slew himself with the same sword with the which he struck Cæsar." Note how anything vivid and picturesque in Plutarch is seized upon unerringly by Shakespeare.

41. freeman freedman, a slave who has been 'manumitted.'

43. hilts; the plural was used in a singular sense.

47.

not so, not by such means, viz. as killing his master.

51. change, exchangę: victory in one wing, defeat in the other.

67. Error, Melancholy's child; so called because despondency often leads to misunderstandings and needless doubts and fears.

68. apt, ready to receive false impressions.

69. conceiv'd; the metaphor of "birth," 70. 71. But kill'st, without killing.

81-85. Cf. North's Plutarch, p. 143: "They [the troops of Cassius] might see Titinnius crowned with a garland of triumph, who came with great speed unto Cassius," i.e. riding back from the "horsemen" whom Pindarus mistook for troops of the enemy (28—32). 82. wreath of victory; a favourite phrase of Elizabethan writers; cf. 3 Henry VI. v. 3. 2, And we are graced with wreaths of victory." 84. For the scansion misconstru'd, cf. 1. 2. 45.

85. hold thee; there, look you! hold; an interjection as in I. 3. 117. thee; an ethic dative. Cf. All's Well That Ends Well, IV. 5. 46, "Hold thee, there's my purse."

88. how I regarded, what regard I had for.

89. a Roman's part; i.e. self-destruction, so as not to outlive defeat and fall into the enemy's power. Cf. Macbeth, V. 8. 1, 2, "Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On mine own sword?"

94-96. Cf. Antony's prophecy III. I. 259-275, and contrast Brutus's previous belief that the conspirators could " come by Cæsar's spirit"; see II. 1. 169, note.

96. in, into. proper, own; see G. Here it emphasises "our own." 97. whether; scan whe'er; cf. 1. 1. 66. crown'd; see 85-87. 99. Referring to Cassius. the last, so the 1st Folio; some editors change to "thou last." A needless change in any case, and improbable, because Plutarch's words are, "he [Brutus] lamented the death of Cassius, calling him the last of all the Romans." See Extract 43. 101. Fellow, equal. moe, more; see G.

103. find time, i.e. to "pay" his tears to Cassius.

10.4.

Thasos; an island in the Ægean, off the coast of Thrace; famous for its gold mines.

105. funerals; singular in sense; here Shakespeare uses the plural form because the passage in Plutarch was running in his mind, but in III. I. 230 he had funeral. Similarly he uses both nuptial (more often) and nuptials in the same sense.

106. discomfort, discourage; see G.

107. young Cato; son of Cato Uticensis (see v. 1. 102), and so brother of Portia.

108. Labeo; mentioned by Plutarch as one of the conspirators. Flavius; perhaps the Tribune who appeared in Act I. Scene 1. They were slain in the battle before the eyes of Brutus (North's Plutarch, p. 150). our battles; i.e. forces; as in V. I. 4.

109. 'Tis three o'clock. This is scarcely consistent with 60, 61, which indicated that the time was already evening. Probably the inconsistency arose thus. Plutarch says, "He [Brutus] suddenly caused his army to march, being past three of the clock in the afternoon" (p. 148); but Plutarch is speaking of the second battle at Philippi, which took place twenty days later. It is one of the unhistorical details in the play that Shakespeare combines the two battles. Here in connecting them he uses the statement of Plutarch and forgets apparently that he has previously spoken of sunset.

Scene 4.

Details from Plutarch. 1. The death of young Cato. 2. The

device of Lucilius to save the life of Brutus.

12. Only; transposed; it qualifies "to die." Cf. 1. 3. 144, note. 14. According to Plutarch (see Extract 45) Lucilius acted thus to divert some soldiers of the enemy who were just going to attack Brutus. The stratagem saved the life of Brutus for the moment. It proves the nobility of his character that his friends are thus ready to sacrifice themselves for his sake. They all remain steadfast in their admiration of him; cf. 21-25, and the next Scene, 34, 35.

28, 29.

66

Lucilius ever after served him [Antony] faithfully, even to his death"-North's Plutarch, p. 149.

30. whether whe'er, as before (1. 1. 66, II. 1. 194, V. 3. 97).

Details based on Plutarch.

Scene 5.

1. Statilius "shows" the torch light. 2. Brutus asks his friends to help him slay himself: his death. 3. His dead body is disposed of honourably. 4. Octavius takes into his service Strato, the Greek servant of Brutus. 5. Antony's speech over Brutus.

I.

remains, remnant; cf. Titus Andronicus, 1. 1. 79, 81:
"Of five-and-twenty valiant sons

Behold the poor remains, alive and dead!"

2, 3. See Extract 46 (lines 1-10) from Plutarch.

4. the word, the watch-word; cf. Coriolanus, III. 2. 142, word is 'mildly.' Pray you, let us go."

"The

5-51. For the death of Brutus see Extract 46 (the second paragraph) from Plutarch.

8. Dardanius; in Plutarch Dardanus; Shakespeare makes the slight change for the sake of the metre (to get 4 syllables out of the name). That, so that. it, grief.

