Chapter 10

_Enter_ BRUTUS _and_ CASSIUS, _and a throng of_ Citizens

CITIZENS. We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied.

BRUTUS. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Cassius, go you into the other street, And part the numbers. Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here; 5 Those that will follow Cassius, go with him; And public reasons shall be rendered Of Cæsar's death.

[Note 291: /awhile/ F4 | a-while F1 F2.]

[Note 292: /corse/ Pope | course F1 F2 | coarse F3 F4.]

[Note 298: [_Exeunt_ ...] _Exeunt._ Ff.]

[Note: SCENE II Rowe | Scene V Pope.--_The Forum_ Rowe | Ff omit.]

[Note: _Enter_ BRUTUS ... Citizens Malone | Enter Brutus and goes into the Pulpit, and Cassius, with the Plebeians Ff.]

[Note 1: CITIZENS Capell | Ple. (Plebeians) Ff.]

[Note 7, 10: /rendered/ Pope | rendred Ff.]

[Note 290: A pun may lurk in this 'Rome.' See note, p. 19, l. 156.]

[Page 100]

1 CITIZEN. I will hear Brutus speak.

2 CITIZEN. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons, When severally we hear them rendered. 10

[_Exit_ CASSIUS, _with some of the_ Citizens. BRUTUS _goes into the pulpit_]

3 CITIZEN. The noble Brutus is ascended: silence!

[Note 10: [_Exit ... pulpit_] Ff omit.]

[Note 11: "The rest followed in troupe, but Brutus went foremost, very honourably compassed in round about with the noblest men of the city, which brought him from the Capitol, through the market-place, to the pulpit for orations. When the people saw him in the pulpit, although they were a multitude of rakehels of all sorts, and had a good will to make some stir; yet, being ashamed to do it, for the reverence they bare unto Brutus, they kept silence to hear what he would say. When Brutus began to speak, they gave him quiet audience: howbeit, immediately after, they shewed that they were not all contented with the murther."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 101]

BRUTUS. Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæsar's, to him I say that Brutus' love to Cæsar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Cæsar, this is my answer: Not that I lov'd Cæsar less, but that I lov'd Rome more. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves, than that Cæsar were dead, to live all free-men? As Cæsar lov'd me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. 33

ALL. None, Brutus, none.

BRUTUS. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enroll'd in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforc'd, for which he suffer'd death. 39

[Note 26: /is/ Ff | are Pope.]

[Note 13: /lovers/. Pope changed this to 'friends.' But in the sixteenth century 'lover' and 'friend' were synonymous. In l. 44 Brutus speaks of Cæsar as 'my best lover.' So 'Thy lover' in II, iii, 8.]

[Note 16: /censure/: judge. The word may have been chosen for the euphuistic jingle it makes here with 'senses.']

[Note 26: /There is tears/. So in I, iii, 138. See Abbott, § 335.]

[Note 36-39: The reason of his death is made a matter of solemn official record in the books of the Senate, as showing that the act of killing him was done for public ends, and not from private hate. His fame is not lessened or whittled down in those points wherein he was worthy. 'Enforc'd' is in antithesis to 'extenuated.' Exactly the same antithesis is found in _Antony and Cleopatra_, V, ii, 125.]

[Page 102]

_Enter_ ANTONY _and others, with_ CÆSAR'S _body_

Here comes his body, mourn'd by Mark Antony; who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I depart,--that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. 46

ALL. Live, Brutus! live, live!

1 CITIZEN. Bring him with triumph home unto his house.

2 CITIZEN. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

3 CITIZEN. Let him be Cæsar.

4 CITIZEN. Cæsar's better parts 50 Shall be crown'd in Brutus.

1 CITIZEN. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamours.

BRUTUS. My countrymen,--

2 CITIZEN. Peace! silence! Brutus speaks.

1 CITIZEN. Peace, ho!

[Note 40: _Enter_ ANTONY ... _body_ Malone | Enter Mark Antony with Cæsar's body Ff.]

[Note 47, 72, etc.: ALL Ff | Cit. (Citizens) Capell.]

[Note 48, 49, etc.: CITIZEN | Ff omit.]

[Note 52: Two lines in Ff.]

[Note 43-46: In this speech Shakespeare seems to have aimed at imitating the manner actually ascribed to Brutus. "In some of his Epistles, he counterfeited that brief compendious manner of speech of the Lacedæmonians."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_. Shakespeare's idea is sustained by the _Dialogus de Oratoribus_, ascribed to Tacitus, wherein it is said that Brutus's style of eloquence was censured as _otiosum et disjunctum_. Verplanck remarks, "the _disjunctum_, the broken-up style, without oratorical continuity, is precisely that assumed by the dramatist." Gollancz finds a probable original of this speech in Belleforest's _Histoires Tragiques_ (_Hamlet_); Dowden thinks Shakespeare received hints from the English version (1578) of Appian's _Roman Wars_.]

