Shakespeare`s biography
Life and times of Caesar

Dramatis Personae
Overview of the Play
Overview of Acts

William Shakespeare is thought by many to be the greatest playwright of all time. His use of language to reveal the deep inner working of the human condition is a profound achievement in literary history.

Shakespeare was born in1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He was the third of eight children. In 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. They had three children, one of whom did not survive.

By 1588, Shakespeare had moved to London. Shakespeare's plays were performed by his theatre company, the Chamberlain's Men in the Globe Theatre and the Blackfriars.

Shakespeare's works are generally divided into four periods. The first (before 1594) are the least highly regarded by scholars. Plays during this era include The Comedy of Errors(1592) and The Taming of the Shrew (1593).

The second period (1594-1600) includes such famous works as The Merchant of Venice (1596), Romeo and Juliet (1595) and Julius Caesar (1599). The third period (1600-1608) includes Shakespeare's darkest works including Hamlet (1601) and MacBeth (1606) The fourth period (after1608) includes The Tempest (1611).

In 1608, Shakespeare and his wife moved to Stratford. He died in 1616 and is buried in the Stratford church.
 
 

Julius Caesar was born on the 13th day of Quintilis (now July) in the year we refer to as 100 B.C. His full name was Gaius Julius Caesar, the same as his father's.
Caesar's family was not prominent, but they claimed to be descended from Venus. Caesar was well connected through his relatives and received some important government assignments during his youth.
Among other projects, he was sent to bring back a fleet of ships from Nicomedes IV of Bithynia. He was also honored for bravery at the siege of Mytilene when he was only twenty years of age. Several years later he left Rome to study in Rhodes, his studies were soon interrupted by the outbreak of war with Mithradates VI of Pontus in 74. Caesar again gathered a force and participated in that war.
Caesar held a series of lesser political offices before becoming a Roman consul in 59 B.C. He then made an alliance now known as the "First Triumvirate" with two powerful military leaders, Pompey and Crassus. This First Triumvirate was very important in Rome's history.
When Crassus died the two remaining triumvirs were at loggerheads. Pompey had an army in the southern part of the Italian penninsula, including Rome. Caesar was in charge of an army in the north. He took his army across the Rubicon River (the dividing line between their regions) and thereby started a civil war.
Pompey was defeated. This left Caesar in charge of the military in Rome. It also signaled the end of the Roman Republic. Caesar was appointed dictator for a year starting in 49 B.C., for two years in 48 B.C., for ten years in 46 B.C. and finally dictator for life in 44 B.C. In that same year he was assassinated. Several years later his grand nephew Octavion became the first Roman Emperor.
 
 

  JULIUS CAESAR, Roman statesman and general
  OCTAVIUS, Triumvir after Caesar's death, later Augustus Caesar,
    first emperor of Rome
  MARK ANTONY, general and friend of Caesar, a Triumvir after his
    death
  LEPIDUS, third member of the Triumvirate
  MARCUS BRUTUS, leader of the conspiracy against Caesar
  CASSIUS, instigator of the conspiracy
  CASCA,          conspirator against Caesar
  TREBONIUS,           "          "     "
  CAIUS LIGARIUS,      "          "     "
  DECIUS BRUTUS,       "          "     "
  METELLUS CIMBER,     "          "     "
  CINNA,               "          "     "
  CALPURNIA, wife of Caesar
  PORTIA, wife of Brutus
  CICERO,     senator
  POPILIUS,      "
  POPILIUS LENA, "
  FLAVIUS, tribune
  MARULLUS, tribune
  CATO,     supportor of Brutus
  LUCILIUS,     "     "    "
  TITINIUS,     "     "    "
  MESSALA,      "     "    "
  VOLUMNIUS,    "     "    "
  ARTEMIDORUS, a teacher of rhetoric
  CINNA, a poet
  VARRO,     servant to Brutus
  CLITUS,       "    "     "
  CLAUDIO,      "    "     "
  STRATO,       "    "     "
  LUCIUS,       "    "     "
  DARDANIUS,    "    "     "
  PINDARUS, servant to Cassius
  The Ghost of Caesar
  A Soothsayer
  A Poet
  Senators, Citizens, Soldiers, Commoners, Messengers, and Servants

JULIUS CAESAR- is now regarded as a dramatic work of considerable complexity. On the one hand, the play captures with remarkable fidelity the ethos and rhetorical style of late-republican Rome--so much so, indeed, that it may be said that Shakespeare's portraits of Caesar and his contemporaries have largely formed our own impressions of how the ancient Romans thought and talked and conducted their civic affairs. Recent studies of the play's references to "philosophy" indicate, moreover, that Shakespeare knew a good deal about Roman Stoicism and perceived it as one of the characterizing traits that differentiated Brutus from Cassius, an Epicurean continually nonplussed by his companion's mental rigidity and emotional aloofness.
 