14. 15.

Volumnius; "a grave and wise philosopher, that had been with Brutus from the beginning of this war" (North's Plutarch, p. 147). 18. several, separate. at Sardis; this was the apparition recorded

in IV. 3. 275-287.

19. here in Philippi fields. Cf. North's Plutarch: "The selfsame night [i.e. before the battle], it is reported that the monstrous spirit which had appeared before unto Brutus in the city of Sardis, did now appear again unto him in the selfsame shape and form, and so vanished away, and said never a word" (p. 147).

22. how it goes; the clause is explanatory of the direct object "the world." Cf. Richard II. III. 3. 61, "mark King Richard, how he looks." Shakespeare uses this construction often, especially after verbs of perception. So in Luke iv. 34, "I know thee who thou art."

23.

28.

beat us to the pit; like animals driven by hunters.

on it, i.e. the sword, implied in "sword-hilts."

29. an office for, a service for a friend to do.

31, 33. you; addressing equals. thee; addressing his servant. 37. Octavius...Mark Antony; of whom posterity would say that they had "slain good men, to usurp tyrannical power not pertaining to them" (North's Plutarch, p. 151). As the vanquishers of those who fought for freedom and against tyranny they will (Brutus thinks) have won a "vile conquest." So Milton in the Sonnet "Daughter to that

good Earl" calls the battle of Charonea a "dishonest victory," i.e. one which was dishonourable (inhonestus) to the victors, because it crushed the freedom of the Greeks and established the supremacy of Philip of Macedon over Greece.

44. stay by, help; as we say, 'stand by.'

45. respect, reputation; cf. 1. 2. 59.

46. smatch, taste, tincture; see G.

50. now be still; because avenged by the death of Brutus; no more need "Cæsar's spirit range for revenge" (III. 1. 270).

58, 59. Referring to the last Scene, 20—25.

60. entertain, take into my service; see G.

61. bestow, spend. See Extract 48 from Plutarch. 62. prefer, recommend.

68-75. A notable speech, since it sums up exactly the two main and dissimilar motives which led to the murder of Cæsar: on the one hand, the pure disinterested patriotism of Brutus who sought only the good (as he judged) of Rome; on the other hand, the personal jealousy and "private griefs" (III. 2. 217) of Cassius and the rest.

This generous and genuine admiration of his enemy's merits is one of the pleasantest traits in Antony's character. See Extract 47 from Plutarch.

69. save...he; see save in the 'Glossary.'

71, 72. general honest thought...common good to all.

III. I. 170; with notes.

73-75. See Introduction, pp. x, xx-xxiv.

73. elements; see G.

75. Another of the links with Hamlet; compare "He was a man, take him for all in all,

Cf. II. I. 12;

I shall not look upon his like again" (1. 2. 187, 188). 76, 77. let us use him with all respect. Strictly, it was Antony, not Octavius, who gave orders to this effect; see Extract 46 (last 3 lines) from Plutarch. No doubt, Shakespeare made the change designedly. Octavius is to be the new "Cæsar," inheritor of all that Julius had created, representative of that "Cæsarism" which the conspirators had wholly failed to kill-rather, had strengthened--when they struck down the mortal frame of the Dictator (cf. 11. 1. 169, note). It is fitting that "Cæsarism" should, through Octavius, have the last word.

76. virtue, worth.

77. burial; Brutus's body was cremated; see III. 2. 259, note. 80, 81. field, army. part, share.

GLOSSARY.

Abbreviations:—

A. S.=Anglo-Saxon, i.e. English down to about the Conquest. Middle E. = Middle English, i.e. English from about the Conquest to about 1500.

Elizabethan E. = the English of Shakespeare and his contemporaries (down to about 1650).

O. F. Old French, i.e. till about 1600. F. = modern French.
Germ. modern German. Gk. Greek.

Ital. modern Italian. Lat. Latin.

NOTE: In using the Glossary the student should pay very careful attention to the context in which each word occurs.

abide, III. I. 94, III. 2. 119; literally 'to await (bide) the consequences of'; hence to answer, suffer for.' This use of abide was partly due to confusion with aby (connected with buy), to pay for,' e.g. to pay, i.e. suffer, for an offence. Cf. A Midsummer-Night's Dream, III. 2.

335, where the 1st Quarto has, "Thou shalt aby it," the Folios abide. addressed, III. 1. 29, 'ready, prepared'; cf. 2 Henry IV., IV. 4. 5, “Our navy is address'd, our power (i.e. army) collected." Milton uses the noun address='preparation' in Samson Agonistes, 731 (" But now again she makes address to speak," i.e. prepares).

afeard, II. 2. 67; used by Shakespeare in the same sense as afraid. Of course, the words are quite distinct; afeard being the past participle of afear, 'to frighten,' A. S. áfæran, in which a- is an intensive prefix; and afraid the participle of affray, from O. F. effraier Low Lat. exfrediare, 'to break the peace, disturb' (cf. Germ. Friede, 'peace').