[Page 103]

BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 55 And, for my sake, stay here with Antony: Do grace to Cæsar's corpse, and grace his speech Tending to Cæsar's glories; which Mark Antony, By our permission, is allow'd to make. I do entreat you, not a man depart, 60 Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [_Exit_]

1 CITIZEN. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark Antony.

3 CITIZEN. Let him go up into the public chair; We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.

ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 65

4 CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus?

3 CITIZEN. He says, for Brutus' sake, He finds himself beholding to us all.

4 CITIZEN. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.

1 CITIZEN. This Cæsar was a tyrant.

3 CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain: We are blest that Rome is rid of him. 70

2 CITIZEN. Peace! let us hear what Antony can say.

ANTONY. You gentle Romans,--

ALL. Peace, ho! Let us hear him.

[Note 62: Scene VI Pope.]

[Note 70: /blest/ F1 | glad F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 65: /beholding./ This Elizabethan corruption of 'beholden' occurs constantly in the Folios of 1623, 1632, and 1664. The Fourth Folio usually has 'beholden.' Here Camb has 'Goes into the pulpit.']

[Note 72: "Afterwards when Cæsar's body was brought into the market-place, Antonius making his funeral oration in praise of the dead, according to the ancient custom of Rome, and perceiving that his words moved the common people to compassion, he framed his eloquence to make their hearts yearn the more; and taking Cæsar's gown all bloody in his hand, he laid it open to the sight of them all, shewing what a number of cuts and holes it had upon it. Therewithal the people fell presently into such a rage and mutiny, that there was no more order kept amongst the common people."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.[A] How Shakespeare elaborates this!]

[Note A: There is a similar passage in Plutarch, _Marcus Antonius_.]

[Page 104]

ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them: 75 The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Cæsar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Cæsar answer'd it. 80 Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,-- For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men,-- Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me: 85 But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious? 90 When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal 95 I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 100 But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; 105 My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar, And I must pause till it come back to me.

[Note 74: /bury./ A characteristic anachronism. Cf. 'coffin' in l. 106.]

[Note 104: /art/ F2 F3 F4 | are F1.]

[Note 75-76: So in _Henry VIII_, IV, ii, 45: "Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water."]

[Note 89: Cæsar's campaigns in Gaul put vast sums of money into his hands, a large part of which he kept to his own use, as he might have kept it all; but he did also, in fact, make over much of it to the public treasury. This was a very popular act, as it lightened the taxation of the city.]

[Note 95: /on the Lupercal:/ at the festival of the Lupercal.]

[Note 99: These repetitions of 'honourable man' are intensely ironical; and for that very reason the irony should be studiously kept out of the voice in pronouncing them. Speakers and readers utterly spoil the effect of the speech by specially emphasizing the irony. For, from the extreme delicacy of his position, Antony is obliged to proceed with the utmost caution, until he gets the audience thoroughly in his power. The consummate adroitness which he uses to this end is one of the greatest charms of this oration.]

[Note 103: /to mourn:/ from mourning. The gerundive use of the infinitive.]

[Note 104: 'Brutish' is by no means tautological here, the antithetic sense of human brutes being most artfully implied.]

[Page 105]

1 CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.

2 CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Cæsar has had great wrong.

3 CITIZEN. Has he, masters? 110 I fear there will a worse come in his place.

[Note 110: /Has he/, | Ha's hee F1.]

[Note 110: It was here, as the first words of the reply of the Third Citizen, that Pope would have inserted the quotation preserved in Jonson's _Discoveries_, discussed in note, p. 83, ll. 47-48. Pope's note is:

"Cæsar has had great wrong.

3 PLEB. Cæsar had never wrong, but with just cause.

If ever there was such a line written by Shakespeare, I should fancy it might have its place here, and very humorously in the character of a Plebeian." Craik inserted 'not' after 'Has he.']

[Page 106]

4 CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.

1 CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

2 CITIZEN. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

3 CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. 116

4 CITIZEN. Now mark him; he begins again to speak.

ANTONY. But yesterday the word of Cæsar might Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence. 120 O masters, if I were dispos'd to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know, are honourable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose 125 To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar; I found it in his closet; 'tis his will: Let but the commons hear this testament-- 130 Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-- And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds, And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, 135 Bequeathing it as a rich legacy Unto their issue.

[Note 114: /abide it:/ suffer for it, pay for it. See note, p. 87, l. 95.]

[Note 120: And there are none so humble but that the great Cæsar is now beneath their reverence, or too low for their regard.]

