[Scene II.]

Enter Cæfar, Antony for the Course, Calphurnia, Portia, De- 1 cius, Cicero, Brutus, Caffius, Caska,a Soothsayer:af

ter them Murellus and Flauius.

SCENE II.] Pope et seq.

The Same. A publick Place. Rowe. 1. Enter Cæfar...] Enter in solemn procession, with Musick, &c., Cæsar... Rowe. Enter in procession with trumpets and other music, Cæsar... Coll. ii, iii (MS).

1, 2. Decius] Decimus Hanmer, Ran. 1, 4, 6, 12. Calphurnia] Calpurnia

Wh. Cam.+, Rolfe.

3

2. Caska, a...] Casca and a... Hanmer. Casca, &c., a great crowd following; Soothsayer in the Crowd. Capell et seq. (subs.)

2, 3. after...Flauius] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Jen. Var. '78, '85. Om. Theob. et cet. 3. Murellus] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Cap. Marullus Theob. et cet.

Roman festival, see Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, s. v. Lupercalia. The time of its celebration was the 15th of February.

83. Will make him flye, etc.] CRAIK (p. 144): A modern sentence constructed in this fashion would constitute the 'him' the antecedent to the 'who,' and give it the meaning of the person generally who (in this instance) 'else would soar,' etc., or whoever would. But it will be more accordant with the style of Shakespeare's day to leave the 'him' unemphatic, and to regard 'Cæsar' as being the antecedent to 'who.' Compare: 'Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perched, Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands; Who to Philippi here consorted us.'—V, i, 94.

83. pitch] That is, the highest flight of a hawk or falcon.

1. Antony for the Course] '—that day [the Feast of Lupercal] there are divers noblemen's sons, young men (and some of them magistrates themselves that govern them), which run naked through the city, striking in sport them they meet in their way with leather thongs, hair and all on, to make them give place. And many noblewomen and gentlewomen also go of purpose to stand in their way, and do put forth their hands to be stricken, as scholars hold them out to their schoolmaster to be stricken with the ferula: persuading themselves that, being with child, they shall have good delivery; and so, being barren, that it will make them to conceive with child. . . . Antonius, consul at that time, was one of them that ran this holy course.'-Plutarch: Cæsar, cap. xli (p. 96, ed. SKEAT).

1. Calphurnia] R. G. WHITE: The Folio has Calphurnia here and wherever the name occurs; yet the needful correction has not hitherto been made, although the name of Cæsar's wife was Calpurnia, and it is correctly spelled throughout North's Plutarch, and although no one has hesitated to change the strangely perverse 'Varrus' and 'Claudio' of the Folio to 'Varro' and 'Claudius', or its 'Anthony' to 'Antony' in this play and in Ant. & Cleo. I am convinced that in both 'Anthony' and 'Calphurnia' h was silent to Shakespeare and his readers.— [ELLIS, speaking of the pronunciation during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, says (pt i, p. 316): 'There is no reason for supposing p, ph, qu to have been anything but p, f, and kw.'-ED.]-WRIGHT: Calpurnia was the daughter of L. Calpurnius Piso, married to Cæsar B. C. 59. She was his fourth wife, the other three being Cossutia, Cornelia, and Pompeia.

1, 2. Decius] STEEVENS: This person was not Decius, but Decimus Brutus.

Caf. Calphurnia.

Cask. Peace ho, Cæfar fpeakes.

Caf. Calphurnia.

Calp. Heere my Lord.

5

Caf. Stand you directly in Antonio's way,

When he doth run his course.

Ant. Cæfar, my Lord.

Antonio.

Caf. Forget not in your speed Antonio, To touch Calphurnia: for our Elders say, The Barren touched in this holy chace, Shake off their sterrile curse.

5. [Musick ceases. Cap. Mal. Steev. Varr.

8. Antonio's] Ff, Rowe, Ktly. Antonius' Pope et cet.

9, 11. Antonio] Ff, Rowe, Ktly. Antonius Pope et cet.

10. Cæfar] Om. anon. ap. Cam. 13. touched] touchèd Dyce.

ΙΟ

14

14. ferrile] F2. fterril F3. sterile Dyce, Sta. Cam.+, Huds. Col. iii. fteril F, et cet.

curfe] course Rowe ii, Pope, Han.

