All the conspirators, save only he,

Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar;
He only, in a general honest thought,

And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man !”
Octavius. According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.-
So, call the field to rest: and let's away,
To part the glories of this happy day.

70

80

[Exeunt.

NOTES.

Abbreviation: G= Glossary.

Details from Plutarch.

ACT I.

Scene 1.

I. Cæsar's "triumph over Pompey's blood" (56). 2. The action of the Tribunes in "disrobing the images' of Cæsar (69).

The value of this Scene is twofold. 1. It indicates the feeling of Rome towards Cæsar: among the official classes he has jealous enemies, with the crowd he is popular. 2. It illustrates the fickleness of the crowd, a point of which so much is made on the occasion of Antony's great speech (111. 2). Also the reference to the Lupercalia (72) fixes the time of the action of the play at its opening.

Note how the citizens speak in prose, the Tribunes in verse. Shakespeare uses prose mainly for comic or colloquial parts (1. 2. 220, note), and for the speech of characters of inferior social position (i.e. in scenes of "low life"); also for letters (II. 3, note).

3. mechanical, of the working classes; cf. North's Plutarch, "cobblers, tapsters, or suchlike base mechanical people” (p. 113).

ought not walk; this is the only place where Shakespeare omits to after ought; contrast II. 1. 270. There is one instance in MiltonParadise Lost, VIII. 74, 75. In Middle English the present infinitive was marked by the inflection en; when this inflection became obsolete, to was used with the infinitive. Certain 'anomalous' verbs, however, on the analogy of auxiliary verbs, omitted the to, and there was much irregularity in the practice of Elizabethan writers. Cf. the two

constructions with dare in modern English: 'I dare say' and 'I dare to say.'

4. labouring day; labouring is a gerund-not, of course, a participle-and the two words really form a compound noun, labouring-day, like 'walking-stick,' 'fishing-rod.' The merit of such compounds is their brevity: we get rid of the preposition (e.g. ‘a day for labouring '). 4, 5. the sign; explained by line 7. Though it is a working-day they have neither their tools nor their working clothes.

5. thou; generally used by a master to a servant (cf. v. 5. 33), and often a mark of contempt—as here.

IO, 11. in respect of, regarded as. cobbler, botcher, unskilled workman; a quibble on this and its ordinary meaning 'mender of shoes.' 12. directly, straightforwardly, without any quibbling; cf. 111. 3. 10. 15. For the quibble sole...soul, cf. Merchant of Venice, IV. I. 123, "Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,

Thou makest thy knife keen."

16. naughty, wicked, good for nothing; see G.

18. be not out with me, do not be angry. if you be out; cf. phrases like 'out at heels,' 'out at elbow.'

19, 20. mend you...mend me. We have the same quibble in Twelfth Night, 1. 5. 50, 51.

27. but withal, at the same time (still keeping up the pun on 'with awl'). The tribune has asked him his trade: he says, 'I cannot call myself a tradesman: and yet I am a cobbler.'

28.

recover; of course a quibble on cause to recover = get well again' and 're-cover = re-sole.'

28-30. Proverbial phrases. Cf. The Tempest, II. 2. 63, "As proper a man as ever went (= walked) on four legs," and 73, "he's a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat's-leather" (ox-hide). proper, fine; see G. gone, walked. handiwork; see G.

36. his triumph; Cæsar's second triumph, celebrated in September 45 B.C. for the victory which he won on March 17th of that year at Munda in Spain over Pompey's two sons. Shakespeare dates the triumph six months later (Feb. 44 B.C.) to give the play a more effective opening and illustrate the pre-eminent position of Cæsar.

37. conquest, booty, spoil. Cf. III. 2. 93, 94.

38. tributaries, captives paying tribute or ransom.

39.

To grace...his chariot-wheels; as did Vercingetorix the Gaul, who was kept a prisoner for six years (52-46 B.C.) to be led in Cæsar's first triumph and then put to death.

40. senseless, devoid of feeling.

42.

many a; cf. Germ. manch ein; the phrase seems to be formed on the analogy of 'such a,' 'what a.'

47. great Pompey; an allusion to his title 'Pompeius Magnus'; cf. North's Plutarch, "a daughter by his [Cæsar's] first wife... was married unto Pompey the Great" (p. 46).

pass the streets, i.e. through.

48. but, just, merely-' the moment you saw.

