Act 5 — V. 5 Scene V.[109] Another part of the field[110] (continued 2)

III.13[1] i.e. whispered.

III.13[2] i.e. advise.

III.14 [Exeunt Antony ...] Ff omit.

III.15 presently: immediately, at once. So Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers always use the word. See l. 143; IV, i, 45.

III.16 address'd: prepared. Often so in sixteenth century literature. Cf. As You Like It, V, iv, 162; Henry V, III, iii, 58; 2 Henry IV, IV, iv, 5. This old meaning survives in a well-known golf term.

III.17 Are ... ready? | Dyce gives to Casca; Ritson (conj.) to Cinna.

III.18 [Kneeling] Rowe | Ff omit.

III.19 couchings: stoopings. 'Couch' is used in the sense of 'bend' or 'stoop' as under a burden, in Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III, i, 4:

So in Genesis, xlix, 14: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." The verb occurs six times in the Bible (King James version). In Roister Doister, I, iv, 90, we have "Couche! On your marybones ... Down to the ground!"

III.20 courtesies F₁ | curtsies F₄.

III.21 pre-ordinance and first decree: the ruling and enactment of the highest authority in the state. "What has been pre-ordained and decreed from the beginning."—Clar.

III.22 law | lane Ff.

III.23 law. This is one of the textual cruces of the play. 'Law' is Johnson's conjecture for the 'lane' of the Folios. It was adopted by Malone. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Mason's conjecture, 'play,' was adopted. 'Line,' 'bane,' 'vane' have each been proposed. Fleay defends the Folio reading and interprets 'lane' in the sense of 'narrow conceits.' 'Law of children' would mean 'law at the mercy of whim or caprice.'

III.24 Be not fond, To think: be not so foolish as to think.

III.25 Low-crooked curtsies | Low-crooked-curtsies Ff.

III.26 spaniel-fawning Johnson | Spaniell fawning F₁.

III.27 In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare was adopted, with a slight change, Tyrwhitt's suggested restoration of these lines to the form indicated by Ben Jonson in the famous passage in his Discoveries, when, speaking of Shakespeare, he says: "Many times he fell into those things could not escape laughter: as when he said in the person of Cæsar, one speaking to him, 'Cæsar, thou dost me wrong,' he replied, 'Cæsar did never wrong but with just cause,' and such like; which were ridiculous." Based upon this note the Tyrwhitt restoration of the text was:

In the old Hudson Shakespeare text the first line of Cæsar's reply was: "Cæsar did never wrong but with just cause." Jonson has another gird at what he deemed Shakespeare's blunder, for in the Induction to The Staple of News is, "Prologue. Cry you mercy, you never did wrong, but with just cause." Either Jonson must have misquoted what he heard at the theater, or the passage was altered to the form in the text of the Folios on his remonstrance. This way of conveying meanings by suggestion rather than direct expression was intolerable to Jonson. Jonson must have known that 'wrong' could mean 'injury' and 'punishment' as well as 'wrong-doing.' 'Wrong' meaning 'harm' occurs below, l. 243. See note, p. 105, l. 110.

III.28 repealing: recall. So 'repeal' in l. 54. Often so in Shakespeare.

III.29 If I could seek to move, or change, others by prayers, then I were capable of being myself moved by the prayers of others.

III.30 true-fix'd | true fixt Ff.

III.31 apprehensive: capable of apprehending, intelligent.

III.32 ll. 72–73: All through this scene, Cæsar is made to speak quite out of character, and in a strain of hateful arrogance, in order, apparently, to soften the enormity of his murder, and to grind the daggers of the assassins to a sharper point. Perhaps, also, it is a part of the irony which so marks this play, to put the haughtiest words in Cæsar's mouth just before his fall.

III.33 Doth not F₁ | Do not F₂F₃F₄.

III.34 The 'Do not' of the three later Folios was adopted by Johnson because Marcus Brutus would not have knelt.

III.35 The simple stage direction of the Folios is retained. That of the Cambridge and the Globe editions is, "Casca first, then the other Conspirators and Marcus Brutus stab Cæsar."

III.36 Et tu, Brute? There is no classical authority for putting this phrase into the mouth of Cæsar. It seems to have been an Elizabethan proverb or 'gag,' and it is found in at least three works published earlier than Julius Cæsar. (See Introduction, Sources, p. xvi.) Cæsar had been as a father to Brutus, who was fifteen years his junior; and the Greek, καὶ σὺ, καὶ σὺ, τέκνον "and thou, my son!" which Dion and Suetonius put into his mouth, though probably unauthentic, is good enough to be true. In Plutarch are two detailed accounts of the assassination, that in Marcus Brutus differing somewhat from that in Julius Cæsar with regard to the nomenclature of the persons involved. The following is from Marcus Brutus: "Trebonius on the other side drew Antonius aside, as he came into the house where the Senate sat, and held him with a long talk without. When Cæsar was come into the house, all the Senate rose to honour him at his coming in. So when he was set, the conspirators flocked about him, and amongst them they presented one Tullius Cimber, who made humble suit for the calling home again of his brother that was banished. They all made as though they were intercessors for him, and took Cæsar by the hands, and kissed his head and breast. Cæsar at the first simply refused their kindness and entreaties; but afterwards, perceiving they still pressed on him, he violently thrust them from him. Then Cimber with both his hands plucked Cæsar's gown over his shoulders, and Casca, that stood behind him, drew his dagger first and strake Cæsar upon the shoulder, but gave him no great wound. Cæsar, feeling himself hurt, took him straight by the hand he held his dagger in, and cried out in Latin: 'O traitor Casca, what dost thou?' Casca on the other side cried in Greek, and called his brother to help him. So divers running on a heap together to fly upon Cæsar, he, looking about him to have fled, saw Brutus with a sword drawn in his hand ready to strike at him: then he let Casca's hand go, and casting his gown over his face, suffered every man to strike at him that would. Then the conspirators thronging one upon another, because every man was desirous to have a cut at him, so many swords and daggers lighting upon one body, one of them hurt another, and among them Brutus caught a blow on his hand, because he would make one in murthering of him, and all the rest also were every man of them bloodied."

III.37 [Dies] Dyes F₁ | F₂F₃F₄ omit.

III.38 common pulpits: rostra, the public platforms in the Forum.

III.39 This is somewhat in the style of Caliban, when he gets glorious with "celestial liquor," The Tempest, II, ii, 190, 191: "Freedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom! freedom, hey-day, freedom!"

III.40 "Cæsar being slain in this manner, Brutus, standing in the middest of the house, would have spoken, and stayed the other Senators that were not of the conspiracy, to have told them the reason why they had done this fact. But they, as men both afraid and amazed, fled one upon another's neck in haste to get out at the door, and no man followed them."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

III.41 abide: pay for, suffer for. So in III, ii, 114. "Through confusion of form with 'abye,' when that verb was becoming archaic, and through association of sense between abye (pay for) a deed, and abide the consequences of a deed, 'abide' has been erroneously used for 'abye'=pay for, atone for, suffer for."—Murray.

III.42 Scene II Pope.—Re-enter ... Capell | Enter ... Ff.

III.43 "But Antonius and Lepidus, which were two of Cæsar's chiefest friends, secretly conveying themselves away, fled into other men's houses and forsook their own."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

III.44 "When the murder was newly done, there were sudden outcries of people that ran up and down."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

III.45 stand upon: concern themselves with. Cf. II, ii, 13. What men are chiefly concerned about is how long they can draw out their little period of mortal life. Cf. Sophocles, Ajax, 475–476: "What joy is there in day following day, as each but draws us on towards or keeps us back from death?"—J. Churton Collins.

III.46 Casca | Cask. Ff | Cas. Pope Camb Globe.

III.47 Many modern editors have followed Pope and given this speech to Cassius. But there is no valid reason for this change from the text of the Folios. In the light of Casca's sentiments expressed in I, iii, 100–102, this speech is more characteristic of him than of Cassius. Pope also gave Casca ll. 106–111.

III.48 states F₂F₃F₄ | State F₁.

III.49 Brutus | Casc. Pope.

III.50 "Cæsar ... was driven ... by the counsel of the conspirators, against the base whereupon Pompey's image stood, which ran all of a gore-blood till he was slain."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

III.51 lies F₃F₄ | lye F₁.

III.52 Cassius | Bru. Pope.

III.53 ll. 117–119: This speech and the two preceding, vaingloriously anticipating the stage celebrity of the deed, are very strange; and, unless there be a shrewd irony lurking in them, it is hard to understand the purpose of them. Their effect is to give a very ambitious air to the work of these professional patriots, and to cast a highly theatrical color on their alleged virtue, as if they had sought to immortalize themselves by "striking the foremost man of all this world."

III.54 most boldest. See Abbott, § 11. So in III, ii, 182.

III.55 Enter a Servant. "This simple stage direction is the ... turning-round of the whole action; the arch has reached its apex and the Re-action has begun."—Moulton.

III.56 resolv'd: informed. This meaning is probably connected with the primary one of 'loosen,' 'set free,' through the idea of setting free from perplexity. 'Resolve' continued to be used in the sense of 'inform' and 'answer' until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Shakespeare uses the word in the three main senses of (1) 'relax,' 'dissolve,' Hamlet, I, ii, 130; (2) 'inform,' as here; and (3) 'determine,' 3 Henry VI, III, iii, 219.

III.57 Thorough. Shakespeare uses 'through' or 'thorough' indifferently, as suits his verse. The two are but different forms of the same word. 'Thorough,' the adjective, is later than the preposition.

III.58 so please him come: provided that it please him to come. 'So' is used with the future and subjunctive to denote 'provided that.'

III.59 still Falls shrewdly to the purpose: always comes cleverly near the mark. See Skeat under 'shrewd' and 'shrew.'

III.60 l. 148 Scene III Pope.—Two lines in Ff.

III.61 be let blood: be put to death. So in Richard III, III, i, 183.

III.62 is rank: has grown grossly full-blooded. The idea is of one who has overtopped his equals, and grown too high for the public safety. So in the speech of Oliver in As You Like It, I, i, 90, when incensed at the high bearing of Orlando: "Is it even so? begin you to grow upon me? I will physic your rankness."

III.63 Live: if I live. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 61.

III.64 l. 163 In this line 'by' is used (1) in the sense of 'near,' 'beside,' and (2) in its ordinary sense to denote agency.

