The Forum.
Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS, and a throng of Citizens
CITIZENS We demand a
satisfactory explanation: Give us an explanation.
BRUTUS Then follow me,
and give me a hearing, friends. Cassius, you go into the other street,
And divide the crowd. Those who want to
hear me speak, let them stay here; Those who want to hear Cassius, go with him;
And, in public, reasons shall be given For Caesar’s death.
FIRST CITIZEN I want to hear Brutus speak.
SECOND CITIZEN I want to hear Cassius,
and we will compare their reasons, When we have heard them given separately.
Exit CASSIUS, with some of the Citizens. BRUTUS goes into the pulpit.
THIRD CITIZEN Noble Brutus has gone up to the rostrum. Silence!
BRUTUS Be patient until the end of my address.
Romans, countrymen, and dear friends, listen to me for my reasons, and be silent, so that you can
hear. Believe in my integrity, and accept me as an honourable man, so you may believe me. Judge me in
your wisdom, and be alert in your reasoning, so that you can judge me fairly. If there is anyone
in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, I would say to him that my love for Caesar was
no less than his. If then, that friend demands to know why I, Brutus, rose up against Caesar,
this is my reply: it is not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Would you rather
that Caesar were alive, and we all die as slaves, or that Caesar were dead, and we all live as free
men? As Caesar was a dear friend to me, I mourn him; as he had good fortune, I rejoice in it;
as he was courageous, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I killed him. There are tears
for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his courage; and death for his ambition.
Who here is so low that he wants to be a slave? If there are any, speak; because it is he whom
I have offended. Who here is so barbarous that he doesn’t want to be a Roman? If there are any,
speak; because it is he whom I have offended. Who here is so vile that he doesn’t love his country?
If there are any, speak; because it is he whom I have offended. I am pausing for a reply.
ALL No one, Brutus, no one.
BRUTUS Then I have not offended
anyone. I have done no more to Caesar than you will do to me. The considerations which led to
his death are recorded in the archives in the Capitol; his greatness has not been devalued,
where he earned it; nor have his offences, for which he was killed, been unduly stressed.
Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR's body.
Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he played no part in killing him,
shall receive the benefit of his death, a position in the commonwealth, as you all will.
With these words I depart, that in the same way that I killed my best friend for the good of Rome,
I have the same dagger to kill myself, if my country requires my death.
ALL Live, Brutus! Live! Live!
FIRST CITIZEN Bring him triumphantly home to his house!
SECOND CITIZEN
Let’s put a statue of him with those of his ancestors.
THIRD CITIZEN Let him become Caesar.
FOURTH CITIZEN Caesar’s best qualities
Are evident in Brutus and so we will crown him.
FIRST CITIZEN
We’ll bring him to his house with shouts and loud voices.
BRUTUS My countrymen –
SECOND CITIZEN Be quiet! Be silent! Brutus is speaking.
FIRST CITIZEN Be quiet, over there!
BRUTUS
Good countrymen, let me leave alone, And, for my sake, stay here with Antony.
Show due respect to Caesar’s body, and listen with courtesy to Antony’s speech
Relating to Caesar’s glories, which Mark Antony, Is allowed to make, with our permission.
I request that no one leaves, Except myself, until Antony has finished speaking.
Exit
FIRST CITIZEN Let us stay and listen to Mark Antony.
THIRD CITIZEN Let him go up into the pulpit for speeches;
We shall listen to him. Noble Antony, go up into the rostrum.
ANTONY In Brutus’ name, I am indebted to you.
Goes into the rostrum.
FOURTH CITIZEN What is he saying about Brutus?
THIRD CITIZEN
He is saying that for Brutus’ sake He finds himself indebted to us all.
FOURTH CITIZEN
He had better not say anything bad about Brutus here!
FIRST CITIZEN Caesar was a tyrant.
THIRD CITIZEN That’s definitely true.
We are fortunate that Rome is rid of him.
SECOND CITIZEN Be quiet! Let’s hear what Antony has to say.
ANTONY Noble Romans –
CITIZENS Everyone be quiet! Let’s listen to him.
ANTONY
Friends, Romans, countrymen, give me your attention;
I have come here to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do is remembered after they die, The good that men do is often buried with them;
Let it be so with Caesar. The noble Brutus Has told you that Caesar was ambitious.
If that was true, it was a severe fault, And Caesar has paid a severe price for it.