50. that; Shakespeare often omits so before that: an instance of his "brevity" (see p. 215).

Tiber...her banks; cf. I. 2. IOI. He personifies the river, and so does not use the.' In Latin Tiber, like the names of most rivers, is masculine.

51. to hear, at hearing; a gerund. replication, echo; in Hamlet, IV. 2. 13='reply, repartee,' like F. réplique.

54. cull, select; implying extra care in choosing. F. cueillir.

56. that, who; the antecedent is contained in "his way" (emphatic) 'the way of him who.' A frequent use; cf. Twelfth Night, III. 1. 69, "He must observe their mood on whom he jests"="the mood of those on whom.'

Some explain blood='offspring,' i.e. Pompey's two sons, Cnæus and Sextus. But he has been speaking of Pompey himself and probably means that Cæsar's rise had brought about Pompey's fall and death. 59. intermit, delay.

62. sort, class; cf. "all sorts and conditions of men."

63. Tiber banks; this quasi-adjectival use of proper names is common in Shakespeare; cf. "Philippi fields," v. 5. 19. It generally occurs before a noun in the plural, and is due to dislike of 's closely followed by s; for a similar avoidance of 's before s see III. 2. 70, IV. 3. 19. 64. lowest, i.e. deepest below the level of the banks ('shores'). 65. i.e. reach the highest water-mark.

66. whether; scan as a monosyllable whe'er. basest metal; used in allusion to the phrase base, i.e. impure, metal'; but the sense here, as in 1. 2. 313, is figurative='character.' See mettle in the 'Glossary.' 69. disrobe, strip, i.e. of the 'scarfs' mentioned in 1. 2. 289.

See Extract 2 from Plutarch.

There were two statues of Cæsar on the Rostra in the Forum. 70. ceremonies, festal ornaments; see G. Scan c'remonies. 72. the feast of Lupercal; i.e. the Lupercalia; a festival of purification for the walls of Rome, held on February 15. Its celebrants, the

Luperci, were originally divided into two collegia, each under a magister; in 44 B.C. a third collegium, the Juliani, was instituted in honour of Julius Cæsar, who appointed Antony (see the next Scene) as its first magister. A great feature of the Lupercalia was the "course (I. 2. 4) of the Luperci, who ran round the city wall, bearing leather thongs with which they struck the crowd, especially women (1. 2. 7—9). These thongs, cut from the hides of the victims sacrificed, were called februa, hence the ceremony was called februatio, and gave its name to the month February. Lat. februare, 'to purify, expiate.'

74. trophies, tokens of victory, i.e. the 'ceremonies' (70).

77.

These feathers pluck'd, the plucking of these feathers; cf. the Latin idiom, e.g. occisus Cæsar, 'the death of Cæsar.'

78. pitch; a term in falconry for the height to which a hawk soars; cf. Richard II. 1. 1. 109, "How high a pitch his resolution soars !" Shakespeare uses many terms drawn from falconry, which was a favourite pursuit of the Elizabethans.

79, 80. Cf. North's Plutarch: "The chiefest cause that made him [Cæsar] mortally hated was the covetous desire he had to be called king: which first gave the people just cause, and next his secret enemies honest colour, to bear him ill-will" (p. 94).

Scene 2.

Details based on Plutarch. I. The account of the Lupercalia. 2. The warning of the Soothsayer. 3. The interview between Cassius and Brutus. 4. Cæsar's description of "that spare Cassius." 5. Cæsar's refusal of the crown, "swooning," and "plucking ope his doublet." 6. The "writings" to incite Brutus.

Enter Cæsar; on his way to the Forum, where, from the Rostra, he witnessed "the games" (178) of the Lupercalia, in which he would take a special interest that year (44 B.C.); see I. I. 72, note.

Antony, for the course, i.e. ready for, being one of the Luperci.

1. Calpurnia. In the 1st Folio spelt Calphurnia, which, no doubt, Shakespeare wrote because the name is so spelt in North's Plutarch. She was daughter of L. Calpurnius Piso. Cæsar married her (his fourth wife) in 59 B.C., the year of his first consulship.

3-9. Cæsar's orders illustrate what Cassius says of him in II. I. 195, that he "is superstitious grown”; cf. again II. 2. 5, 6.

7-9. See Extract 3 from Plutarch. Cæsar had no legitimate son. touched; the word in North is 'stricken'; perhaps Shakespeare used