III.65 The first 'fire' is dissyllabic. The allusion is to the old notion that if a burn be held to the fire the pain will be drawn or driven out. Shakespeare has four other very similar allusions to this belief—Romeo and Juliet, I, ii, 46; Coriolanus, IV, vii, 54; The Two Gentlemen of Verona, II, iv, 192; King John, III, i, 277.

III.66 in strength of malice: strong as they have shown themselves to be in malice towards tyranny. Though the Folio text may be corrupt, and at least twelve emendations have been suggested, the figure as it stands is intelligible, though elliptically obscure. Grant White has indicated how thoroughly the expression is in the spirit of what Brutus has just said. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Singer's conjecture of 'amity' for 'malice' was adopted. What makes this conjecture plausible is Shakespeare's frequent use of 'amity,' and "strength of their amity" occurs in Antony and Cleopatra, II, vi, 137.

III.67 Brutus has been talking about "our hearts," and "kind love, good thoughts, and reverence." To Cassius, all that is mere rose-water humbug, and he knows it is so to Antony too. He hastens to put in such motives as he knows will have weight with Antony, as they also have with himself. And it is remarkable that several of these patriots, especially Cassius, the two Brutuses, and Trebonius, afterwards accepted the governorship of fat provinces for which they had been prospectively named by Cæsar.

III.68 "When Cæsar was slain, the Senate—though Brutus stood in the middest amongst them, as though he would have said something touching this fact—presently ran out of the house, and, flying, filled all the city with marvellous fear and tumult. Insomuch as some did shut to the doors."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

III.69 struck | strooke F₁F₂ | strook F₃F₄.

III.70 wisdom F₃F₄ | Wisedome F₁F₂.

III.71 conceit: conceive of, think of. So in I, iii, 162.

III.72 dearer: more intensely. This emphatic or intensive use of 'dear' is very common in Shakespeare, and is used in the expression of strong emotion, either of pleasure or of pain.

III.73 bay'd: brought to bay. The expression connotes being barked at and worried as a deer by hounds. Cf. A Midsummer Nights Dream, IV, i, 118. "Cæsar turned him no where but he was stricken at by some ... and was hackled and mangled among them, as a wild beast taken of hunters."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

III.74 hart F₁ | Heart F₂F₃F₄.

III.75 Sign'd in thy spoil. This may have reference to the custom still prevalent in England and Europe of hunters smearing their hands and faces with the blood of the slain deer.

III.76 lethe | Lethe F₂F₃F₄ | Lethee F₁ | death Pope.

III.77 lethe. This puzzling term is certainly the reading of the Folios, and may mean either 'violent death' (Lat. letum), as 'lethal' means 'deadly,' or, as White interprets the passage, 'the stream which bears to oblivion.'

III.78 heart Theobald | hart Ff.

III.79 strucken Steevens | stroken F₁ | stricken F₂F₃F₄.

III.80 modesty: moderation. So in Henry VIII, V, iii, 64. This is the original meaning of the word. See illustrative quotation from Sir T. Elyot's The Governour, 1531, in Century.

III.81 prick'd: marked on the list. The image is of a list of names written out, and some of them having holes pricked in the paper against them. Cf. IV, i, 1. See Century under 'pricking for sheriffs.'

III.82 full of good regard: the result of noble considerations.

III.83 you, Antony Theobald | you Antony Ff.

III.84 'Produce' here implies 'motion towards'—the original Latin sense. Hence the preposition 'to.'

III.85 market-place. Here, and elsewhere in the play, 'the market-place' is the Forum, and the rostra provided there for the purposes of public speaking Shakespeare calls 'pulpits.' In this, as in so much else, he followed North.

III.86 the order of his funeral: the course of the funeral ceremonies. "Then Antonius, thinking good ... that his body should be honourably buried, and not in hugger-mugger,[1] lest the people might thereby take occasion to be worse offended if they did otherwise: Cassius stoutly spake against it. But Brutus went with the motion, and agreed unto it."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

III.86[1] i.e. in secrecy. Ascham has the form 'huddermother' and Skelton 'hoder-moder.' Cf. "In hugger-mugger to inter him," Hamlet, IV, v, 84.

III.87 [Aside to Brutus] Ff omit.

III.88 wrong: harm. Cf. l. 47. Note the high self-appreciation of Brutus here, in supposing that if he can but have a chance to speak to the people, and to air his wisdom before them, all will go right. Here, again, he overbears Cassius, who now begins to find the effects of having stuffed him with flatteries, and served as a mirror to "turn his hidden worthiness into his eye" (I, ii, 57–58).

III.89 [Exeunt ...] Capell | Exeunt. Manet Antony Ff.

III.90 Scene IV Pope.

III.91 ll. 257–258: Cf. Antony's eulogy of Brutus, V, v, 68–75.

III.92 limbs F₃F₄ | limbes F₁F₂.

III.93 limbs. Thirteen different words ('kind,' 'line,' 'lives,' 'loins,' 'tombs,' 'sons,' 'times,' etc.) have been offered by editors as substitutes for the plain, direct 'limbs' of the Folios. One of Johnson's suggestions was "these lymmes," taking 'lymmes' in the sense of 'lime-hounds,' i.e. 'leash-hounds.' 'Lym' is on the list of dogs in King Lear, III, vi, 72. In defence of the Folio text Dr. Wright quotes Timon's curse on the senators of Athens and says, "Lear's curses were certainly levelled at his daughter's limbs."

III.94 with: by. So in III, ii, 196. See Abbott, § 193.

III.95 Ate was the Greek goddess of vengeance, discord, and mischief. Shakespeare refers to her in King John, II, i, 63, as "stirring to blood and strife." In Love's Labour's Lost, V, ii, 694, and Much Ado about Nothing, II, i, 263, the references to her are humorous.

III.96 'Havoc' was anciently the word of signal for giving no quarter in a battle. It was a high crime for any one to give the signal without authority from the general in chief; hence the peculiar force of 'monarch's voice.'—To 'let slip' a dog was a term of the chase, for releasing the hounds from the 'slip' or leash of leather whereby they were held in hand till it was time to let them pursue the animal.—The 'dogs of war' are fire, sword, and famine. So in King Henry V, First Chorus, 6–8:

III.97 Enter ... | Enter Octavio's Servant Ff.

III.98 [Seeing the body] Rowe | Ff omit.

III.99 catching; for F₂F₃F₄ | catching from F₁.

III.100 A pun may lurk in this 'Rome.' See note, p. 19, l. 156.

III.101 awhile F₄ | a-while F₁F₂.

III.102 corse Pope | course F₁F₂ | coarse F₃F₄.

III.103 [Exeunt ...] Exeunt. Ff.

III.104 Scene II Rowe | Scene V Pope.—The Forum Rowe | Ff omit.

III.105 Enter Brutus ... Citizens Malone | Enter Brutus and goes into the Pulpit, and Cassius, with the Plebeians Ff.

III.106 Citizens Capell | Ple. (Plebeians) Ff.

III.107 rendered Pope | rendred Ff.

III.108 [Exit ... pulpit] Ff omit.

III.109 "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.

III.110 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.

III.111 censure: judge. The word may have been chosen for the euphuistic jingle it makes here with 'senses.'

III.112 is Ff | are Pope.

III.113 There is tears. So in I, iii, 138. See Abbott, § 335.

III.114 ll. 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.

III.115 Enter Antony ... body Malone | Enter Mark Antony with Cæsar's body Ff.

III.116 ll. 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.

III.117 ll. 47, 72, etc. All Ff | Cit. (Citizens) Capell.

III.118 ll. 48, 49, etc. Citizen | Ff omit.

III.119 l. 52 Two lines in Ff.

III.120 Scene VI Pope.

III.121 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.'

III.122 blest F₁ | glad F₂F₃F₄.

III.123 "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.[1] How Shakespeare elaborates this!

III.123[1] There is a similar passage in Plutarch, Marcus Antonius.

III.124 bury. A characteristic anachronism. Cf. 'coffin' in l. 106.

III.125 So in Henry VIII, IV, ii, 45: "Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water."

III.126 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.

III.127 on the Lupercal: at the festival of the Lupercal.

III.128 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.

III.129 to mourn: from mourning. The gerundive use of the infinitive.

III.130 art F₂F₃F₄ | are F₁.

III.131 'Brutish' is by no means tautological here, the antithetic sense of human brutes being most artfully implied.

III.132 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:

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.'

III.133 Has he, | Ha's hee F₁.

III.134 abide it: suffer for it, pay for it. See note, p. 87, l. 95.

III.135 And there are none so humble but that the great Cæsar is now beneath their reverence, or too low for their regard.

III.136 napkins: handkerchiefs. In the third scene of the third act of Othello the two words are used interchangeably.

III.137 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.

III.138 Antony now sees that he has the people wholly with him, so that he is perfectly safe in stabbing the stabbers with these words.

III.139 [Antony comes ...] Ff omit.

III.140 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.

III.141 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.

III.142 envious: malicious. See note on 'envy,' p. 54, l. 164.

III.143 resolv'd: informed, assured. See note, p. 90, l. 132.

III.144 'Angel' here seems to mean his counterpart, his good genius, or a kind of better and dearer self. See note, p. 47, l. 66.

III.145 statue Ff | statua Steevens Globe | statuë Camb.

III.146 '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.

III.147 ll. 203–204 All Globe Camb (White Delius conj.) | Ff continue to 2 Citizen and print as verse.

III.148 The Folios give this speech like that in 203–204 to 'Second Citizen,' but it should surely be given to 'All.'

III.149 gave F₁ | give F₂F₃F₄.

III.150 wit F₂F₃F₄ | writ F₂.

III.151 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.

III.152 "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.

III.153 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.

III.154 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.

III.155 "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.

III.156 fire. Cf. III, i, 172. Monosyllables ending in 'r' or 're,' preceded by a long vowel or diphthong, are often pronounced as dissyllabic.

III.157 the F₁ | all the F₂F₃F₄.

III.158 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.

III.159 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.

III.160 [Exeunt Citizens...] | Exit Plebeians Ff.

III.161 upon a wish: as soon as wished for. Cf. I, ii, 104.

III.162 rid: ridden. So 'writ' for 'written,' IV, iii, 183.

III.163 Scene III | Scene VII Pope.

III.164 Enter ... | Ff add and after him the Plebeians.

