The story in one page
Julius Caesar is enjoying a victory lap in Rome, but Cassius is busy counting how many times Caesar almost drowned or caught a fever to prove he isn't a god. Fearing a monarchy, Cassius manipulates the stoic Brutus into joining a murder plot by tossing anonymous letters into his window. Despite a soothsayer’s warnings and his wife’s nightmares about bleeding statues, Caesar walks into the Capitol to be stabbed thirty-three times. The conspirators celebrate "liberty," but Mark Antony uses a funeral speech and a blood-stained cloak to incite a riot. The resulting civil war moves from Roman streets to military tents, ending in a double suicide as the ghost of Caesar haunts the losers at Philippi.
Who's who
- Julius Caesar
The ambitious leader who compares himself to the unmoving Northern Star.
- Marcus Brutus
A man of principle who joins a lethal conspiracy against Caesar to stop a perceived threat to the state.
- Cassius
The lean and hungry instigator who organizes the assassination plot.
- Mark Antony
Caesar's loyalist and a master orator who weaponizes public grief.
- Octavius Caesar
Caesar's young heir who arrives to help clean up the mess.
What it's really about
- Persuasion
- How words and forged letters manipulate political outcomes.
- Public Image
- The gap between a man's physical frailty and his legendary status.
Why it's memorable
- The conspirators washing their hands in Caesar's blood in the middle of the Senate.
- Brutus and Cassius arguing over money and chickens inside a military tent.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
Defeated at Philippi, Brutus runs onto his own sword; Antony declares him the only noble conspirator and grants him a soldier's burial.
For your book club
- Is Brutus a hero for his principles or a fool for his gullibility?
- Does the play suggest that political assassination ever achieves its intended goal?