With the permission of Brutus and all the others – Because Brutus is an honourable man;
They are all honourable men – I have come to speak at Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me; But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man. He brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms brought wealth to our city: Did this make Caesar appear ambitious?
When the poor cried, Caesar wept too; Someone who’s ambitious should
be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man. You all saw that on the Lupercal feast day
I presented him with a king’s crown three times, And, three times he refused it.
Was that an ambitious man? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And I do not question that Brutus is an honourable man.
I am not speaking to disprove what Brutus has said,
But I am here to speak of what I know. You all loved him once, and not without reason;
Then what is the reason that is holding you back from mourning for him?
Oh, common sense! You have fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost all rational thought.
Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I need to pause until it returns to me. (He weeps)
FIRST CITIZEN
I think there is a lot of sense in what he is saying.
SECOND CITIZEN
If you think carefully about it, Caesar has been greatly wronged.
THIRD CITIZEN Has he, gentlemen?
I am worried that there will be someone worse replacing him.
FOURTH CITIZEN Did you pay attention to what
Antony said? Caesar refused the crown; So, he definitely was not ambitious.
FIRST CITIZEN
If that turns out to be the case, someone will dearly pay the penalty for it.
SECOND CITIZEN
Poor soul! Antony’s eyes are as red as fire from weeping.
THIRD CITIZEN
There is not a nobler man in all of Rome than Antony.
FOURTH CITIZEN Now listen to him; he’s starting to speak again.
ANTONY Only yesterday the word of Caesar might
Have stood against the world; now he is lying there,
And the lowest member of society is too high to pay his respects to Caesar.
Oh gentlemen! If I were inclined to provoke Your hearts and minds to riot and rage,
I would offend Brutus and Cassius,
Who, as you all know, are honourable men. I will not offend them; I would prefer
To offend the dead, to offend myself and you, Than to offend such honourable men.
But here’s a paper with Caesar’s seal on it; I found it in his study; it is his will.
If only the ordinary people could hear this testament,
Which, forgive me, I do not intend to read aloud, They would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds,
And dip their handkerchiefs in his sacred blood, And beg for a lock of his hair to remember him by,
And, when they died, they’d mention these items in their wills,
Bequeathing them as a rich legacy To their offspring.
FOURTH CITIZEN We want to hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony.
ALL The will, the will! We want to hear Caesar’s will!
ANTONY Be patient, noble friends; I cannot read it.
It is not fitting that you should know how much Caesar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, you are men; And because you are men,
if you hear Caesar’s will, It will enrage you, and make you distraught.
It’s a good thing that you don’t know you are his heirs;
Because if you did know, oh, what would come of it?
FOURTH CITIZEN
Read the will! We want to hear it, Antony! You must read us the will, Caesar’s will!
ANTONY Will you be patient? Will you wait a while?
I have said more than I intended by telling you about it.
I’m afraid I am wronging the honourable men
Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar; I am afraid of that.
FOURTH CITIZEN They were traitors. Honourable men!
ALL The will! The testament!
SECOND CITIZEN They were villains,
murderers! The will! Read the will!
ANTONY
You are forcing me to read the will, then? Then form a circle around Caesar’s body,
And allow me to show you the man who wrote this will.
Shall I come down? And will you give me your permission?
SEVERAL CITIZENS Come down.
SECOND CITIZEN Descend.
THIRD CITIZEN You have permission.
ANTONY comes down from the rostrum
FOURTH CITIZEN Form a circle! Stand around him.
FIRST CITIZEN
Stand away from the hearse! Stand away from the body!
SECOND CITIZEN Make room for Antony, most noble Antony!
ANTONY No, don’t crowd me; stand back a bit.
SEVERAL CITIZENS Stand back! Make room! Move back!
ANTONY If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all recognise this cloak. I remember The first time ever that Caesar put it on;
It was on a summer’s evening in his tent, On the day he overcame the Nervii warriors.
Look, this is the part where Cassius’ dagger pierced it;
See what a tear the spiteful Casca made; Through this part,
the dearly loved Brutus stabbed, And as he pulled out his cursed dagger,
See how Caesar’s blood followed it, As if rushing out of a door, to learn for certain
Whether it was Brutus who so cruelly knocked, or not;
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s favourite. Judge, oh you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the unkindest cut of all; Because when noble Caesar saw Brutus stab,
The ingratitude, stronger than traitors’ arms, Overwhelmed him: and then burst his mighty heart;
And with his cloak covering his face, At the base of Pompey’s statue,
Bleeding profusely, great Caesar fell. Oh, what a fall it was, my countrymen!