 

Act 1, Scene I: In his garden, Brutus tells his servant Lucus that he fears that Caesar may become a tyrant if he is crowned king. He receives a letter written by Cassius urging him to protect the Roman Republic from just such a course. A group of conspirators led by Cassius comes into the garden. They have now agreed that Caesar must be killed. But when Cassius insists that Mark Antony should be killed as well, Brutus objects saying that this would be "too bloody," and that their faction should act as "sacrificers, but not butchers." He then says that Mark Antony will be able to do nothing once Caesar has fallen. When the other conspirators leave, Brutus's wife Portia asks why he has not slept all night. He says that he is ill, but she sees that there is a "sick offense within (his) mind." She asks to know about what is troubling Brutus, but he does not reveal the plot. Another conspirator, Ligarius, arrives, and agrees to join the noble Brutus in any exploit needed to "make sick men whole."

Scene II: At Caesar's house, we see the emperor in his nightshirt as thunder and lightening split the dark sky. Caesar's wife has cried out in her sleep that "they murther Caesar." When she arrives on stage, Calphurnia insists that her husband not leave the house on the Ides of March. He declares that he will go forth to the Senate, but when a servant appears and says that the "augerers" (fortune-tellers) warn that he should not stir forth, Caesar changes his mind, and sends a servant to the Senate house to say he will not go there today. One of the conspirators, Decius, appears and tells Caesar that the augerers have mistaken signs of good fortune for those of doom, and that the Senate is ready to name him king. Caesar reverses course again, vowing to go to the Senate and calling his wife's dreams of murder foolish fears.

Scene III: Artemidorous, a loyal teacher of rhetoric, reads a letter he intends to give to Caesar in which he names the conspirators.

Scene IV: Portia sends Lucius to the Capitol, vaguely fearing that Brutus is in danger. She asks him to take note of what occurs. The soothsayer then enters and says to Portia that he plans to warn Caesar again.

Act III, Scene I: Before the Roman capitol, Caesar, the soothsayer, and all of the conspirators meet. The soothsayer reminds Caesar that the Ides of March have not yet passed. This remark causes Casca to fear that the plot to kill Caesar has been discovered. In line with their plans, Caesar predictably refuses a request from one of the conspirators, and this is the pre-arranged signal for all of them to stab the emperor to death. Caesar dies with the words: "Et tu Brute (you too Brutus)---Then fall Caesar" (l.72), while the conspirators shout "Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!" and Brutus declares that "ambition's debt is paid." He then tells the conspirators to bathe their hands in Caesar's blood as a solemn ritual that shows their devotion to liberty. One of Mark Antony's servants arrives and says that while his master loved Caesar, he does not love Caesar as much dead as he loves Brutus alive. Mark Antony then appears and offers his life to the conspirators. Brutus says that he will explain the reasons for the killing of Caesar after the people have been appeased. Antony asks to speak to the people about Caesar's death, and Brutus agrees, while Cassius expresses misgivings. Brutus prevails. But when Antony is left alone on stage, he reveals that he will avenge Caesar's death. The servant of Octavius, Caesar's heir, enters and Antony orders him to tell his youthful master that Rome is too dangerous a place now and that he should wait until Antony addresses the people before coming to the capitol.

Scene II: In the Roman Forum, Brutus and Cassius stand before a crowd of citizens, each of them planning to address the plebian mob and its demand to know the reasons for Caesar's assassination. Cassius leaves to perform this task off-stage, while Brutus addresses the crowd on stage. He explains that he killed Caesar "not that I lov'd/Caesar less, but that I lov'd Rome more," that he took part in the plot to preserve freedom. The crowd seems satisfied, as Brutus says that he will now leave and allow Mark Antony to speak. After Brutus exits, Mark Antony presents the funeral oration for Caesar, in a speech that begins "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" (l.73). In one of the most famous of Shakespeare's speeches, Mark Antony cleverly turns the crowd against the conspirators while calling Brutus and his comrades "noble men." First speaking to their emotional bond with Caesar, he then produces a parchment with the dead ruler's will, and the crowd calls for it to be read. When they learn of Caesar's generous provision of money and property to the common people, the mob becomes infuriated at the conspirators and runs amok with torches to burn their houses. Antony is well pleased by the outcome, as a servant arrives to report that Brutus and Cassius have fled the city.

