
And I will give you audience. (IV. ii. 42-7)

Shakespeare adapts certain complaints and quarrel between them. Cassius

blames Brutus for convicting his man Lucius Pella, "For taking bribes here of the
Sardians"(IV. iii. 3). Brutus's act seems to have annoyed Cassius and made him send
Brutus letters pleading on Pella's side. However, Brutus accuses Cassius of bribery,

17
too: "To sell and mart your offices for gold/To undeservers." (IV. iii. 11-2) and of
supporting robbers as well.
Through Brutus's blame of Cassius, the former is shown of noble heart and
deeds. He does not collect money by "vile means"(IV. iii. 71) but asks Cassius to aid
him "For certain sums of gold"(IV. iii. 70) to pay his legions; Cassius does not help
him. In fact, the idea of Brutus asking Cassius for money is taken from different
incidents when Brutus has spent all his money in securing the sea with ships and so
Cassius gives him the third part of all his share.52 Most of the changes Shakespeare
makes to Plutarch's narration are employed to enhance Brutus's position as the valiant
and defender of the Republic. Thus, Shakespeare enriches the story focusing on the
characters' personalities.53
Cassius, on the other hand, though older than Brutus, is shown a cruel leader
winning his life illegally. His ill behaviour and greediness contradict Brutus's virtuous
manners; indeed, Brutus never becomes unjust even in war time; whereas, Cassius
attributes his illegal deeds to war time.54
Before the coming of Cassius, Brutus receives the news of Portia's death.
Weary of the condition of her husband, she could not resist her agony, hence she kills
herself. Brutus tells Cassius "No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead."(IV. iii. 145),
she "swallowed fire."(IV. iii. 154) Shakespeare is faithful to the historical fact in
depicting the way she dies.55 However, he makes such news coincide with Brutus's
anger at Cassius. Yet, Brutus seems strong enough to bear such a loss at such a
difficult time. One can draw a comparison between Brutus's wisdom and quietness and
Cassius's choleric and impatient nature. At the time Brutus tries to forget Portia's death
and focus on the matter of war, "Speak no more of her: give me a bowl of wine./In this
I bury all unkindness, Cassius"(IV. iii. 156-7), Cassius is indulged in the sad news of
Portia lamenting her; "Portia, art thou gone?"(IV. iii. 164)
Despite the virtuous deeds that illustrate Brutus's balanced and experienced
nature, he has also committed certain mistakes that have historically fatal effects.
Brutus chooses to muster his army and proceed to Philippi to meet Antony's and
Octavius' armies. Cassius has a different opinion, preferring to stay at Sardis for he
thinks

'Tis better that the enemy seek us,

18
 So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers,
Doing himself offence, whilst we, lying still,
Are full of rest, defense and nimbleness. (IV. iii. 196-9)

Brutus agrees with Cassius but he fears that the enemy may increase his
number as many people might join in army on the way to Sardis:

The people ’twixt Philippi and this ground

Do stand but in a forced affection,
…………………………………………
The enemy, marching along by them,
By them shall make a fuller number up,
Come on refreshed, new added and encouraged;
From which advantage shall we cut him off
If at Philippi we do face them there,
These people at our back. (IV.iii. 201-2, 204-9)

In fact, the real historical debate has been to tarry and defer the war to the next
season or to settle it as soon as possible in one decisive battle.56 Brutus is eager to end
the war quickly, achieving either success and liberty or having honorable death,

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures. (IV. iii. 219-21)

Shakespeare alters the theme of the real debate into the idea of
marching to Philippi or staying at Sardis so that he can prepare a background for the
battle at Philippi in the next act. This decision of Brutus is very dangerous. Reaching
Philippi, they find the enemy ready to fight them that Cassius tells Messala:

Be thou my witness that against my will

(As Pompey was) am I compelled to set
Upon one battle all our liberties. (V. i. 71-3)

Although Cassius is seen as evil, he is more experienced in war than Brutus. He

plans well but is always interrupted by Brutus. In addition, Cassius is a good judge of
people for he advises Brutus to kill Antony for the great "love he bears to Caesar-"(II.
i. 183). Brutus, on the other hand, refuses to murder Antony saying he is "but a limb of
Caesar"(II. i. 164), "For he can do no more than Caesar's arm/When Caesar's head is
off."(II. i. 181-2) By this, Shakespeare departs from history in revealing Brutus's real

