Reading Caesar VII
Who ordered the chopped Caesar salad?
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, 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
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
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
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
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
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.
The scene opens with Artemidorus trying to give Caesar his letter, but no one wants Caesar to read it – even Caesar. We can see that news of the conspiracy has in fact leaked out – Popilius indicates that he wishes the enterprise well. Given the control that Caesar had over Rome at the time, recall he had the Tribunes put to silence almost immediately – it is doubtful he was not aware of the conspiracy.
Now, how would you react if you were told that you would be killed by those close to you, by those standing right next to you? That is, presuming Caesar was given the letter and read it, how would he react with Decius and Cassius right there next to him? Would you smile and say “oh yeah” or would you freak out?
Historically we know what Caesar’s position in Rome was at this point in his life: he was dictator for life (not the six months as was traditional). This very fact implies that he had a great deal of power and that the republic was in some sort of danger.
We should ask what is going on in the republic, ask what has happened to the possibility of democratic rule. From Plato to Machiavelli we know that the people demand a leader and that the decline of democracy ends in one man rule. You do not want to point out that the decline of democracy leads to Caesarism, that republicanism ends in caesarism, you do not point this out because the people would like it, they would hasten to it. You have to paint the rule of one man as the rule of the tyrant and not of a Caesar or king – the interpretation matters: tyrannicide is praiseworthy, regicide, on the other hand, is not.
So here we are at the assassination scene: there is the possibility that Caesar goads them into action when he says: “Are we all ready? What is now amiss that Caesar and his Senate must redress?” Notice, he calls it his Senate, not Rome’s.