Note 14 — THE INFLUENCE OF APPIAN

As in the case of the supposed loan in the oration of Brutus, a careful comparison of Plutarch and Appian reveals nothing which Shakespeare could not have obtained from the former, if not directly, at least as a natural consequence of Plutarch’s various accounts. Even the matter of the display of the corpse is mentioned by the biographer (Julius Caesar, p. 102, Skeat’s Edition). As a matter of history, not the corpse itself, but a waxen image showing the mutilations, was exhibited to the populace. It is true that from Plutarch’s direct accounts of the oration, Shakespeare could have obtained very little. The whole matter illustrates the great difficulty encountered by the investigator who seeks to disentangle Appian’s contribution from that of Plutarch. This is especially difficult in view of the transformation inseparable from a dramatic treatment. In many passages covering the life of Caesar the marked similarity between the two writers has given rise to the theory that both worked from a common Greek source now lost. The minutiae necessary to a positive declaration in favor of Appian are lacking in Shakespeare’s treatment of this particular scene, but as will be noted from the main argument, they are evident in Pescetti.