[Note 133: /napkins:/ handkerchiefs. In the third scene of the third act of _Othello_ the two words are used interchangeably.]

[Page 107]

4 CITIZEN. We'll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.

ALL. The will, the will! we will hear Cæsar's will.

ANTONY. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how Cæsar lov'd you. 141 You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And, being men, hearing the will of Cæsar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad. 'T is good you know not that you are his heirs; 145 For if you should, O, what would come of it!

4 CITIZEN. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will, Cæsar's will.

ANTONY. Will you be patient? will you stay awhile? I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it: 150 I fear I wrong the honourable men Whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar; I do fear it.

4 CITIZEN. They were traitors: honourable men!

ALL. The will! the testament!

2 CITIZEN. They were villains, murderers: the will! read the will. 155

ANTONY. You will compel me, then, to read the will? Then make a ring about the corpse of Cæsar, And let me show you him that made the will. Shall I descend? and will you give me leave?

[Note 150: /o'ershot myself to tell:/ gone too far in telling. Another example of the infinitive used as a gerund. Cf. l. 103 and II, i, 135.]

[Note 152: Antony now sees that he has the people wholly with him, so that he is perfectly safe in stabbing the stabbers with these words.]

[Page 108]

ALL. Come down. 160

2 CITIZEN. Descend.

3 CITIZEN. You shall have leave.

[ANTONY _comes down from the pulpit_]

4 CITIZEN. A ring, stand round.

1 CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.

2 CITIZEN. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. 165

ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me: stand far off.

ALL. Stand back; room; bear back!

[Note 162: [ANTONY _comes_ ...] Ff omit.]

[Note 166: /far:/ farther. The old comparative of 'far' is 'farrer' (sometimes 'ferrar') still heard in dialect, and the final _-er_ will naturally tend to be slurred. So _The Winter's Tale_, IV, iv, 441, "Far than Deucalion off." So 'near' for 'nearer' in _Richard II_, III, ii, 64.]

[Page 109]

ANTONY. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle: I remember The first time ever Cæsar put it on; 170 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii. Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through: See what a rent the envious Casca made: Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; 175 And, as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Cæsar follow'd it, As rushing out of doors, to be resolv'd If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no; For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel: 180 Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar lov'd him! This was the most unkindest cut of all; For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart; 185 And, in his mantle muffling up his face, Even at the base of Pompey's statue, Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 190 Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us. O, now you weep; and I perceive you feel The dint of pity: these are gracious drops. Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold Our Cæsar's vesture wounded? Look you here, 195 Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors.

[Note 187: /statue/ Ff | statua Steevens Globe | statuë Camb.]

[Note 174: /envious:/ malicious. See note on 'envy,' p. 54, l. 164.]

[Note 178: /resolv'd:/ informed, assured. See note, p. 90, l. 132.]

[Note 172: This is the artfullest and most telling stroke in Antony's speech. The Romans prided themselves most of all upon their military virtue and renown: Cæsar was their greatest military hero; and his victory over the Nervii was his most noted military exploit. It occurred during his second campaign in Gaul, in the summer of the year B.C. 57, and is narrated with surpassing vividness in the second book of his _Gallic War_. Plutarch, in his _Julius Cæsar_, gives graphic details of this famous victory and the effect upon the Roman people of the news of Cæsar's personal prowess, when "flying in amongst the barbarous people," he "made a lane through them that fought before him." Of course the matter about the 'mantle' is purely fictitious: Cæsar had on the civic gown, not the military cloak, when killed; and it was, in fact, the mangled toga that Antony displayed on this occasion; but the fiction has the effect of making the allusion to the victory seem perfectly artless and incidental.]

[Note 180: 'Angel' here seems to mean his counterpart, his good genius, or a kind of better and dearer self. See note, p. 47, l. 66.]

[Note 193: 'Dint' (Anglo-Saxon _dynt_; cf. provincial 'dunt') originally means 'blow'; the text has it in the secondary meaning of 'impression' made by a blow. Shakespeare uses the word in both senses.]

[Page 110]

1 CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle!

2 CITIZEN. O noble Cæsar!

3 CITIZEN. O woful day!

4 CITIZEN. O traitors, villains! 200

1 CITIZEN. O most bloody sight!

2 CITIZEN. We will be reveng'd.

ALL. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! Let not a traitor live!

ANTONY. Stay, countrymen. 205

1 CITIZEN. Peace there! Hear the noble Antony.

2 CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him.

ANTONY. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny. They that have done this deed are honourable; 210 What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, That made them do it; they are wise and honourable, And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts: I am no orator, as Brutus is; 215 But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him: For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, 220 To stir men's blood: I only speak right on; I tell you that which you yourselves do know; Show you sweet Cæsar's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths, And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 225 Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Cæsar, that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.