III.165 "There was one of Cæsar's friends called Cinna, that had a marvellous strange and terrible dream the night before. He dreamed that Cæsar bad him to supper, and that he refused and would not go: then that Cæsar took him by the hand, and led him against his will. Now Cinna, hearing at that time that they burnt Cæsar's body in the market-place, notwithstanding that he feared his dream, and had an ague on him besides, he went into the market-place to honour his funerals. When he came thither, one of the mean sort asked him what his name was? He was straight called by his name. The first man told it to another, and that other unto another, so that it ran straight through them all, that he was one of them that murthered Cæsar: (for indeed one of the traitors to Cæsar was also called Cinna as himself) wherefore taking him for Cinna the murtherer, they fell upon him with such fury that they presently dispatched him in the market-place."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

III.166 to-night: last night. So in II, ii, 76, and The Merchant of Venice, II, v, 18.

III.167 Things that forbode evil fortune burden my imagination.

III.168 Enter Citizens | Ff omit.

III.169 Whither F₃F₄ | Whether F₁ F₂.

III.170 you were best: it were best for you. See Abbott, § 230.

III.171 you'll bear me: I'll give you. For 'me' see note, p. 26, l. 263.

Act IV

IV.1 Scene I. The Folios give no indication of place, but that Shakespeare intended the scene to be in Rome is clear from ll. 10, 11, where Lepidus is sent to Cæsar's house and told that he will find his confederates "or here, or at the Capitol." In fact, however, the triumvirs, Octavius, Antonius, and Lepidus, met in November, b.c. 43, some nineteen months after the assassination of Cæsar, on a small island in the river Rhenus (now the Reno), near Bononia (Bologna). "All three met together in an island environed round about with a little river, and there remained three days together. Now, as touching all other matters they were easily agreed, and did divide all the empire of Rome between them, as if it had been their own inheritance. But yet they could hardly agree whom they would put to death: for every one of them would kill their enemies, and save their kinsmen and friends. Yet, at length, giving place to their greedy desire to be revenged of their enemies, they spurned all reverence of blood and holiness of friendship at their feet. For Cæsar left Cicero to Antonius's will; Antonius also forsook Lucius Cæsar, who was his uncle by his mother; and both of them together suffered Lepidus to kill his own brother Paulus. Yet some writers affirm that Cæsar and Antonius requested Paulus might be slain, and that Lepidus was contented with it."—Plutarch, Marcus Antonius.

IV.2 Rome. A room ... house Ff omit.—Antony, Octavius ... table Malone | Enter Antony, Octawius, and Lepidus. Ff.

IV.3 prick'd. So in III, i. 217. See note, p. 95, l. 217.

IV.4 According to Plutarch, as quoted above, this was Lucius Cæsar, not Publius; nor was he Antony's nephew, but his uncle by the mother's side. His name in full was Antonius Lucius Cæsar.

IV.5 with a spot I damn him: with a mark I condemn him.

IV.6 What, Johnson | What? Ff.

IV.7 slight unmeritable: insignificant, undeserving. In Shakespeare many adjectives, especially those ending in -ful, -less, -ble, and -ive, have both an active and a passive meaning. See Abbott, § 3.

IV.8 point F₁ | print F₂F₃F₄.

IV.9 commons. This is a thoroughly English allusion to such pasture-lands as are not owned by individuals, but occupied by a given neighborhood in common. In 1614 Shakespeare protested against the inclosure of such 'common fields' at Stratford-on-Avon.

IV.10 wind: wheel, turn. We have 'wind' as an active verb in 1 Henry IV, IV, i, 109: "To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus."

IV.11 in some taste: to some small extent. This meaning comes from 'taste' in the sense of 'a small portion given as a sample.'

IV.12 objects, arts | Objects, Arts Ff | abject orts Theobald | abjects, orts Staunton Camb Globe.

IV.13 imitations, Rowe | Imitations. Ff.

IV.14 stal'd F₃ | stal'de F₁F₂ | stall'd F₄.

IV.15 ll. 37–39 As the textual notes show, modern editors have not been content with the reading of the Folios. The serious trouble with the old text is the period at the close of l. 37. If a comma be substituted the meaning becomes obvious: Lepidus is one who is always interested in, and talking about, such things—books, works of art, etc.—as everybody else has got tired of and thrown aside. Cf. Falstaff's account of Shallow, 2 Henry IV, III, ii, 340: "'a came ever in the rearward of the fashion; and sung those tunes to the over-scutch'd huswives that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his fancies or his good-nights." 'Stal'd' is 'outworn,' or 'grown stale'; and the reference is not to objects, etc., generally, but only to those which have lost the interest of freshness. 'Abjects' in the Staunton-Cambridge reading, is 'things thrown away'; 'orts,' 'broken fragments.'

IV.16 a property: a tool, an accessory. The reference is to a 'stage property.' Cf. Fletcher and Massinger, The False One, V, iii:

Shakespeare uses 'property' as a verb in this sense in Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 99: "They have here propertied me."

IV.17 Listen. The transitive use is older than the intransitive.

IV.18 make head: raise an armed force. 'Head' has often the meaning of 'armed force' in Shakespeare. So in sixteenth century literature and old ballads. It usually connotes insurrection.

IV.19 and our best means (meanes) stretch'd out F₂F₃F₄ | our meanes stretch't F₁ | our best means strecht Johnson.

IV.20 The reading adopted is that of the later Folios. It makes a normal blank verse line. Cf. II, i, 158–159.

IV.21 The metaphor is from bear-baiting. Cf. Macbeth, V, vii, 1.

IV.22 Scene II. Before ... Sardis Rowe | Ff omit.

IV.23 Scene II. This scene is separated from the foregoing by about a year. The remaining events take place in the autumn, b.c. 42.

IV.24 Enter Brutus ... meet them | Enter Brutus, Lucillius, and the Army. Titinius and Pindarus meet them Ff.

IV.25 [Pindarus gives ...] | Ff omit.

IV.26 He greets me well. A dignified return of the salutation.

IV.27 change Ff | charge Hanmer.

IV.28 If the Folio reading be retained, 'change' will mean 'altered disposition,' 'change in his own feelings towards me.' Warburton's suggestion 'charge,' adopted by Hanmer and in previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, would give as the meaning of the line, Either by his own command, or by officers, subordinates, who have abused their trust, prostituting it to the ends of private gain.

IV.29 How: as to how.—resolv'd. See note, p. 90, l. 132.

IV.30 word, Lucilius ... you: F₃ F₄ | word Lucillius ... you: F₁F₂ | word, Lucilius,— ... you, Rowe.

IV.31 Mainly the Folio punctuation. A colon after 'Lucilius,' and a comma after 'you,' would give a characteristic inversion.

IV.32 familiar instances: marks of familiarity. In Schmidt is a list of the various senses in which Shakespeare uses 'instances.'

IV.33 hot at hand: spirited or mettlesome when held back.

IV.34 fall: let fall.

IV.35 deceitful jades: horses that promise well in appearance but "sink in the trial." 'Jade' is 'a worthless horse.'

IV.36 [Low ...] in Ff after l. 24.

IV.37 ll. 34, 35, 36 Soldier |Ff omit.

IV.38 enlarge your griefs: enlarge upon your grievances. This use of 'grief' is not unusual in sixteenth century English.

IV.39 Lucilius Ff | Lucius Craik.

IV.40 Let Lucius Ff |Lucilius Craik.

IV.41 ll. 50, 52 In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare was adopted Craik's suggestion that in these lines, as they stand in the Folios, the names Lucius and Lucilius got shuffled each into the other's place; and then, to cure the metrical defect in the third line, that line was made to begin with 'Let.' Craik speaks of "the absurdity of such an association as Lucius and Titinius for the guarding of the door." In Porter and Clarke's 'First Folio,' Julius Cæsar, the answer to this criticism is: "But a greater absurdity is involved in sending the page with an order to the lieutenant commander of the army, and the extra length of l. 50 pairs with a like extra length in l. 51. Lucilius, having been relieved by Lucius, after giving the order returns and guards the door again."

IV.42 our Ff | the Rowe.

IV.43 Scene III Pope | Rowe omits.

IV.44 Scene III. Dowden points out that this scene was already celebrated in Shakespeare's own day, Leonard Digges recording its popularity, and Beaumont and Fletcher imitating it in The Maid's Tragedy. "I know no part of Shakespeare that more impresses on me the belief of his genius being superhuman than this scene between Brutus and Cassius."—Coleridge.

IV.45 Brutus's tent Hanmer | Ff omit.

IV.46 Enter Brutus ... Capell | Manet Brutus ... F₁ | Manent ... F₂F₃F₄.

IV.47 "Now as it commonly happened in great affairs between two persons, both of them having many friends and so many captains under them, there ran tales and complaints between them. Therefore, before they fell in hand with any other matter they went into a little chamber together, and bade every man avoid, and did shut the doors to them. Then they began to pour out their complaints one to the other, and grew hot and loud, earnestly accusing one another, and at length both fell a-weeping. Their friends that were without the chamber, hearing them loud within, and angry between themselves, they were both amazed and afraid also, lest it would grow to further matter: but yet they were commanded that no man should come to them."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.48 noted: marked with a stigma. North thus uses the word. See quotation from Marcus Brutus on following page, l. 3.

IV.49 "The next day after, Brutus, upon complaint of the Sardians, did condemn and note Lucius Pella.... This judgment much misliked Cassius, because himself had secretly ... warned two of his friends, attainted and convicted of the like offences, and openly had cleared them."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.50 letters ... man, was | Letters ... man was F₁ | letter ... man, was, F₂F₃F₄ | letters ... man, were Malone.

IV.51 was. The verb is attracted into the singular by the nearest substantive.

IV.52 slighted off: contemptuously set aside.

IV.53 to write: by writing. This gerundive use of the infinitive is very common in this play. Cf. 'to have' in l. 10; 'To sell and mart' in l. 11; 'To hedge me in' in l. 30, and so on. See Abbott, § 356.

IV.54 nice: foolish, trifling.

IV.55 his: its. The meaning of the line is, Every petty or trifling offense should not be rigidly scrutinized and censured. Cassius naturally thinks that "the honorable men whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar" should not peril their cause by moral squeamishness. "He reproved Brutus, for that he should show himself so straight and severe, in such a time as was meeter to bear a little than to take things at the worst."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.56 "Brutus in contrary manner answered that he should remember the Ides of March, at which time they slew Julius Cæsar, who neither pilled[1] nor polled[2] the country, but only was a favourer and suborner of all them that did rob and spoil, by his countenance and authority. And if there were any occasion whereby they might honestly set aside justice and equity, they should have had more reason to have suffered Cæsar's friends to have robbed and done what wrong and injury they had would[3] than to bear with their own men."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.56[1] i.e. robbed, pillaged.