Scene III: As a sign of the frenzied nature of the mob, they kill a poet named Cinna simply because his name is the same as one of the conspirators.

Act IV, Scene I: At the home of Mark Antony, he and the two other triumvirs---Octavius and Lepidus---tick off the names of men who either took part in the conspiracy or who might oppose their plans to share rule over the Roman Empire. Lepidus agrees that his brother must die, and Mark Antony likewise accepts the execution of a nephew. When Lepidus leaves, Antony calls him a "slight unmeritable man," who is not worthy of ruling over a third of the world. Octavius says that Lepidus is nevertheless a tested soldier, and joins with Antony in the real business at hand, planning the campaign against Brutus and Cassius who have raised an army near Sardis.

Scene II: At their encampment near Sardis, Brutus and a group of his loyal soldiers prepare for the battle ahead. Brutus expresses some worry that Cassius is no longer as "warm" a friend as he once was. Cassius arrives and says that this perception of a cooling is mistaken and objects to it.

Scene III: The setting is still Brutus's tent. The two men quarrel about a number of seemingly petty matters, including the charge that Cassius has taken bribes. Cassius is deeply offended and offers Brutus the chance to take his life. Brutus waves this off and after a poet appears urging the two to "Love, and be friends," their friendship seems to be restored. Word arrives from Rome that Portia has committed suicide after she learned of the huge force that Antony, Octavius and Lepidus have assembled against her husband Brutus. Another messenger enters with news about those who have been executed in Rome. Brutus and Cassius argue over military strategy: Cassius wants to wait in a defensive position for the enemy to appear; Brutus asserts that they should march to Philippi directly and engage the enemy before more troops join the cause against them. Brutus wins the argument, but when he retires to sleep, Brutus sees the Ghost of Julius Caesar, who says that they will meet again on the field at Philippi.

Act V, Scene I: Octavius and Antony are pleased by their enemy's decision to take the offensive. They speak with Brutus and Cassius before the battle, each party insulting the other. When Octavius and Antony leave, Cassius reveals that he is worried about the outcome of the battle. He and Brutus enter a pact to either win the day or to commit suicide rather than being led through the streets of Rome as prisoners.

Scene II: A very brief scene in which Brutus orders an attack on the forces commanded by Octavius.

Scene III: Cassius and one of his generals, Titinus, realize that Brutus has ordered the attack on Octavius's flank too soon. About to be overwhelmed, Cassius commits suicide. Brutus arrives to find Cassius and his comrades dead. But Brutus vows to "try fortune in a second fight."

Scene IV: Brutus is defeated. One of his loyal officers, Lucilius, pretends to be Brutus when he is captured, but Antony quickly sees through this desperate ruse.

Scene V: The final scene takes place on the battlefield at Philippi. Brutus realizes that all is lost. He asks several of his remaining loyal soldiers to kill him. One of them, Strato, agrees to hold a sword while Brutus runs himself through. Antony, Octavius and their forces arrive on the scene and see the corpse of Brutus. Antony praises the virtues of Brutus, while Octavius agrees to bury his former foe "with all respects and rites of burial" (V,v, l.77).
 
 

Introduction: While preparing for a science fair you have accidently mixed your expository essay on Julius Caesar with your research on time travelling machines. A power surge occurs as you attempt to rectify the problem ...you have been sent back in time!!!  You soon realize you are in  Rome during Julius Caesar`s reign. What will you do now?

The Task: You decide that you want to learn about Roman history first hand. In order to do so you must interact with the populus. You acknowledge the fact your Tommy Hilfiger jeans and Nike shirt do not quite blend in with their clothing. You must adapt to your surroundings so you will be required to know what were their customs, their beliefs, their pastimes and more importantly what they thought of Julius Caesar. Consulting the sites identified in Resources will assist you with your task.

Resources:

http://tech-two.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.htmle

http://www.shakespeare.com/

http://www.ipl.org/reading/shakespeare/shakespeare.html

http://www.gh.cs.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/
 

The Process: Write all your findings and information in a journal. You must include both historical and fictional accounts.
 

Conclusion: This webquest shall help you better appreciate the political malaise encountered by most Romans resulting in the murder of Julius Caesar.  This historical event was however embelished by Shakespeare for theatrical purposes and these scenes should become apparent once you have accomplished your webquest.