[Note 203-204: ALL Globe Camb (White Delius conj.) | Ff continue to 2 Citizen and print as verse.]

[Note 218: /gave/ F1 | give F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 219: /wit/ F2 F3 F4 | writ F2.]

[Note 207: The Folios give this speech like that in 203-204 to 'Second Citizen,' but it should surely be given to 'All.']

[Note 219: Johnson suggests that the 'writ' of the First Folio may not be a printer's slip but used in the sense of a 'penned or premeditated oration.' Malone adopted and defended the First Folio reading.]

[Page 111]

ALL. We'll mutiny.

1 CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus. 230

3 CITIZEN. Away, then! come, seek the conspirators.

ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak.

ALL. Peace, ho! hear Antony, most noble Antony!

ANTONY. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what. Wherein hath Cæsar thus deserv'd your loves? 235 Alas, you know not; I must tell you then: You have forgot the will I told you of.

ALL. Most true. The will! Let's stay and hear the will.

ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Cæsar's seal. To every Roman citizen he gives, 240 To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.

[Note 239: "For first of all, when Cæsar's testament was openly read among them, whereby it appeared that he bequeathed unto every citizen of Rome seventy-five drachmas a man; and that he left his gardens and arbors unto the people, which he had on this side of the river Tiber, in the place where now the temple of Fortune is built: the people then loved him, and were marvellous sorry for him."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note 241: The drachma (lit. 'what can be grasped in the hand') was the principal silver coin of the ancient Greeks, and while the nominal value of it was about that of the modern drachma (by law of the same value as the French franc) its purchasing power was much greater. Cæsar left to each citizen three hundred sesterces; Plutarch gives seventy-five drachmas as the Greek equivalent.]

[Page 112]

2 CITIZEN. Most noble Cæsar! We'll revenge his death.

3 CITIZEN. O royal Cæsar!

ANTONY. Hear me with patience.

ALL. Peace, ho! 245

ANTONY. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, His private arbours and new-planted orchards, On this side Tiber; he hath left them you, And to your heirs for ever; common pleasures, To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. 250 Here was a Cæsar! when comes such another?

1 CITIZEN. Never, never. Come, away, away! We'll burn his body in the holy place, And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. Take up the body. 255

[Note 254: /the/ F1 | all the F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 248: As this scene lies in the Forum, near the Capitol, Cæsar's gardens are, in fact, on the other side of the Tiber. But Shakespeare wrote as he read in Plutarch. See quotation, p. 111, l. 239.]

[Note 252: "Therewithal the people fell presently into such a rage and mutiny, that there was no more order kept amongst the common people. For some of them cried out 'Kill the murderers'; others plucked up forms, tables, and stalls about the market-place, as they had done before at the funerals of Clodius, and having laid them all on a heap together, they set them on fire, and thereupon did put the body of Cæsar, and burnt it in the midst of the most holy places. When the fire was throughly kindled, some took burning firebrands, and ran with them to the murderers' houses that killed him, to set them on fire."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note 254: /fire./ Cf. III, i, 172. Monosyllables ending in 'r' or 're,' preceded by a long vowel or diphthong, are often pronounced as dissyllabic.]

[Page 113]

2 CITIZEN. Go fetch fire.

3 CITIZEN. Pluck down benches.

4 CITIZEN. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.

[_Exeunt_ CITIZENS _with the body_]

ANTONY. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, Take thou what course thou wilt!

_Enter a_ Servant

How now, fellow! 260

SERVANT. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.

ANTONY. Where is he?

SERVANT. He and Lepidus are at Cæsar's house.

ANTONY. And thither will I straight to visit him: He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry, 265 And in this mood will give us any thing.

SERVANT. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.

ANTONY. Belike they had some notice of the people 269 How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius. [_Exeunt_]

[Note 258: [_Exeunt_ Citizens...] | Exit Plebeians Ff.]

[Note 258: /forms:/ benches. The word used in preceding quotation from Plutarch. The Old Fr. _forme_, mediæval Lat. _forma_, was sometimes applied to choir-stalls, with back, and book-rest. "For the origin of this use of the word, cf. Old French _s'asseoir en forme_, to sit in a row or in fixed order."--Murray. Nowhere in literature is there a more realistic study and interpretation of the temper of a mob (a word that has come into use since Shakespeare's time) than in this scene and the short one which follows. Here is the true mob-spirit, fickle, inflammable, to be worked on by any demagogue with promises in his mouth.]

[Note 265: /upon a wish:/ as soon as wished for. Cf. I, ii, 104.]

[Note 268: /rid:/ ridden. So 'writ' for 'written,' IV, iii, 183.]

[Page 114]