IV.56[2] i.e. taxed, spoiled.

IV.56[3] i.e. wished (to do).

IV.57 "Who was such a villain of those who touched his body that he stabbed from any other motive than justice?"—Clar.

IV.58 bay F₁ | baite F₂ | bait F₃F₄.

IV.59 bait F₃F₄ | baite F₁F₂ | bay Theobald Delius Staunton.

IV.60 I, Ff | ay, Steevens.

IV.61 "Now Cassius would have done Brutus much honour, as Brutus did unto him, but Brutus most commonly prevented him, and went first unto him, both because he was the elder man as also for that he was sickly of body. And men reputed him commonly to be very skilful in wars, but otherwise marvellous choleric and cruel, who sought to rule men by fear rather than with lenity: and on the other side, he was too familiar with his friends and would jest too broadly with them."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.62 Go to | Go too F₁.

IV.63 'Go to' is a phrase of varying import, sometimes of reproof, sometimes of encouragement. 'Go till' is its earliest form.

IV.64 not, Cassius Hanmer | not Cassius Ff.

IV.65 budge F₄ | bouge F₁ | boudge F₂F₃.

IV.66 observe: treat with ceremonious respect or reverence.

IV.67 The spleen was held to be the special seat of the sudden and explosive emotions and passions, whether of mirth or anger. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 178; 1 Henry IV, V, ii, 19.

IV.68 Though F₁ | Thought F₂.

IV.69 ll. 51–54 This mistake of Brutus is well conceived. Cassius was much the abler soldier, and Brutus knew it; and the mistake grew from his consciousness of the truth of what he thought he heard. Cassius had served as quæstor under Marcus Crassus in his expedition against the Parthians; and, when the army was torn all to pieces, both Crassus and his son being killed, Cassius displayed great ability in bringing off a remnant. He showed remarkable military power, too, in Syria.

IV.70 noble Ff | abler Collier.

IV.71 l. 55 Two lines in Ff.

IV.72 indirection: crookedness, malpractice. In King John, III, i, 275–278, is an interesting passage illustrating this use of 'indirection.' Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, v, 185.

IV.73 l. 80 The omission of the conjunction 'as' before expressions denoting result is a common usage in Shakespeare.

IV.74 rascal counters: worthless money. 'Rascal' is properly a technical term for a deer out of condition. So used literally in As You Like It, III, iii, 58. 'Counters' were disks of metal, of very small intrinsic value, much used for reckoning. Cf. As You Like It, II, vii, 63; The Winter's Tale, IV, iii, 38. Professor Dowden comments aptly on what we have here: "Brutus loves virtue and despises gold; but in the logic of facts there is an irony cruel or pathetic. Brutus maintains a lofty position of immaculate honour above Cassius; but ideals, and a heroic contempt for gold, will not fill the military coffer, or pay the legions, and the poetry of noble sentiment suddenly drops down to the prosaic complaint that Cassius had denied the demands made by Brutus for certain sums of money. Nor is Brutus, though he worships an ideal of Justice, quite just in matters of practical detail."

IV.75 "Whilst Brutus and Cassius were together in the city of Smyrna, Brutus prayed Cassius to let him have part of his money whereof he had great store.... Cassius's friends hindered this request, and earnestly dissuaded him from it; persuading him, that it was no reason that Brutus should have the money which Cassius had gotten together by sparing, and levied with great evil will of the people their subjects, for him to bestow liberally upon his soldiers, and by this means to win their good wills, by Cassius's charge. This notwithstanding, Cassius gave him the third part of this total sum."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.76 l. 84 that brought | Ff give to l. 85.

IV.77 brav'd: defied. The verb connotes bluster and bravado.

IV.78 Plutus' Pope | Pluto's Ff.

IV.79 Plutus (for the Folio reading see note on 'Antonio' for Antonius, I, ii, 5) is the old god of riches, who had all the world's gold in his keeping and disposal. Pluto was the lord of Hades.

IV.80 humour. See note, p. 60, l. 250.

IV.81 Whatever dishonorable thing you may do, I will set it down to the caprice of the moment.

IV.82 Cf. the words of Cassius, I, ii, 176–177. See also Troilus and Cressida, III, iii, 257. It was long a popular notion that fire slept in the flint and was awaked by the stroke of the steel. "It is not sufficient to carry religion in our hearts, as fire is carried in flintstones, but we are outwardly, visibly, apparently, to serve and honour the living God."—Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, VII, xxii, 3.

IV.83 l. 123 Enter a Poet Ff.

IV.84 ll. 124, 127, 128: [Within] Ff omit.

IV.85 Enter Poet ... Lucius Camb Globe | Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius and Titinius Dyce | Enter Poet Theobald | Ff omit.

IV.86 "One Marcus Phaonius, that ... took upon him to counterfeit a philosopher, not with wisdom and discretion, but with a certain bedlam and frantic motion; he would needs come into the chamber, though the men offered to keep him out. But it was no boot to let Phaonius, when a mad mood or toy took him in the head: for he was an hot hasty man, and sudden in all his doings, and cared for never a senator of them all. Now, though he used this bold manner of speech after the profession of the Cynic philosophers, (as who would say, Dogs,) yet his boldness did no hurt many times, because they did but laugh at him to see him so mad. This Phaonius at that time, in spite of the door-keepers, came into the chamber, and with a certain scoffing and mocking gesture, which he counterfeited of purpose, he rehearsed the verses which old Nestor said in Homer:

Cassius fell a-laughing at him; but Brutus thrust him out of the chamber, and called him dog, and counterfeit Cynic. Howbeit his coming in brake their strife at that time, and so they left each other."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.87 vilely F₄ | vildely F₁F₂ | vildly F₃.

IV.88 doth Ff | does Capell.

IV.89 jigging: moving rhythmically, rhyming. So in the Prologue to Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great:

IV.90 'Companion' was often used contemptuously. Cf. Coriolanus, IV, v, 14; V, ii, 65. Cf. the way 'fellow' is often used to-day.

IV.91 Scene IV Pope.

IV.92 Enter Lucil. and Titin. Rowe.

IV.93 [Exeunt ...] Rowe | Ff omit.

IV.94 [Exit Lucius] Capell | Ff omit.

IV.95 In his philosophy, Brutus was a mixture of the Stoic and the Platonist. What he says of Portia's death is among the best things in the play, and is in Shakespeare's noblest style. Profound emotion expresses itself with reserve. Deep grief loves not many words.

IV.96 Strict harmony of construction would require 'impatience' for 'impatient' here, or 'griev'd' for 'grief' in the next line. Shakespeare is not very particular in such niceties. Besides, the broken construction expresses dramatically the deep emotion of the speaker.

IV.97 distract: distracted. So in Hamlet, IV, v, 2. 'Distraught' is the form in Romeo and Juliet, IV, iii, 49. For the dropping of the terminal -ed of the participle in verbs ending in t or te, see Abbott, § 342.

IV.98 It appears something uncertain whether Portia's death was before or after her husband's. Plutarch represents it as occurring before; but Merivale follows those who place it after. "For Portia, Brutus's wife, Nicolaus the philosopher and Valerius Maximus do write, that she determining to kill herself (her parents and friends carefully looking to her to keep her from it) took hot burning coals, and cast them into her mouth, and kept her mouth so close that she choked herself. There was a letter of Brutus found, written to his friends, complaining of their negligence, that, his wife being sick, they would not help her, but suffered her to kill herself, choosing to die rather than to languish in pain."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.99 Re-enter Lucius,... taper Camb | Enter Boy ... Tapers Ff.

IV.100 [Drinks] Capell | Ff omit.

IV.101 [Exit Lucius] Camb | Ff omit.

IV.102 Scene V Pope.

IV.103 Re-enter Titinius, with ... Dyce | Enter Titinius and ... Ff (after l. 162)

IV.104 call in question: bring up for discussion. 'Question,' both noun and verb, is constantly found in Shakespeare in the sense of 'talk.' So "in question more" in Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 235.

IV.105 Bending their expedition: directing their march. Cf. 'expedition' in this sense in Richard III, IV, iv, 136.

IV.106 tenour Theobald | tenure Ff.

IV.107 outlawry F₄ | Outlarie F₁ | Outlary F₂F₃.

IV.108 "These three, Octavius Cæsar, Antonius, and Lepidus, made an agreement between themselves, and by those articles divided the provinces belonging to the empire of Rome among themselves, and did set up bills of proscription and outlawry, condemning two hundred of the noblest men of Rome to suffer death, and among that number Cicero was one."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.109 ll. 179–180 Cicero is ... proscription | One line in Ff.

IV.110 Both 'nor nothing' and 'writ' survive to-day as vulgarisms.

IV.111 Nothing, Messala. This may seem inconsistent with what has gone before (see more particularly ll. 154–155), but we are to suppose that Brutus's friends at Rome did not write to him directly of Portia's death, as they feared the news might unnerve him, but wrote to some common friends in the army, directing them to break the news to him, as they should deem it safe and prudent to do so.

IV.112 l. 185 Two lines in Ff.

IV.113 aught Theobald | ought Ff.

IV.114 once: at some time or other. So in The Merry Wives of Windsor, III, iv, 103:

IV.115 art: theory. This speech may be paraphrased, I am as much a Stoic by profession and theory as you are, but my natural strength is weak when it comes to putting the doctrines into practice.

IV.116 work alive: work in which we have to do with the living.

IV.117 presently: at once. See note, p. 82, l. 28.

IV.118 of force: of necessity, necessarily. Plutarch represents this talk as occurring at Philippi just before the battle: "Cassius was of opinion not to try this war at one battle, but rather to delay time, and to draw it out in length, considering that they were the stronger in money, and the weaker in men and armour. But Brutus, in contrary manner, did alway before, and at that time also, desire nothing more than to put all to the hazard of battle, as soon as might be possible; to the end he might either quickly restore his country to her former liberty, or rid him forthwith of this miserable world."—Marcus Brutus.

IV.119 new-added | new added Ff.

IV.120 new-added: reënforced. Singer suggested 'new aided.'

