Julius Caesar

Stuff That Happens

Before the Play

• Caesar wins great victories in Gaul. His spoils of war enrich him and the city of Rome, making him wildly popular with the common people.
• With accusations of waging illegal war, Pompey’s political faction demands that Caesar return to Rome to face trial.
• Caesar returns—with an army. He defeats Pompey, who is murdered after fleeing to Egypt.

During the Play

• Caesar arrives in Rome to great fanfare from the common people, much to the horror of Pompey’s surviving supporters. A soothsayer warns him to “beware the ides of March.”
• Caesar’s growing popularity spurs a conspiracy among the late Pompey’s followers, senators, and others who fear the people will make Caesar a king, overturning the republic.
• On a stormy night, Cassius and the other conspirators convince Brutus to join their cause. They resolve to kill Caesar when the senate meets at the Capitol the next day.
• In the Capitol, one of the conspirators distracts Mark Antony, a steadfast Caesar supporter, while the rest of the faction stab Caesar.
• Antony, claiming not to seek revenge on the conspirators, asks for permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Despite protests from Cassius, Brutus agrees.
• After Brutus defends the conspirators’ actions to the common people, Antony incites the crowd against them all. The conspirators flee Rome.
• Antony joins forces with Octavius Caesar (Caesar’s nephew and acknowledged heir) to battle Brutus and Cassius.
• Civil war, ghostly visitations, and a really bad birthday ensue.