The poet (as Voltaire has done since) confounds the characters of Marcus and Decimus. Decimus Brutus was the most cherished by Cæsar of all his friends, while Marcus kept aloof, and declined so large a share of his favors and honors as the other had constantly accepted. Velleius Paterculus, speaking of Decimus Brulus, says: 'For, though he had been the most intimate of all his [C. Cæsar's] friends, he became his murderer, and threw on his benefactor the odium of that fortune of which he had reaped the benefit. He thought it just that he should retain the favors which he had received from Cæsar, and that Cæsar, who had given them, should perish.-Bk ii, cap. lxiv, [p. 475, trans. WATSON. Steevens quotes also from Thomas May's Supplement to Lucan's Pharsalia two passages in which Decimus Brutus is referred to as among the closest of the friends of Cæsar.]— FARMER: Shakespeare's mistake of Decius for Decimus arose from the old translation of Plutarch.-MALONE: In Holland's translation of Suetonius, 1606, which I believe Shakespeare had read, this person is likewise called Decius Brutus.R. G. WHITE: This mistake is not in the spelling of a name, but the identity of a person, and is one into which the poet was lead by his authority, North's Plutarch. Therefore it should not be corrected.

8. Antonio's] STEEVENS: The old copy generally reads 'Antonio,' 'Octavio,' 'Flavio.' The players were more accustomed to Italian than Roman terminations, on account of the many versions from Italian novels, and the many Italian characters in dramatic pieces formed on the same originals.-[The form Antonio occurs but four times throughout the play. In all other instances the name is given either as Marke Antony or Antony. Octavio occurs twice, and Labio and Flavio but once each.-ED.]

13, 14. The Barren ... sterrile curse] See note on 1. 1; extract from Plutarch.-F. SCHÖNE (p. 17, foot-note): It has been thought that Cæsar here shows himself childishly superstitious. . . But what Shakespeare wishes clearly to indicate is Cæsar's anxiety for an heir to his power and the establishing of a dynasty. That he was not actually superstitious is shown shortly after by his

15

Ant. I fhall remember,

When Cæfar fayes, Do this; it is perform'd.

Caf. Set on, and leaue no Ceremony out.
Sooth. Cæfar.

Caf. Ha? Who calles?

Cask. Bid euery noyse be still: peace yet againe.
Caf. Who is it in the presse, that calles on me?
I heare a Tongue fhriller then all the Muficke
Cry, Cæfar: Speake, Cæfar is turn'd to heare.
Sooth. Beware the Ides of March.
Caf. What man is that?

Br.A Sooth-fayer bids you beware the Ides of March.

16. Do this] As quotation Knt, Coll. Dyce, Wh. Hal. Cam.+, Huds.

17. [Musick; and the procession moves. Capell.

20. [Musick ceases. Capell. 20, 21. againe. Cæf. Who...] Cæs. Again! (as sep. line) Who... or all of 11.

20, 21 continued to Cæsar Sta. conj.

23. Cæfar: Speake,] Cæsar. Speak; Pope,+, Dyce, Sta. Cæsar! Speak Han. Coll. Wh. Hal. Ktly, Cam.+, Huds.

26. bids you] bids Cap.

curt dismissal of the soothsayer, who bids him beware of the Ides of March, calling him merely 'a dreamer.'-[WRIGHT says, however, that Cæsar, 'though a professed free-thinker, was addicted to superstition'; and cites, in support of this, Merivale: History of the Romans, etc., ii, 446, 7; see also note on II, i, 219.]

17. Ceremony] WRIGHT: The scanning of this line shows that Staunton was wrong in maintaining that Shakespeare pronounced the first two syllables of 'ceremony' as cere in cerecloth.-[Although Walker's Criticisms did not appear until 1860, the same date of publication as Staunton's Shakespeare, yet it was written several years before that date, and as Walker has quite an article on the subject of this pronunciation of 'Ceremony' (vol. ii, p. 73), he should, I think, be given the priority; he has furnished many examples of its pronunciation as a trisyllable from Shakespeare and from other writers.-ED.]

18. Sooth. Cæsar] VERITY: This incident strikes the note of mystery. The strangeness of this unknown voice from the crowd, giving its strange warning, creates an impression of danger. In Plutarch the warning is more precise; here the vague sense of undefined peril inspires greater awe.

20. Cask. Bid... againe] WRIGHT: There is no need for any change in the arrangement [see Text. Notes], as the whole suits well with the officious character of Casca.

26. A Sooth-sayer... March] COLERIDGE (Notes, etc., p. 131): If my ear does not deceive me, the metre of this line was meant to express that sort of mild philosophic contempt characterizing Brutus even in his first casual speech. The line is a trimeter, each dipodia containing two accented and two unaccented syllables, but variously arranged.-CRAIK (p. 144): That is, It is a sooth-sayer, who bids. It would not otherwise be an answer to Cæsar's question. The omission of the relative in such a construction is still common.-[WRIGHT acknowledges that such omissions are common, but adds that the present line 'does

Caf. Set him before me, let me see his face.

Caffi.Fellow, come from the throng, look vpon Cæfar.
Caf. What sayst thou to me now? Speak once againe.
Sooth. Beware the Ides of March.

Caf. He is a Dreamer, let vs leaue him : Passe.

27

30

Sennet.