IV.121 ll. 218–221 Cf. Troilus and Cressida, V, i, 90; The Tempest, I, ii, 181–184. Dr. Wright (Clar) quotes from Bacon a parallel passage: "In the third place I set down reputation, because of the peremptory tides and currents it hath; which, if they be not taken in their due time, are seldom recovered, it being extreme hard to play an after game of reputation."—The Advancement of Learning, II, xxiii, 38.

IV.122 lose Rowe | loose Ff.

IV.123 ventures: what is risked, adventured. The figure of a ship is kept up, and 'venture' denotes whatever is put on board in hope of profit, and exposed to "the perils of waters, winds, and rocks." Cf. The Merchant of Venice, I, i, 15, 42; III, ii, 270.

IV.124 niggard: supply sparingly. In Sonnets, I, 12, occurs 'niggarding'. In Elizabethan English "almost any part of speech can be used as any other part of speech. Any noun, adjective, or neuter verb can be used as an active verb."—Abbott.

IV.125 Brutus. Lucius! [Re-enter Lucius] My Camb | Enter Lucius Bru. Lucius my Ff.

IV.126 [Exit Lucius] Ff omit.

IV.127 [Exeunt Cassius ...] Capell | Exeunt Ff.

IV.128 Re-enter Lucius, ... Capell | Enter Lucius ... Ff (after Brutus, l. 236).

IV.129 Poor knave. Cf. 'Gentle knave,' l. 269. The word 'knave' is here used in the literal sense of 'boy.' It was used as a term of endearment, or of loving familiarity with those of lower rank. So in King Lear, I, iv, 107.

IV.130 o'er-watch'd: worn out with keeping awake. So in King Lear, II, ii, 177. Cf. 'o'ershot' in III, ii, 150.

IV.131 ll. 242, 244, etc.: Claudius Rowe | Claudio Ff.

IV.132 Varro Rowe | Varrus Ff.

IV.133 Scene VI Pope.—Enter Varro and Claudius Rowe | Enter Varrus and Claudio Ff.

IV.134 ll. 252–253 These two simple lines, with the answer of Lucius, "I was sure your lordship did not give it me," are among the best things in the play. Consider how much is implied in them, and what a picture they give of the earnest, thoughtful, book-loving Brutus. And indeed all his noblest traits of character come out, "in simple and pure soul," in this exquisite scene with Lucius, which is hardly surpassed by anything in Shakespeare. Who could be troubled by the anachronism in the book being of modern shape? "Brutus was a careful man, and slept very little, both for that his diet was moderate, as also because he was continually occupied. He never slept in the day-time, and in the night no longer than the time he was driven to be alone, and when everybody else took their rest. But now whilst he was in war, and his head ever busily occupied to think of his affairs and what would happen, after he had slumbered a little after supper, he spent all the rest of the night in dispatching of his weightiest causes, and after he had taken order for them, if he had any leisure left him, he would read some book till the third watch of the night, at what time the captains, petty captains, and colonels, did use to come to him."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

IV.135 [Varro and ...] Ff omit.

IV.136 bloods. So in Much Ado about Nothing, III, iii, 141: "How giddily a' turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five-and-thirty?" Cf. I, ii, 151: "the breed of noble bloods."

IV.137 murderous slumber | Murd'rous slumbler F₁.

IV.138 murderous slumber. The epithet probably has reference to sleep being regarded as the image of death; or, as Shelley put it, "Death and his brother Sleep." Cf. Cymbeline, II, ii, 31.

IV.139 thy leaden mace. Upton quotes from Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I, iv, 44:

Shakespeare uses 'mace' both as 'scepter,' Henry V, IV, i, 278, and as 'a staff of office,' 2 Henry VI, IV, vii, 144.

IV.140 The boy is spoken of as playing music to slumber because he plays to soothe the agitations of his master's mind, and put him to sleep. Bacon held that music "hindereth sleep."

IV.141 [Sits down] Camb.

IV.142 Scene VII Pope.

IV.143 The presence of a ghost was believed to make lights burn blue or dimly. So in Richard III, V, iii, 180, when the ghosts appear to Richard, he says: "The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh."

IV.144 this monstrous apparition. "Above all, the ghost that appeared unto Brutus shewed plainly that the gods were offended with the murder of Cæsar. The vision was thus: Brutus ... thought he heard a noise at his tent-door, and, looking towards the light of the lamp that waxed very dim, he saw a horrible vision of a man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look, which at the first made him marvellously afraid. But when he saw that it did no hurt, but stood at his bedside and said nothing; at length he asked him what he was. The image answered him: 'I am thy ill angel, Brutus, and thou shalt see me by the city of Philippes.' Then Brutus replied again, and said, 'Well, I shall see thee then.' Therewithal the spirit presently vanished from him."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

IV.145 stare: stand on end. 'To be stiff, rigid, fixed' is the primary idea. Cf. The Tempest, I, ii, 213; Hamlet, I, v, 16–20.

IV.146 [Exit Ghost] Ff omit.

IV.147 This strongly, though quietly, marks the Ghost as subjective; as soon as Brutus recovers his firmness, the illusion is broken. The order of things is highly judicious here, in bringing the "horrible vision" upon Brutus just after he has heard of Portia's shocking death. With that great sorrow weighing upon him, he might well see ghosts. The thickening of calamities upon him, growing out of the assassination of Cæsar, naturally awakens remorse.

IV.148 false: out of tune. A charming touch in this boy study.

IV.149 [To Varro] Globe Camb | Ff omit.

IV.150 ll. 304, 308 Varro, Claudius | Both Ff.

IV.151 commend me to: greet from me, remember me kindly to.

IV.152 set on: cause to advance.

IV.153 betimes: early. Formerly 'betime'; "the final 's' is due to the habit of adding '-s' or '-es' to form adverbs; cf. 'whiles' (afterwards 'whilst') from 'while.'"—Skeat.

Act V

V.1 The plains of Philippi: Capell | The Fields of Philippi, with the two Camps Rowe | Ff omit.

V.2 battles: troops, battalions. 'Battle' was used for an 'army,' especially an army embattled, or ordered in battle array. The plural is here used with historical correctness, as Brutus and Cassius had each an army; the two armies of course coöperating, and acting together as one. Cf. 'battle' in l. 16 and 'battles' in V, iii, 108.

V.3 warn: summon to fight. Cf. King John, II, i, 201. In Richard III, I, iii, 39, we have "warn them to his royal presence."

V.4 am in their bosoms: am familiar with their intention.

V.5 bravery: bravado, defiance. The epithet 'fearful' probably means that fear is behind the attempt to intimidate by display and brag. Dr. Wright interprets 'bravery' as 'ostentation,' 'display.'

V.6 bloody sign. "The next morning, by break of day, the signal of battle was set out in Brutus' and Cassius' camp, which was an arming scarlet coat."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.7 Plutarch tells that Cassius, though the more experienced soldier, allowed Brutus to lead the right wing. "Shakespeare made use of this incident, but transferred to the opposite camp, in order to bring out the character of Octavius which made Antony yield. Octavius really commanded the left wing."—Clar.

V.8 exigent: exigency. So in Antony and Cleopatra, IV, xiv, 63.

V.9 I will do so: I will do as I have said. Not 'I will cross you.' At this time Octavius was but twenty-one years old, and Antony was old enough to be his father. At the time of Cæsar's death, when Octavius was in his nineteenth year, Antony thought he was going to manage him easily and have it all his own way with him; but he found the youngster as stiff as a crowbar, and could do nothing with him. Cæsar's youngest sister, Julia, was married to Marcus Atius Balbus, and their daughter Atia, again, was married to Caius Octavius, a nobleman of the plebeian order. From this marriage sprang the present Octavius, who afterwards became the Emperor Augustus. He was mainly educated by his great-uncle, was advanced to the patrician order, and was adopted as his son and heir; so that his full and proper designation at this time was Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus. The text gives a right taste of the man, who always stood firm as a post against Antony, till the latter finally knocked himself to pieces against him.

V.10 Scene II Pope.

V.11 Lucilius, Titinius ... | Ff omit.

V.12 The posture of your blows: where your blows are to fall.

V.13 are. The verb is attracted into the plural by the nearest substantive. Cf. 'was,' IV, iii, 5. Abbott calls this idiom 'confusion of proximity.'

V.14 Hybla, a hill in Sicily, was noted for its thyme and its honey. So Vergil, Eclogues, I, 54–55: "the hedge whose willow bloom is quaffed by Hybla's bees." Cf. 1 Henry IV, I, ii, 47: "As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle." Antony could not be so 'honey-tongued' unless he had quite exhausted thyme-flavored Hybla.

V.15 These graphic details are from Plutarch's two accounts (in Julius Cæsar and Marcus Brutus) of the assassination of Cæsar.

V.16 teeth F₃ F₄ | teethes F₁F₂.

V.17 l. 41 Two lines in Ff.

V.18 Struck F₃F₄ | Strooke F₁F₂.

V.19 Octavius has been a standing puzzle and enigma to the historians, from the seeming contradictions of his character. Merivale declares that the one principle that gave unity to his life and reconciled those contradictions, was a steadfast, inflexible purpose to avenge the murder of his illustrious uncle and adoptive father.

V.20 ll. 50–51 One line in Ff.

V.21 goes up: is put into its sheath. Cf. John, xviii, 11.

V.22 The number of Cæsar's wounds, according to Plutarch, was three and twenty, and to 'three and twenty' Theobald, craving historical accuracy, changed the 'three and thirty' of the text.

V.23 Till you, traitors as you are, have added the slaughtering of me, another Cæsar, to that of Julius. See note, p. 145, l. 20.

V.24 strain: stock, lineage, race. So in Henry V, II, iv, 51:

V.25 Shakespeare often uses 'peevish' in the sense of 'silly,' 'foolish.' So in The Comedy of Errors, IV, i, 93. A foolish schoolboy, joined with a masker and reveler (for Antony's reputation, see I, ii, 204; II, i, 188, 189; II, ii, 116), and unworthy even of that honor.

V.26 stomachs: appetite, inclination, courage. So in Henry V, IV, iii, 35: "He which hath no stomach to this fight."

V.27 [Exeunt ... their Army] | Exit ... Army Ff.

V.28 Scene III Pope.

V.29 [Standing forth] Camb | Lucillius and Messala stand forth Ff.

V.30 [Brutus and ...] Ff omit.