19
cause behind not killing Antony. Brutus believes that there is hope of change in
Antony.57 Hence, Shakespeare's Brutus cannot think a man who loves sport capable of
raising an army and finally causing his death, "I am not gamesome. I do lack some
part/ Of that quick spirit that is in Antony." (I. ii. 28-9) As a historical truth, Antony
has been known to be a "womanizer and a dissipater" who later on would fall in
troubles with Octavius in favour of Cleopatra.58 Shakespeare overlooks this fact for the
sake of dramatic economy and unity preferring to present it in another play of Antony
and Cleopatra. Furthermore, Brutus's great fault is Shakespeare's creation of Antony's
oration to people. He accepts on Antony's request of letting him speak in Caesar's
funeral despite Cassius's warning that "the people may be moved/By that which he will
utter."(III. i. 234-5)
The night at Sardis approaches. Brutus is in his tent with his guards sleeping
with him. He begins to read when a fearful apparition appears to him.

It comes upon me: art thou any thing?

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil,
That mak’st my blood cold, and my hair to stare?
Speak to me what thou art. (IV. iii. 275-8)

Now, it is the day of war at Philippi. Shakespeare creates a meeting between

the leaders of the two armies; Brutus and Cassius against Antony and Octavius Caesar.
Cassius reminds Antony how he has deceived them and urged people against them,
whereas the latter speaks of how they have killed Caesar as flatterers and traitors who
have stabbed and hurt each other. Octavius mentions that Caesar has got thirty three
wounds and he will avenge him,

Never till Caesar’s three and thirty wounds

Be well avenged, or till another Caesar
Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors. (V. i. 50-2)
In fact, this meeting has little connection to history. Yet, its content is true for
some of the conspirators do hurt each other while striking Caesar's body. As for the
wounds, Caesar gets twenty three wounds only.59 It is Shakespeare's intention to
increase the number exaggerating the cruelty of the deed. The meeting seems to be a
revision for the audience of the main events that have happened in the play before the
final event, the battle of Philippi. The dramatist departs a good deal from history when

21
making Octavius speak, challenging the enemy, "I was not born to die on Brutus'
sword."(V. i. 56) whereas he has been sick at that time and is moved out of his tent.
What is more, Octavius' army does not know that the battle begins and are surprised by
Brutus's soldiers and that many of them have been sloughted.60 Nothing is mentioned
of these details except Brutus's victory over Octavius' soldiers. However, Shakespeare
reflects the historical moments of farewell between Brutus and Cassius and the latter's
question of what Brutus will do if they lose the battle. Brutus replies: "But this same
day/Must end that work the Ides of March begun"(V. i. 110-11). Although Brutus
always blames Cato, his maternal uncle, for killing himself, he seems now changing
his mind.61 Shakespeare does not make Brutus clearly answer Cassius's question,
keeping his words puzzling and uncertain so as to keep the audience in suspense and
anticipation.
Shakespeare's dramatization of Brutus's triumph over Octavius wing has been
without the real images of blood and cries. Usually, Shakespeare's scenes of
battlefields are not acted on the stage but reported for the stage is not suitable for such
scenes. Yet, he satisfies the audience with the appearance of Brutus calling Messala to
ride and tell the soldiers to attack for he perceives "But cold demeanour in Octavius'
wing"(V. ii. 4). On the other hand, he views Cassius complaining of the soldiers who
flee. Cassius then falls in agony thinking the enemy has taken his friend. He asks
Pindarus to kill him. Pindarus kills him and flies away, "Far from this country
Pindarus shall run,/Where never Roman shall take note of him."(V. iii. 49-50)
This concurs with history, for at the time Brutus wins Octavius's wing, Cassius
loses his own. Shakespeare wants to show how mistakes of war lead to dangerous and
disastrous ends. Cassius's rash nature leads him to kill himself instead of waiting a
little for the man he has sent. Hence, Messala blames "Error", (V. iii. 68) for the death
of Cassius. Titinius and Messala return to find Cassius dead. Messala then goes to tell
Brutus. In plutarch, Titinius returns alone without Messala and finds Cassius's body.
He blames himself for tarrying so long and kills himself in the field, 62 and not beside
Cassius as in the play.
Alone with little company, Brutus rests on a rock very desperate revealing that
he has seen the spirit again at Philippi which makes him expect his death sooner.
Shakespeare makes Brutus speak clearly to Volumnius about the appearance of the