Then I and you and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody treason triumphed over us.
Oh, now you are weeping, and I am aware that you feel
The stroke of pity. These are compassionate tears. Kind souls, how you weep when you observe
Merely our Caesar’s wounded clothing? Look here, at this,
Here is the man himself, mangled, as you see, by traitors.
FIRST CITIZEN Oh, what a pitiful sight!
SECOND CITIZEN Oh, noble Caesar!
THIRD CITIZEN Oh, sad day!
FOURTH CITIZEN Oh, traitors! Villains!
FIRST CITIZEN Oh, what a bloody sight!
SECOND CITIZEN We will take revenge.
ALL Let’s take
revenge! To work! Seek! Burn! Set fire! Kill! Put to death! Leave not even one traitor alive!
ANTONY Wait, countrymen.
FIRST CITIZEN Be quiet! Listen to the noble Antony!
SECOND CITIZEN We’ll listen to him,
we’ll follow him, we’ll die with him.
ANTONY Good friends,
sweet friends, don’t let me stir you up To such a sudden outburst of mutiny.
Those who have carried out this act are honourable men.
What personal grievances they have, however, I do not know,
That caused them to do this. They are wise and honourable,
And will, no doubt, explain to you the reasons. I haven’t come, friends, to steal your loyalty;
I am not an eloquent public speaker like Brutus, But, as you all know,
I am a plain speaking, blunt man, Who loved my friend; and fully aware of this fact
Are the men who gave me permission to speak publicly about him.
For I have neither intellectual brilliance, nor fluency, nor weight of authority,
Gesture and bearing, nor delivery, nor the power of speech
To stir men to action; I only say what I think. I tell you what you already know,
Show you sweet Caesar’s wounds, poor, poor speechless mouths,
And ask them to speak for me. But if I were Brutus,
And if Brutus were me, there would be an Antony Who would stir you up to anger, and put a tongue
In each of Caesar’s wounds which would inspire Even the stones of Rome to rise in mutiny.
ALL We’ll mutiny.
FIRST CITIZEN We’ll set fire to Brutus’ house.
THIRD CITIZEN Let’s go then! Come and look for the conspirators.
ANTONY
Wait and listen to me, countrymen; listen to what I have to say.
ALL All be quiet! Listen to Antony, most noble Antony!
ANTONY Why, friends,
you don’t even know what you are doing yet. In what respect has Caesar earned your love?
Alas, you don’t know! So, I must tell you: You have forgotten the will I told you about.
ALL That is
true. The will! Let’s stay and hear the will.
ANTONY Here is the will, with Caesar’s seal on it.
To every Roman citizen he gives, To every individual man, seventy-five drachmas.
SECOND CITIZEN Most noble Caesar! We shall avenge his death.
THIRD CITIZEN Oh, royal Caesar!
ANTONY Listen patiently to me.
ALL Everyone, be quiet!
ANTONY Furthermore, he has left you all his walkways,
His private lawns, and newly planted orchards,
On this side of the river Tiber; he has left them to you,
And to your heirs forever: public parks, Where you can all go for a relaxing stroll.
This was Caesar! When will there be another like him?
FIRST CITIZEN Never, never! Come on, let’s go!
We’ll burn his body in the holy place, And, with the fire brands, we’ll set fire
to the traitors’ houses. Take up his body.
SECOND CITIZEN Let’s go and start a fire.
THIRD CITIZEN Tear loose the benches.
FOURTH CITIZEN Tear loose windowsills, shutters, anything.
Exeunt Citizens with the body
ANTONY Now let it work.
Trouble, you are about to begin, Take whatever course you choose.
Enter a Servant
What news, man?
SERVANT Sir, Octavius has already arrived in Rome.
ANTONY Where is he?
SERVANT He and Lepidus are at Caesar’s house.
ANTONY And I
will go there at once to visit him. He has come exactly as I desired.
Fortune is favouring us, And in this mood will give us anything we want.
SERVANT I heard
Octavius say that Brutus and Cassius Have ridden like madmen through the gates of Rome.
ANTONY Probably,
they had some information about the people,
And how I had stirred them up. Take me to Octavius.
Exeunt