V.31 Messala, | Ff add to l. 72.

V.32 'As' is often used redundantly with definitions of time. This is still a provincialism. See Abbott, § 114. "Messala writeth, that Cassius having spoken these last words unto him, he bade him farewell, and willed him to come to supper to him the next night following, because it was his birthday."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.33 Alluding to the battle of Pharsalia, which took place in the year b.c. 48. Pompey was forced into that battle, against his better judgment, by the inexperienced and impatient men about him, who, inasmuch as they had more than twice Cæsar's number of troops, fancied they could easily defeat him if they could but meet him. So they tried it, and he quickly defeated them.

V.34 I was strongly attached to the doctrines of Epicurus. "Cassius being in opinion an Epicurean, and reasoning thereon with Brutus, spake to him touching the vision thus: 'In our sect, Brutus, we have an opinion, that we do not always feel or see that which we suppose we do both see and feel, but that our senses, being credulous and therefore easily abused ... imagine they see and conjecture that which in truth they do not.'"— Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.35 former Ff | foremost Rowe.

V.36 former: first. Cf. "former things passed away." "When they raised their camp there came two eagles, that, flying with a marvellous force, lighted upon two of the foremost ensigns, and always followed the soldiers, which gave them meat and fed them, until they came near to the city of Philippes; and there, one day only before the battle, they both flew away."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.37 steads F₃F₄ | steeds F₁F₂.

V.38 perils F₁ | peril F₂F₃F₄.

V.39 rests Ff | rest Rowe.

V.40 By F₁ | Be F₂.

V.41 prevent The time: anticipate the full, natural period. To the understanding of this speech, it must be observed that the sense of the words, 'arming myself,' etc., follows next after the words, 'which he did give himself.' In this passage, as Dr. Wright (Clar.) has pointed out, Shakespeare was misled by an error in North's version of Amyot's Plutarch, where we have feis (= fis) translated as if it were from fier: "Brutus answered him, being yet but a young man, and not over greatly experienced in the world; 'I trust (I know not how) a certain rule of philosophy, by the which I did greatly blame ... Cato for killing himself, as being no lawful nor godly act, touching the gods; nor, concerning men, valiant: but, being now in the midst of the danger, I am of a contrary mind.'"—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. Wright, in his note on this passage, shows how the true meaning is obscured by bad printing and punctuation. Brutus's answer begins really with, 'Being yet but a young man'; and 'I trust' is evidently a past tense (Old English 'truste') which must have been read by Shakespeare as the present.

V.42 Thorough | Thorow F₁F₂ | Through F₃F₄ | Along Pope.

V.43 Rome? Theobald | Rome Ff.

V.44 l. 111 Two lines in Ff.

V.45 "The philosopher indeed renounced all confidence in his own principles. He had adopted them from reading or imitation; they were not the natural growth of instinct or genuine reflection; and, as may easily happen in such a case, his faith in them failed when they were tested by adversity. As long as there seemed a chance that the godlike stroke would be justified by success, Brutus claimed the glory of maintaining a righteous cause; but, when all hope fled, he could take leave of philosophy and life together, and exclaim, 'I once dreamed that virtue was a thing; I find her only a name, and the mere slave of fortune.' He had blamed Cato for flying from misery by self-murder; but he learnt to justify the same desperate act when he contemplated committing it himself."—Merivale.

V.46 the Ides F₁ | that Ides F₂F₃F₄.

V.47 Scene II Capell | Scene IV Pope.

V.48 bills: written instructions, dispatches. "In the meantime Brutus, that led the right wing, sent little bills to the colonels and captains of private bands, in the which he wrote the word of the battle."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.49 'The legions on the other side' are those commanded by Cassius, the left wing of the joint army of Brutus and Cassius. Brutus wants Cassius to attack the enemy at the same time that he himself does. In the next scene, Messala and his escort are met by Titinius coming from Cassius.

V.50 Octavius' Pope | Octavio's Ff.

V.51 Scene III Capell | Scene continued in Pope.

V.52 'Ensign' was used in the Elizabethan time, as it is still, either for the flag (cf. V, i, 80) or for the bearer of it: here it is used for both at once. Cf. the form 'ancient,' Othello, I, i, 33. It was in killing the cowardly ensign that Cassius "to his own turn'd enemy."

V.53 yonder troops. Messala and his escort coming from Brutus.

V.54 with a thought: quick as thought. Cf. The Tempest, IV, i, 64.

V.55 higher F₁ | thither F₂F₃F₄.

V.56 "Cassius himself was at length compelled to fly ... into a little hill from whence they might see ... howbeit Cassius saw nothing, for his sight was very bad."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.57 [Pindarus ascends...] Camb | Ff omit.

V.58 [Above] Ff omit.

V.59 He's ta'en | Ff print as separate line.

V.60 Pindarus descends Dyce | Enter Pindarus Ff.

V.61 ll. 36–37 One line in Ff.

V.62 saving of thy life: when I saved thy life. The usual interpretation, but 'saving' may qualify 'Thou' in l. 40, and then the expression would mean, 'Except for endangering thy life.'

V.63 hilts. Shakespeare uses both the singular and the plural form of this word to describe a single weapon, the plural more often.

V.64 [Pindarus ...] | F₁ omits | kills him F₂F₃F₄ (after l. 46).

V.65 It was a dagger, not a sword, that Cassius stabbed Cæsar with. But by a common figure of speech the same weapon is put for the same owner. The 'sword' is taken from Plutarch. "For he, being overcome in battle at the journey of Philippes, slew himself with the same sword with the which he strake Cæsar."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

V.66 [Dies] Capell | Ff omit.

V.67 l. 47 Two lines in Ff.

V.68 "Cassius, thinking indeed that Titinius was taken of the enemies, he then spake these words: 'Desiring too much to live, I have lived to see one of my best friends taken, for my sake, before my face.' After that, he got into a tent where nobody was, and took Pindarus with him, one of his bondsmen whom he reserved ever for such a pinch, since the cursed battle of the Parthians, where Crassus was slain, though he notwithstanding scaped from that overthrow: but then, casting his cloak over his head, and holding out his bare neck unto Pindarus, he gave him his head to be stricken off. So the head was found severed from the body; but after that time Pindarus was never seen more."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.69 [Exit] Rowe | Ff omit.

V.70 Scene V Pope.—Re-enter ..., with Capell | Enter ... and ... Ff.

V.71 change: interchange of loss and gain in the fight.

V.72 to night Ff | to-night Knight.

V.73 is set F₁ | it set F₂F₃F₄.

V.74 ll. 60–62 Cf. Troilus and Cressida, V, viii, 5–8.

V.75 sun | Sunne F₁ | Sonne F₂ | Son F₃F₄.

V.76 ll. 67–69 Cassius is said to have been of a highly choleric or bilious temperament, and as such, predisposed to melancholy views of life.

V.77 engender'd | engendred Ff.

V.78 [Exit Messala] | Ff omit.

V.79 "By-and-by they knew the horsemen that came towards them, and might see Titinius crowned with a garland of triumph, who came before with great speed unto Cassius. But when he perceived, by the cries and tears of his friends which tormented themselves, the misfortune that had chanced to his captain Cassius by mistaking, he drew out his sword, cursing himself a thousand times that he had tarried so long, and so slew himself presently in the field. Brutus in the meantime came forward still, and understood also that Cassius had been overthrown; but he knew nothing of his death till he came very near to his camp."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.80 Scene VI Pope.

V.81 Re-enter Messala, with Brutus ... | Enter Brutus, Messala ... Ff.

V.82 ll. 94–96 Brutus here strikes again, full and strong, the proper keynote of the play. The facts involved are well stated by Froude: "The murderers of Cæsar, and those who had either instigated them secretly or applauded them afterwards, were included in a proscription list, drawn by retributive justice on the model of Sulla's. Such of them as were in Italy were immediately killed. Those in the provinces, as if with the curse of Cain upon their heads, came one by one to miserable ends. In three years the tyrannicides of the Ides of March, with their aiders and abettors, were all dead; some killed in battle, some in prison, some dying by their own hand."

V.83 where Ff | if Pope | whether Camb Globe | wh'er Capell | whêr Dyce.

V.84 where: whether. So in V, iv, 30. See note, p. 7, l. 63.

V.85 The Ff | Thou Rowe.

V.86 fare | far F₁.

V.87 moe F₃F₄ | mo F₁F₂ | more Rowe.

V.88 moe: more. See note, p. 48, l. 72. See Skeat under 'more.'

V.89 Thasos Camb Globe (Walker conj.) | Thassos Theobald | Tharsus Ff.

V.90 Thasos. A large island off the coast of Thrace. "So when he was come thither, after he had lamented the death of Cassius, calling him the last of all the Romans, being unpossible that Rome should ever breed again so noble and valiant a man as he, he caused his body to be buried, and sent it to the city of Thassos, fearing lest his funerals within his camp should cause great disorder. Then he called his soldiers together, and did encourage them again."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.91 Labeo Hanmer | Labio Ff.—Flavius, F₄ | Flauio F₁ | Flavius F₂F₃.

V.92 Labeo and Flavius. These two men are not named among the persons of the drama, because they speak nothing. Labeo was one of the stabbers of Cæsar; and it related that when he saw that all was lost, having dug his own grave, he enfranchised a slave, and then he thrust a weapon into his hand ordering him to kill him.

V.93 Shakespeare with dramatic effectiveness represents both battles as occurring the same day. They were separated by an interval of twenty days. The 'three o'clock' is from Plutarch. "He suddenly caused his army to march, being past three of the clock in the afternoon."—Marcus Brutus.

V.94 Scene IV Capell | Scene VII Pope.

V.95 Another part ... Capell | Ff omit.

V.96 Enter Brutus ... | Enter Brutus, Messala, Cato, Lucillius and Flauius Ff

V.97 What bastard doth not: who is so base-born as not to do so?

V.98 Lucilius | Bru. Rowe | Ff omit.

V.99 ll. 7–8 The Folios omit the speaker's name. Rowe gave the lines to Brutus, but they are utterly uncharacteristic of him. Plutarch (see quotation below, l. 29) says that Lucilius impersonated Brutus, and Shakespeare follows this, as l. 14 indicates. The Folios have no 'Exit' or stage direction after l. 8. Professor Michael Macmillan says: "It seems probable that the printers of the Folio by mistake put the heading 'Luc.' two lines too low down."