Exeunt. Manet Brut. & Caff.

Caffi. Will you go see the order of the course?

Brut. Not I.

Caffi. I pray you do.

35

Brut. I am not Gamefom: I do lacke fome part

Of that quicke Spirit that is in Antony:

Let me not hinder Caffius your desires;
Ile leaue you.

Caffi. Brutus, I do obferue you now of late:

28. Caffi.] Casca. Johns. Var. '73. 29. thou] thon F3.

31. Dreamer,] Dreamer F2F3. 32. Sennet.] Senate. F1. Om. Rowe,+. Musick. Cap.

Exeunt...& Caff.] Ff (Manent FF), Rowe, Pope. Exeunt Cæsar and Train. Theob.+, Varr. Ran.

40

Exeunt all but Bru. and Cass. Cap. et cet.

33. SCENE III. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. Jen.

34. Not I.] Not I. F3.

39. Ile leaue you] Om. Seymour. 40. you now] Om. Steev. conj.

not seem to be an instance.' ABBOTT (§ 460) suggests that metri gratia, 'beware,' be shortened by the omission of the prefix. CAPELL'S reading (see Text. Notes) is, perhaps, preferable.-ED.]-SCHWARTZKOPF (p. 324): It is noteworthy that it is Brutus who immediately repeats the soothsayer's warning words to Cæsar. And they are to be heard again by both, as we see later. To one as a warning which, heeded, could have been his salvation; to the other as a magnetic attraction towards the assassin's dagger.

32. Manet Brut. & Cass.] KNIGHT (Studies, p. 114): The leading distinctions between these two remarkable men, as drawn by Shakespeare, appear to us to be these: Brutus acts wholly upon principle; Cassius partly upon impulse. Brutus acts only when he has reconciled the contemplation of action with his speculative opinions; Cassius allows the necessity of some action to run before and govern his opinions. Brutus is a philosopher; Cassius is a partisan. Brutus, therefore, deliberates and spares; Cassius precipitates and denounces. Brutus is the nobler instructor; Cassius the better politician. Shakespeare, in the first great scene between them, brings out these distinctions of character upon which future events so mainly depend. Cassius does not, like a merely crafty man, use only the arguments to conspiracy which will most touch Brutus; but he mixes with them, in his zeal and vehemence, those which have presented themselves most strongly to his own mind.

40. Brutus, I do obserue, etc.] WRIGHT: In Plutarch's Life of Brutus the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius arose from their contest for the prætorship, which Cæsar assigned to Brutus. This, too, was one of the causes of Cassius'

4I

I haue not from your eyes, that gentlenesse
And shew of Loue, as I was wont to haue:

You beare too stubborne, and too strange a hand
Ouer your Friend, that loues you.

Bru. Caffius,

Be not deceiu'd : If I haue veyl'd my looke,

45

I turne the trouble of my Countenance

Meerely vpon my felfe. Vexed I am

Of late, with paffions of fome difference,

Conceptions onely proper to my selfe,

50

Which giue fome foyle (perhaps) to my Behauiours:

Caffi. Then Brutus, I haue much mistook your passion, By meanes whereof, this Brest of mine hath buried

58

(-Johns. Var. '73).

44. Friend] Friends Ff, Rowe, Pope. loues] love F4, Rowe, Pope.

48. Vexed] Vexèd Dyce.

51. Behaviours] Behaviour Rowe,+

54. further] farther Pope ii, Theob. Warb. Johns. Var. '73, Coll. Wh. i, Hal.

personal animosity against Cæsar, and the first step in the plot for his assassination was the reconciliation of Cassius and Brutus.

43. strange] JOHNSON: That is, alien, unfamiliar, such as might become a stranger.

49. passions of some difference] JOHNSON: That is, with a fluctuation of discordant opinions and desires.—STEEVENS: Compare '-thou hast set thy mercy and thy honour At difference in thee.'-Coriol., V, iii, 201.-MALONE: A following line may prove the best comment on this: "Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,' l. 55.

57. passion] MURRAY (N. E. D., s. v., III, 6): Any kind of feeling by which the mind is powerfully affected or moved; a vehement, commanding, or overpowering emotion; in psychology and art, any mode in which the mind is affected or acted upon (whether vehemently or not), as ambition, avarice, desire, hope, fear, love, hatred, joy, grief, anger, revenge.

58. By meanes whereof] CAPELL (1. 97): That is, by means of mistaking; but what was Cassius' mistake? Wherein lay it? Why, in thinking that his friend's 'passion,' what he appear'd to suffer, proceeded from his concern for the public; which thought of his he calls a thought of great value, a worthy cogitation; and then enters upon his sounding in terms that show it premeditated, and a manner more artificial than is consistent with real friendship; which the poet does not attribute to him or make a part of his character, and that in order to difference him from the open and honest Brutus.