21
spirit while, in fact, the story of the spirit is heard only from Volumnius before Brutus's
death, which makes Shakespeare suggest that Brutus has told Volumnius of it.63

The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me

Two several times by night: at Sardis once,
And this last night here in Philippi fields.
I know my hour is come. (V. v. 16-19)

Brutus, then, asks his friends one by one to kill him but no one agrees.
Shakespeare makes Strato hold Brutus's sword and turns his face and so Brutus throws
himself on the sword and die. In fact, there are two reports for the anecdote of Brutus's
death and Shakespeare mentions one of them. Another report says that Brutus himself
holds the swords by the hilts, comes very closely to Strato and then falls down on it.64
Brutus's body receives good funeral as Octavius has ordered,

With all respect and rites of burial.

Within my tent his bones tonight shall lie,
Most like a soldier, ordered honourably. (V. v. 77-9)

Shakespeare makes Antony's last words praise Brutus saying "This was the
noblest Roman of them all"(V. v. 68). Antony thinks all the conspirators kill Caesar
out of envy but Brutus for the honour of his country.65
Since the Romans have been known to be abhorrent of royalty,66 Rome
becomes the source of sedition in England for Imperialism and Republican advocates.
Hence, implicitly the play may refer to the threat that surrounds Queen Elizabeth.67
Moreover, as a playwright, Shakespeare is praised according to the way he
adapts familiar plots seeking theme variation. Thus, Shakespeare adds, conceals, alters
and manipulates the events and not necessarily be true to the original story. The play
does not show anything certain or determined that many readers and spectators vary in
their choice of the hero of the play. The Victorians, for example, side with Brutus and
sympathize with him regarding Caesar a tyrannical ruler. Others are advocates of
Caesar accusing Brutus's moralistic views. For Shakespeare, Caesar is a tragic hero
whose name is used as the title of the play. His effect extends over the whole play, i.e.,
in his life and death.68 Paul Johnson in his Heroes assures that Julius Caesar is a hero
whose character is elevated to a prototype heroic figure. Caesar has been admired for

22
his bravery, self-confidence, while his ambition has been devoted to Rome and nothing
personal.69 He succeeds in transforming the Roman Republic into an Empire.70
One of the themes that contradict the Elizabethan belief is the act of suicide. At
the time it is acceptable among the Romans as an act of heroism though some regard it
an act of cowardice like Brutus's first opinion of Cato, it is highly forbidden in
Christianity shown as a dreadful sin committed against God and nature. Furthermore,
by the Elizabethan law, he who commits suicide does not receive a funeral
accompanied with priest nor buried in a holy place. In addition, his family is deprived
of his property.71 Thus, Shakespeare highlights this theme leaving the audience
compare the way history appreciates this act.
Hence, Julius Caesar is a complex and ambiguous play, which does not concern
itself principally with political theory, but rather with the strange blindness of the
rational mind in politics to the great irrational powers which flow through life and
control it.72 Indeed, Caesar blinds his political wisdom when he misinterprets
Calphurnia's dream, which causes his death as Cassius does to Brutus when he
misleads him to believe of the conspiracy; in addition, Cassius falls in error and kills
himself when thinking Brutus's men enemies and have killed his friend. Thus, the
dramatic action seems to be based on the character's problem of misinterpreting
politics.
After all, killing Caesar is not the solution and avenging him does not end the
war. The audience expect more troubles to happen since Antony has exposed his true
feelings towards Lepidus in Act IV, Scene i. Hence, the conquerors begin to struggle
for "supremacy",73 which will lead to more disasters. Consequently, Caesar's
assassination is an act of tyranny which is recurrently depicted as Shakespeare moves
from the Roman history towards the Scottish history, i. e., his tragedies, for instance,
where Macbeth is a prominent example.