V.100 ll. 9–11 Ff give to Luc. (Lucilius).

V.101 "There was the son of Marcus Cato slain ... telling aloud his name, and also his father's name."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.102 [Offering money] | Ff omit.

V.103 1 Soldier | Sold. Ff.

V.104 the news Pope (ed. 1728) | thee newes Ff.

V.105 Enter Antony | in Ff after l. 15.

V.106 Brutus, friend F₄ | Brutus friend | F₁F₂F₃.

V.107 "There was one of Brutus' friends called Lucilius, who seeing a troop of barbarous men making no reckoning of all men else they met in their way, but going all together right against Brutus, he determined to stay them with the hazard of his life; and being left behind, told them that he was Brutus: and because they should believe him, he prayed them to bring him to Antonius, for he said he was afraid of Cæsar, and that he did trust Antonius better. These barbarous men, being very glad of this good hap, and thinking themselves happy men, they carried him in the night, and sent some before unto Antonius, to tell him of their coming. He was marvellous glad of it and went out to meet them that brought him.... When they came near together, Antonius stayed awhile bethinking himself how he should use Brutus. In the meantime Lucilius was brought to him, who stoutly with a bold countenance said: 'Antonius, I dare assure thee, that no enemy hath taken or shall take Marcus Brutus alive, and I beseech God keep him from that fortune: for wheresoever ever he be found, alive or dead, he will be found like himself. And now for myself, I am come unto thee, having deceived these men of arms here, bearing them down that I was Brutus, and do not refuse to suffer any torment thou wilt put me to.'... Antonius on the other side, looking upon all them that had brought him, said unto them: 'My companions, I think ye are sorry you have failed of your purpose, and that you think this man hath done you great wrong: but I assure you, you have taken a better booty than that you followed. For instead of an enemy you have brought me a friend: and for my part, if you had brought me Brutus alive, truly I cannot tell what I should have done to him. For I had rather have such men my friends, as this man here, than mine enemies.' Then he embraced Lucilius, and at that time delivered him to one of his friends in custody; and Lucilius ever after served him faithfully, even to his death."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.108 where Ff | whether Camb Globe | wh'er Capell.

V.109 Scene V Capell | Scene VIII Pope.

V.110 Another ... Ff omit.

V.111 "Brutus thought that there was no great number of men slain in battle; and, to know the truth of it, there was one called Statilius that promised to go through his enemies, for otherwise it was impossible to go see their camp; and from thence, if all were well, that he would lift up a torch-light in the air, and then return again with speed to him. The torch-light was lift up as he had promised, for Statilius went thither. Now, Brutus seeing Statilius tarry long after that, and that he came not again, he said, 'If Statilius be alive, he will come again.' But his evil fortune was such that, as he came back, he lighted in his enemies' hands and was slain. Now the night being far spent, Brutus as he sat bowed towards Clitus, one of his men, and told him somewhat in his ear: the other answered him not, but fell a-weeping. Thereupon he proved[1] Dardanus, and said somewhat also to him: at length he came to Volumnius himself, and speaking to him in Greek, prayed him for the studies' sake which brought them acquainted together, that he would help him to put his hand to his sword, to thrust it in him to kill him. Volumnius denied his request, and so did many others."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.111[1] i.e. tried. Cf. 1 Samuel, xvii, 39.

V.112 [Whispering] Ff omit.

V.113 Shall Ff | Pope omits.

V.114 noble vessel full. Cf. The Winter's Tale, III, iii, 21–22.

V.115 "The second battle being at hand, this spirit appeared again unto him, but spake never a word. Thereupon Brutus, knowing that he should die, did put himself to all hazard in battle, but yet fighting could not be slain."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar. Merivale has a strong sentence on this: "The legend that when preparing for the encounter with the triumvirs he was visited by the ghost of Cæsar, which summoned him to meet again at Philippi, marks the conviction of the ancients that in the crisis of his fate he was stung by guilty remorse, and haunted by the presentiment of final retribution."

V.116 See quotation from Plutarch, Marcus Brutus, p. 163.

V.117 prithee | prethee Ff.

V.118 sword-hilts | Sword Hilts F₁F₂ | Swords Hilt F₃F₄.

V.119 whilst | whilest F₁F₂ | while F₃F₄.

V.120 thee, too, Strato. Countrymen, Theobald | thee, to Strato, Countrymen: Ff.

V.121 in F₁ | F₂F₃F₄ omit.

V.122 losing Rowe | loosing Ff.

V.123 life's Rowe | lives Ff.

V.124 "Amongst the rest, one of them said, there was no tarrying for them there, but that they must needs fly. Then Brutus, rising up, 'We must fly indeed,' said he, 'but it must be with our hands, not with our feet.' Then, taking every man by the hand, he said these words unto them with a cheerful countenance: 'It rejoiceth my heart, that not one of my friends hath failed me at my need, and I do not complain of my fortune, but only for my country's sake: for, as for me, I think myself happier than they that have overcome, considering that I leave a perpetual fame of virtue and honesty, the which our enemies the conquerors shall never attain unto by force or money.' Having so said, he prayed every man to shift for himself, and then he went a little aside with two or three only, among the which Strato was one, with whom he came first acquainted by the study of rhetoric. Strato, at his request, held the sword in his hand, and turned his head aside, and Brutus fell down upon it, and so ran himself through ... and died presently."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.125 [Exeunt Clitus ...] Capell | Ff omit.

V.126 of a good respect: of good reputation, well-esteemed. Cf. I, ii, 59.

V.127 smatch: smack, taste. "With the forms 'smack' for the verb and 'smatch' for the noun, compare 'ake' and 'ache' as used in the First Folio of Shakespeare."—Clar. Cf. 2 Henry IV, I, ii, 111.

V.128 "Scarcely any of those who were accessory to his murder survived him more than three years, or died a natural death. They were all condemned by the Senate: some were taken off by one accident, some by another. Part of them perished at sea, others fell in battle; and some slew themselves with the same poniard with which they had stabbed Cæsar."—Suetonius, Julius Cæsar.

V.129 [Runs ...] | Ff omit.

V.130 Scene IX Pope.

V.131 will entertain them: will take them into my service.

V.132 prefer: recommend. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, II, ii, 155.

V.133 my master F₁ | my Lord F₃.

V.134 Cf. Antony's soliloquy on Cæsar, III, i, 257–258.

V.135 "Antonius spake ... that of all them that had slain Cæsar, there was none but Brutus only that was moved ... thinking the act commendable of itself; but that all the other conspirators did conspire his death for some private malice or envy that they otherwise did bear unto him."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

V.136 He only, in | He, onely in Ff.

V.137 general ... And Ff | generous.... Of Craik.

V.138 This refers to the old doctrine of the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, a right proportion of which was supposed to be the principle of all excellence in nature. Shakespeare has many allusions to the doctrine, which was a commonplace of the sixteenth century. It is this common property in the idea which invalidates the importance of the argument for the date of Julius Cæsar drawn from a similar passage in Drayton's revised version of his Mortimeriados (1596–1597) published in 1603 under the title of The Barons' Wars.

V.139 With all F₃F₄ | Withall F₁F₂.

V.140 Most like a soldier. Cf. with these words of Octavius the speech of Fortinbras with which Hamlet closes:

V.141 ordered Ff | order'd Pope.

V.142 call the field to rest: give the signal to cease fighting. 'Field,' by metonymy, is occasionally used in sixteenth century literature as synonymous with 'battle' or 'order of battle.' Cf. the expression 'to gather a field,' meaning 'to collect an armed force.' So in Hall's Chronicles, 1548: "my lorde of Winchester intended to gather any feld or assemble people." Cf., too, 'field' as a hunting term.

V.143 part: distribute. A specific meaning of 'part' used to be 'share one with another.' This sense is now obsolete or provincial.

V.144 [Exeunt] Capell | Exeunt omnes Ff.

INDEX

I. WORDS AND PHRASES

This Index includes the most important words, phrases, etc., explained in the notes. The figures in heavy-faced type refer to the pages; those in plain type, to the lines containing what is explained.

