TPTT The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: ACT III
Introduction
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
SCENE II. The Forum.
SCENE III. A street.
ACT IV
ACT V
About the Play
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SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
A crowd of people; among them ARTEMIDORUS and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter CAESAR, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS BRUTUS, METELLUS CIMBER, TREBONIUS, CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS, PUBLIUS, and others
CAESAR
      (To the Soothsayer) The ides of March are come.
Soothsayer
      Ay, Caesar; but not gone.
ARTEMIDORUS
      Hail, Caesar! read this schedule.
DECIUS BRUTUS
      Trebonius doth desire you to o'erread,
5     At your best leisure, this his humble suit.
ARTEMIDORUS
      O Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a suit
      That touches Caesar nearer: read it, great Caesar.
CAESAR
      What touches us ourself shall be last served.
ARTEMIDORUS
      Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly.
CAESAR
10    What, is the fellow mad?
PUBLIUS
      Sirrah, give place.
CASSIUS
      What, urge you your petitions in the street?
      Come to the Capitol.
CAESAR goes up to the Senate-House, the rest following
POPILIUS
      I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive.
CASSIUS
15    What enterprise, Popilius?
POPILIUS
      Fare you well.
Advances to CAESAR
BRUTUS
      What said Popilius Lena?
CASSIUS
      He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive.
      I fear our purpose is discovered.
BRUTUS
20    Look, how he makes to Caesar; mark him.
CASSIUS
      Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention.
      Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known,
      Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back,
      For I will slay myself.
BRUTUS
25    Cassius, be constant:
      Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes;
      For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.
CASSIUS
      Trebonius knows his time; for, look you, Brutus.
      He draws Mark Antony out of the way.
Exeunt ANTONY and TREBONIUS
DECIUS BRUTUS
30    Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go,
      And presently prefer his suit to Caesar.
BRUTUS
      He is address'd: press near and second him.
CINNA
      Casca, you are the first that rears your hand.
CAESAR
      Are we all ready? What is now amiss
35    That Caesar and his senate must redress?
METELLUS CIMBER
      Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,
      Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat
      An humble heart,--
Kneeling
CAESAR
      I must prevent thee, Cimber.
40    These couchings and these lowly courtesies
      Might fire the blood of ordinary men,
      And turn pre-ordinance and first decree
      Into the law of children. Be not fond,
      To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood
45    That will be thaw'd from the true quality
      With that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet words,
      Low-crooked court'sies and base spaniel-fawning.
      Thy brother by decree is banished:
      If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
50    I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
      Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
      Will he be satisfied.
METELLUS CIMBER
      Is there no voice more worthy than my own
      To sound more sweetly in great Caesar's ear
55    For the repealing of my banish'd brother?
BRUTUS
      I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar;
      Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may
      Have an immediate freedom of repeal.
CAESAR
      What, Brutus!
CASSIUS
60    Pardon, Caesar; Caesar, pardon:
      As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall,
      To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.
CASSIUS
      I could be well moved, if I were as you:
      If I could pray to move, prayers would move me:
65    But I am constant as the northern star,
      Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
      There is no fellow in the firmament.
      The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks,
      They are all fire and every one doth shine,
70    But there's but one in all doth hold his place:
      So in the world; 'tis furnish'd well with men,
      And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
      Yet in the number I do know but one
      That unassailable holds on his rank,
75    Unshaked of motion: and that I am he,
      Let me a little show it, even in this;
      That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd,
      And constant do remain to keep him so.
CINNA
      O Caesar,--
CAESAR
80    Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus?
DECIUS BRUTUS
      Great Caesar,--
CAESAR
      Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
CASCA
      Speak, hands for me!
CASCA first, then the other Conspirators and BRUTUS stab CAESAR
CAESAR
      Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar.
Dies
CINNA
85    Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
      Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
CASSIUS
      Some to the common pulpits, and cry out
      'Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!'
BRUTUS
      People and senators, be not affrighted;
90    Fly not; stand stiff: ambition's debt is paid.
CASCA
      Go to the pulpit, Brutus.
DECIUS BRUTUS
      And Cassius too.
BRUTUS
      Where's Publius?
CINNA
      Here, quite confounded with this mutiny.
METELLUS CIMBER
95    Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's
      Should chance--
BRUTUS
      Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer;
      There is no harm intended to your person,
      Nor to no Roman else: so tell them, Publius.
CASSIUS
100   And leave us, Publius; lest that the people,
      Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief.
BRUTUS
      Do so: and let no man abide this deed,
      But we the doers.
Re-enter TREBONIUS
CASSIUS
      Where is Antony?
TREBONIUS
105   Fled to his house amazed:
      Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run
      As it were doomsday.
BRUTUS
      Fates, we will know your pleasures:
      That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time
110   And drawing days out, that men stand upon.
CASSIUS
      Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
      Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
BRUTUS
      Grant that, and then is death a benefit:
      So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridged
115   His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
      And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
      Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords:
      Then walk we forth, even to the market-place,
      And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
120   Let's all cry 'Peace, freedom and liberty!'
CASSIUS
      Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence
      Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
      In states unborn and accents yet unknown!
BRUTUS
      How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,
125   That now on Pompey's basis lies along
      No worthier than the dust!
CASSIUS
      So oft as that shall be,
      So often shall the knot of us be call'd
      The men that gave their country liberty.
DECIUS BRUTUS
130   What, shall we forth?
CASSIUS
      Ay, every man away:
      Brutus shall lead; and we will grace his heels
      With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome.
Enter a Servant
BRUTUS
      Soft! who comes here? A friend of Antony's.
Servant
135   Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel:
      Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down;
      And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say:
      Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest;
      Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving:
140   Say I love Brutus, and I honour him;
      Say I fear'd Caesar, honour'd him and loved him.
      If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
      May safely come to him, and be resolved
      How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death,
145   Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
      So well as Brutus living; but will follow
      The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus
      Thorough the hazards of this untrod state
      With all true faith. So says my master Antony.
BRUTUS
150   Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman;
      I never thought him worse.
      Tell him, so please him come unto this place,
      He shall be satisfied; and, by my honour,
      Depart untouch'd.
Servant
155   I'll fetch him presently.
Exit
BRUTUS
      I know that we shall have him well to friend.
CASSIUS
      I wish we may: but yet have I a mind
      That fears him much; and my misgiving still
      Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
BRUTUS
160   But here comes Antony.