Notes
1
Coppélia Kahn, Roman Shakespeare: Warriors, Wounds and Women
(London: Routledge, 1997), 2.
2
R.A. Burt," 'A Dangerous Rome': Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the
Discursive Determination of Cultural Politics" in Contending Kingdoms: Historical,
Psychological, and Feminist Approaches to the Literature of 16th Century England

23
and France, ed. Marie- Rose Logan and Peter L. Rudnytsky (Detroit: Wayne State
University Press, 1991), 112.
3
Kahn, 4.
4
Ibid., 13.
5
Rebecca W. Bushnell, "Julius Caesar", in A Companion to Shakespeare's
Works: The Tragedies, Vol. 1, ed. Richard Dutton and Jean Howard (London:
Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 342.
6
Kahn, 5.
7
Ibid., 8.
8
Kenneth Muir, The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays (London: Routledge,
2005), 116.
9
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, in The Arden Shakespeare Complete
Works, eds. Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson, and David Kastuns (London: Black
Publisher Ltd.,2001). All references to this play are taken from this source and
henceforth will be parenthetically stated within text.
10
Muir, 117.
11
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall the Roman Empire, Vol.
iv (Paris: A. W. Galignani, 1840), 236.
12
Sidney Lamb, ed., Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: A Critical Study (New York:
Hungry Minds, 2000), 29.
13
Ibid.
14
Bernadotte Perrin, trans., Plutarch's Lives: Demosthenes and Cicero,
Alexander and Caesar, Vol. VII (London: Harvard University Press, 1967), 585-7.
15
Marjorie Garber, Dream in Shakespeare: From Metaphor to Metamorphosis (New
Haven :Yale University Press, 1974), 44-49.
16
Richard A. Billows, Julius Caesar: The Colossus of Rome (London:
Routledge, 2009), 262.
17
Perrin, 587.
18
Geoffrey Bullough, Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare: The
Roman Plays, Vol. V. (London: Routledge, 1964), 96.
19
George L. Mosse, Masses and Man (Detroit: Wayne University Press, 1987),
117.
20
Stephen Dando-Collins, The Ides: Caesar's Murder and the War for Rome
(New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2010), 15.
21
Ibid., 90 ; Bullough, 102.
22
Muir, 123.
23
Ibid.
24
Phoebe Sheavyn, The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age, 2nd ed.
(New York: Ardent Media, 1967), 189.
25
Thomas McAlindon, Shakespeare's Tragic Cosmos (Cambridge University
Press, 1996), 98.
26
George W. Knight, The Shakespearean Tempest, Vol. 2 ( London: Routledge,
2002), 185.
27
Muir, 123.
28
Lamb, 11.
29
Maria Wyke, Julius Caesar in Western Culture (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), 5.
30
Bullough, 82.

24
 31
Dana Jackson, "From History to Stage: An Account of Shakespeare's
Adaptation of Julius Caesar". Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug 2000 (accessed in 27 Sep
2011). <http://www.shakespeare-online. com/essays/ fromhistorytostage.html>
32
Lamb, 77.
33
Bullough, 83-4.
34
Perrin, 589.
35
Ibid., 593.
36
Dando-Collins, 76.
37
Jackson.
38
Bullough, 100.
39
Bullough, 84-5.
40
Muir, 118.
41
Antony Kamm, Julius Caesar: A Life (London: Routledge, 2006),148.
42
Bullough, 86.
43
Ibid., 92.
44
Nic Fields, Julius Caesar: Leadership, Strategy, Conflict (Oxford: Osprey
Publishing Ltd, 2010), 54.
45
Perrin, 601.
46
Dando-Collins, 120-1.
47
Ibid., 88.
48
Jackson.
49
Lamb, 30.
50
Bullough, 108.
51
Ibid.
52
Bullough, 111.
53
Jackson.
54
Bullough, 111.
55
Dando-Collins, 224.
56
Bullough, 118-19.
57
Ibid., 103.
58
Matthew Bunson, Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire (New York: Facts on
File, 2002), 25-6.
59
Perrin, 599.
60
Bullough., 120.
61
Ibid.
62
Alexander Woodhouselee and William Fraser-Tyler, Universal History,
From the Creation of the World to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. 1
(Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 2009), 419.
63
Bullough, 127.
64
Ibid., 131.
65
Ibid., 110.
66
Dando-Collins, 9.
67
Kahn, 5.
68
Lamb, 17.
69
Paul Johnson, Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to
Churchill and De Gaulle (London: Harper Collins, 2007 ), 27.
70
Ibid., 39.
71
Lamb, 99.
72
Garber, 226-9.
25
 73
Martin Goodman and Jane Sherwood, The Roman World 44BC-AD180
(London: Routledge, 1997), 35.

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27