abide: 87 95, 106 114. abuse: 51 115. added slaughter to the sword: 147 55. address'd: 82 29. affections sway'd: 43 20. aim: 20 163. alchemy: 41 159. all over: 50 112. and (if): 26 263. angel: 109 180. Antonius: 9 3. any thing more wonderful: 31 14. apparent prodigies: 56 198. appositional genitive: 53 157. apprehensive: 85 67. are (is): 146 33. arrive the point: 16 110. art: 136 194. as (omitted): 128 80. as (redundant): 149 72. as (that): 11 34. at the stake and bay'd about: 119 48. Ate: 98 272. attraction of verb to nearest subject: 124 5, 146 33. base degrees: 44 26. basest metal: 7 63. bastard: 160 2. battles: 144 4. bay'd: 94 205, 119 48. be let blood: 91 153. be not fond, to think: 83 39. bear hard: 29 310, 57 215. bear me a bang: 115 18. bears with glasses: 56 205. behaviours: 12 42. beholding: 103 65. bend: 17 123. bending their expedition: 134 170. betimes: 143 307. betray: 58 225. bills: 152 1. bird of night: 32 26. bloods: 140 262. bloody sign: 145 14. blunt: 28 292. bondman: 37 101. brav'd: 129 96. bravery: 144 10. break with him: 53 150. bright day: 43 14. brook'd: 19 159. brother: 48 70. brought: 30 1. brutish: 105 104. Brutus hath a suit: 78 42. Brutus may but find it: 40 144. bury: 104 74. by: 91 163. by him: 58 218. by means whereof: 12 49. by this: 38 125. Cæsar doth not wrong: 83 47. Cæsar's arrogance: 85 72. Cæsar's trophies: 8 71. call in question: 134 165. Caius Cassius Longinus: 11 36. Capitol: 80 12. carrions: 52 130. Casca's sentiments: 88 102. cast yourself in: 34 60. Cato's daughter: 63 295. cautelous: 52 129. censure: 100 16. ceremonies: 8 67, 67 13. chafing: 15 101. change: 120 7, 156 51. charactery: 64 308. charm: 61 271. chew: 20 171. Cicero (his 'agile tongue'): 27 281. Cicero (his opinion of Cæsar): 17 129. Cinna the poet: 114 1. clean: 33 35. climate: 33 32. climber upward: 43 23. clock: 55 192. close: 39 131. cobbler: 4 11. cognizance: 71 89. Colossus of Rhodes: 18 136. colour: 44 29. commend me to: 143 306. commons: 118 27. companion: 132 138. conceit: 93 193. conceited: 41 162. condition: 60 254. conjure: 18 146. constancy: 76 6. constant: 81 22. contrive: 75 14. couchings: 82 36. countenance: 41 159. counters: 128 80. cross: 34 50. dear my lord: 60 255. dearer: 93 197. deceitful jades: 121 26. Decius Brutus: 40 148, 49 95. degrees: 44 26. destruction: 31 13. dew of slumber: 58 230. dint: 109 193. directly: 4 12. discard my sickness: 65 321. dishonour shall be humour: 130 109. distract: 133 155. do danger with: 43 17. dogs of war: 98 274. doth not Brutus bootless kneel? 85 75. double comparatives and superlatives: 89 132. double negatives: 59 237, 135 183. doublet: 26 263. drachma: 111 241. eagles: 149 80. element: 39 128. elements: 167 73. elephants with holes: 56 205. emulation: 75 12. enforc'd: 101 38. enlarge your griefs: 122 46. ensign: 153 3. enter a Servant: 89 123. entertain: 167 60. envious: 109 174. envy: 54 164. Erebus: 49 84. error, melancholy's child: 157 67. et tu, Brute: 85 77. eternal: 20 160. ethical dative: 26 263, 115 18. even virtue: 52 133. evils: 48 79. except immortal Cæsar: 13 60. exhalations: 45 44. exigent: 145 19. exorcist: 65 323. extenuated: 101 37. face of men: 51 114. factious: 38 118. fall: 121 26. falling-sickness: 16 119, 25 252. falls shrewdly to the purpose: 90 147. false: 143 291. familiar instances: 121 16. far: 108 166. fat: 22 192. favour: 15 91, 39 129, 48 76. ferret: 21 186. fever: 16 119. field: 168 80. fifteen: 46 59. fire: 92 172, 112 254. first of March: 45 40. fleering: 38 117. flint: 130 111. former: 149 80. forms: 113 258. forth: 27 286. fret: 50 104. from: 33 35, 35 64, 56 196. full of good regard: 95 225. gamesome: 11 28. general: 43 12. general coffers fill: 104 89. Genius: 47 66. ghost of Cæsar: 164 17. give some soil to: 12 42. glaz'd: 32 21. go to: 126 32. goes up: 147 52. good respect: 166 45. great flood: 19 152. Greek to me: 27 281. greets me well: 120 6. griefs: 38 118, 122 46. growing on: 50 107. hands: 29 313. hard: 29 310, 57 215. hats: 48 73. havoc: 98 274. heap: 32 23. hearts of controversy: 16 109. held Epicurus strong: 149 77. her (of the Tiber): 6 47. here's the book: 139 252. high: 50 110. high-sighted tyranny: 51 118. hilts: 155 43. his (its): 17 124, 124 8. hold, my hand: 38 117. holy chase: 9 8. honey-heavy dew: 58 230. honourable man: 105 99. hot at hand: 121 23. how: 121 14. how ill this taper burns: 141 275. however: 28 296. humour (v.): 29 312. humour (n.): 60 250, 130 109. hurtled: 67 22. Hybla: 146 34. Ides of March: 10 18, 79 1. images: 7 66. impatient of my absence: 133 152. in our stars: 18 140. in respect of: 4 10. in some taste: 118 34. in strength of malice: 92 175. in their bosoms: 144 7. incorporate: 39 135. indifferently: 14 87. indirection: 128 75. infinitive used gerundively: 6 48, 52 135, 107 150, 124 6. insuppressive: 52 134. it must be by his death: 42 10. jades: 121 26. jealous: 20 162. jealous on: 13 71. jigging: 132 137. just: 13 54. kerchief: 64 315. keynote of the play: 158 94. kind: 35 64. knave: 139 241. Labeo and Flavius: 159 108. laughter: 13 72. law of children: 83 39. leaden mace: 141 268. lean: 22 194. legions on the other side: 152 2. let it be who it is: 36 80. let slip: 98 274. lethe: 94 207. liable: 72 104. lief: 15 95. limbs: 97 263. lion in the Capitol: 36 75. listen: 119 41. live (if I live): 91 160. lover: 75 8, 100 13. loves no plays: 22 203. Lucilius: 161 29. Lucilius and Titinius: 122 52. Lucius Junius Brutus: 19 159. Lupercal: 8 69, 104 95. mace: 141 268. main: 56 196. make head: 119 42. makes to: 80 18. man of any occupation: 26 264. many a time and oft: 5 39. mark: 80 18. market-place: 95 229. marry: 26 261. me (eth. dat.): 26 263, 115 18. means: 12 49. mechanical: 3 3. merely: 11 39. metal: 7 63. mettle: 7 63, 28 293. mistook: 12 48. mock apt to be render'd: 71 96. modesty: 94 214. moe: 48 72, 159 101. monstrous apparition: 141 277. monstrous state: 35 71. mortal instruments: 47 66. mortified spirit: 65 324. most boldest: 89 122. most like a soldier: 168 79. motion: 46 64. murderous slumber: 141 267. music: 23 204. napkins: 106 133. narrow: 18 135. nature of: 47 69. neat's-leather: 5 27. new-added: 137 209. nice: 124 8. niggard: 138 228. night-gown: 66 1. no fear: 55 190. no, not an oath: 51 114. noble vessel full: 163 13. none so poor: 106 120. nor ... neither: 59 237. nor nothing: 135 183. noted: 123 2. nothing, Messala: 135 184. nothing jealous: 20 162. nowt: 5 27. oath: 51 114. observe: 126 45. Octavius: 145 20, 147 48. o'ershot myself to tell: 107 150. o'er-watch'd: 139 241. of force: 136 203. of him: 53 157. of the best respect: 13 59. old men, fools, and children: 35 65. omission of indefinite article: 33 42. omission of the relative: 64 309. on: 13 71. on the Lupercal: 104 95. on this side Tiber: 112 248. once: 136 191. only proper to myself: 12 41. opinion: 53 145. orchard: 42 1. order of his funeral: 95 231. ought not walk: 3 3. out: 4 17, 18. palter: 52 126. part: 168 81. passion: 12 48. passions of some difference: 12 40. past tense for past participle: 12 48. path: 49 83. peevish: 148 61. phantasma: 46 65. philosophy: 132 145. physical: 60 261. pitch: 8 75. plays thee music: 141 269. Plutus: 130 102. Pompey (at Pharsalia): 149 75. Pompey's basis: 89 115. Pompey's porch: 39 126. poor knave: 139 241. posture of your blows: 146 33. prætor's chair: 40 143. prefer: 167 62. preformed: 35 67. pre-ordinance and first decree: 82 38. presently: 82 28, 136 197. prevent: 44 28. prevent the time: 151 105. prevention: 49 85. proceeded: 21 181. prodigies: 56 198. prodigious: 36 77. produce: 95 229. promis'd forth: 27 286. proof: 43 21. proper (goodly, handsome): 5 26. proper to myself: 12 41. property: 119 40. protest: 14 74. Publius (Cæsar): 117 4. Publius Silicius: 73 108. pulpits: 86 80. purgers: 54 180. put on (betray): 58 225. quality: 36 64. quarrel: 44 28. question: 134 165. question of his death: 101 36. quick spirit: 11 29. rank: 91 153. rascal: 128 80. regard: 95 225. remorse: 43 19. repealing: 84 51. replication: 6 48. resolv'd: 90 132, 109 178, 121 14. retentive to the strength: 37 95. rheumy: 61 266. rid: 113 268. Rome: 19 156, 99 290. ruddy drops: 63 289. rumour: 76 18. sad: 23 217. saucy: 30 11. saving of thy life: 155 38. secret Romans: 52 125. security gives way to: 75 6. sennet: 10 24. set on: 143 307. should: 18 142. should (would): 69 42. sign'd in thy spoil: 94 207. singular verbs with plural subjects: 40 148. slighted off: 124 5. smatch: 166 46. so please him come: 90 141. soft: 25 249. soil: 12 43. soles: 4 15. sooth: 76 20. soothsayer: 10 19, 77 21. speed: 15 88. spleen: 126 47. spoil: 94 307. stale: 14 73. stal'd: 118 38. stand upon: 88 101. stare: 142 380. Statilius: 162 3. statue: 70 76. stomachs: 148 66. strain: 148 59. stricken: 55 192. suburbs: 62 285. success: 67 6. sufferance: 51 115. sway of earth: 30 3. sword: 155 46. tag-rag people: 26 256. take thought and die: 55 187. tardy form: 28 296. taste: 118 34. taste of death: 68 33. temper: 17 129. Thasos: 159 104. that: 6 47. that it is disposed: 28 307. there is tears: 101 26. there was a crown offered him: 24 220. these (such and such): 32 30. these ... as: 21 174. thews: 36 81. they stab Cæsar: 85 76. things unluckily charge: 114 2. thorough: 90 137. three and thirty: 147 53. thunder-stone: 34 49. tide in the affairs of men: 137 218. times abuse: 51 115. 'tis just: 13 54. to hear: 6 48. to hell among the rogues: 26 265. to mourn: 105 103. to-night: 70 76, 114 1. to think: 52 135. to write: 124 6. toils: 57 206. trod upon neat's-leather: 5 27. trophies: 8 71. true: 25 259. unbraced: 34 48. undergo: 38 123. unfirm: 30 4. unmeritable: 117 13. upon a heap: 32 23. upon a wish: 113 265. us ourself: 79 8. ventures: 137 224. vulgar (n.): 8 72. walks: 19 155. warn: 144 5. was (were): 124 5. wear a kerchief: 64 315. weighing: 50 108. well given: 22 197. what: 33 43, 42 1. what need we: 51 123. what villain touch'd: 125 20. where: 13 59. where (whether): 7 63, 158 97. whether: 56 194. who: 32 21. wind (v.): 118 32. wit: 110 219. with: 36 83, 97 269. with a spot I damn him: 117 6. with a thought: 154 19. wonderful: 31 14. work alive: 136 196. work me to: 20 163. worthy note: 21 181. writ: 135 183. wrong (harm): 96 243. yearns: 74 129. yonder troops: 154 16. you: 3 9. you know: 31 15. you were best: 115 12. you'll bear me: 115 18.