Re-enter ANTONY

      Welcome, Mark Antony.
ANTONY
      O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?
      Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
      Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.
165   I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
      Who else must be let blood, who else is rank:
      If I myself, there is no hour so fit
      As Caesar's death hour, nor no instrument
      Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich
170   With the most noble blood of all this world.
      I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
      Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke,
      Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
      I shall not find myself so apt to die:
175   No place will please me so, no mean of death,
      As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,
      The choice and master spirits of this age.
BRUTUS
      O Antony, beg not your death of us.
      Though now we must appear bloody and cruel,
180   As, by our hands and this our present act,
      You see we do, yet see you but our hands
      And this the bleeding business they have done:
      Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful;
      And pity to the general wrong of Rome--
185   As fire drives out fire, so pity pity--
      Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part,
      To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony:
      Our arms, in strength of malice, and our hearts
      Of brothers' temper, do receive you in
190   With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.
CASSIUS
      Your voice shall be as strong as any man's
      In the disposing of new dignities.
BRUTUS
      Only be patient till we have appeased
      The multitude, beside themselves with fear,
195   And then we will deliver you the cause,
      Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him,
      Have thus proceeded.
ANTONY
      I doubt not of your wisdom.
      Let each man render me his bloody hand:
200   First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you;
      Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand;
      Now, Decius Brutus, yours: now yours, Metellus;
      Yours, Cinna; and, my valiant Casca, yours;
      Though last, not last in love, yours, good Trebonius.
205   Gentlemen all,--alas, what shall I say?
      My credit now stands on such slippery ground,
      That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
      Either a coward or a flatterer.
      That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true:
210   If then thy spirit look upon us now,
      Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death,
      To see thy thy Anthony making his peace,
      Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
      Most noble! in the presence of thy corse?
215   Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds,
      Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood,
      It would become me better than to close
      In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
      Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart;
220   Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand,
      Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe.
      O world, thou wast the forest to this hart;
      And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
      How like a deer, strucken by many princes,
225   Dost thou here lie!
CASSIUS
      Mark Antony,--
ANTONY
      Pardon me, Caius Cassius:
      The enemies of Caesar shall say this;
      Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty.
CASSIUS
230   I blame you not for praising Caesar so;
      But what compact mean you to have with us?
      Will you be prick'd in number of our friends;
      Or shall we on, and not depend on you?
ANTONY
      Therefore I took your hands, but was, indeed,
235   Sway'd from the point, by looking down on Caesar.
      Friends am I with you all and love you all,
      Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons
      Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous.
BRUTUS
      Or else were this a savage spectacle:
240   Our reasons are so full of good regard
      That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar,
      You should be satisfied.
ANTONY
      That's all I seek:
      And am moreover suitor that I may
245   Produce his body to the market-place;
      And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
      Speak in the order of his funeral.
BRUTUS
      You shall, Mark Antony.
CASSIUS
      Brutus, a word with you.

Aside to BRUTUS

250   You know not what you do: do not consent
      That Antony speak in his funeral:
      Know you how much the people may be moved
      By that which he will utter?
BRUTUS
      By your pardon;
255   I will myself into the pulpit first,
      And show the reason of our Caesar's death:
      What Antony shall speak, I will protest
      He speaks by leave and by permission,
      And that we are contented Caesar shall
260   Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies.
      It shall advantage more than do us wrong.
CASSIUS
      I know not what may fall; I like it not.
BRUTUS
      Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body.
      You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,
265   But speak all good you can devise of Caesar,
      And say you do't by our permission;
      Else shall you not have any hand at all
      About his funeral: and you shall speak
      In the same pulpit whereto I am going,
270   After my speech is ended.
ANTONY
      Be it so.
      I do desire no more.
BRUTUS
      Prepare the body then, and follow us.
Exeunt all but ANTONY
ANTONY
      O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
275   That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
      Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
      That ever lived in the tide of times.
      Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
      Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,--
280   Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
      To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue--
      A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
      Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
      Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
285   Blood and destruction shall be so in use
      And dreadful objects so familiar
      That mothers shall but smile when they behold
      Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
      All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
290   And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
      With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
      Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
      Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
      That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
295   With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Enter a Servant

      You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not?
Servant
      I do, Mark Antony.
ANTONY
      Caesar did write for him to come to Rome.
Servant
      He did receive his letters, and is coming;
300   And bid me say to you by word of mouth--
      O Caesar!--
Seeing the body
ANTONY
      Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep.
      Passion, I see, is catching; for mine eyes,
      Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
305   Began to water. Is thy master coming?
Servant
      He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome.
ANTONY
      Post back with speed, and tell him what hath chanced:
      Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
      No Rome of safety for Octavius yet;
310   Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet, stay awhile;
      Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse
      Into the market-place: there shall I try
      In my oration, how the people take
      The cruel issue of these bloody men;
315   According to the which, thou shalt discourse
      To young Octavius of the state of things.
      Lend me your hand.
Exeunt with CAESAR's body
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