SCENE II. A public place. The Life and Death of Julius Caesar  Shakespeare homepage  |  Julius Caesar  | Act 1, Scene 2 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE II. A public place. 

 Flourish. Enter CAESAR; ANTONY, for the course;  CALPURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS BRUTUS, CICERO, BRUTUS,  CASSIUS, and CASCA; a great crowd following, among them a Soothsayer  CAESAR  Calpurnia! 

 CASCA  Peace, ho! Caesar speaks. 

 CAESAR  Calpurnia! 

 CALPURNIA  Here, my lord. 

 CAESAR  Stand you directly in Antonius' way, 

 When he doth run his course. Antonius! 

 ANTONY  Caesar, my lord? 

 CAESAR  Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, 

 To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, 

 The barren, touched in this holy chase, 

 Shake off their sterile curse. 

 ANTONY  I shall remember: 

 When Caesar says 'do this,' it is perform'd. 

 CAESAR  Set on; and leave no ceremony out. 



 Flourish  Soothsayer  Caesar! 

 CAESAR  Ha! who calls? 

 CASCA  Bid every noise be still: peace yet again! 

 CAESAR  Who is it in the press that calls on me? 

 I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, 

 Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear. 

 Soothsayer  Beware the ides of March. 

 CAESAR  What man is that? 

 BRUTUS  A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March. 

 CAESAR  Set him before me; let me see his face. 

 CASSIUS  Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar. 

 CAESAR  What say'st thou to me now? speak once again. 

 Soothsayer  Beware the ides of March. 

 CAESAR  He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass. 



 Sennet. Exeunt all except BRUTUS and CASSIUS  CASSIUS  Will you go see the order of the course? 

 BRUTUS  Not I. 

 CASSIUS  I pray you, do. 

 BRUTUS  I am not gamesome: I do lack some part 

 Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. 

 Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires; 

 I'll leave you. 

 CASSIUS  Brutus, I do observe you now of late: 

 I have not from your eyes that gentleness 

 And show of love as I was wont to have: 

 You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 

 Over your friend that loves you. 

 BRUTUS  Cassius, 

 Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look, 

 I turn the trouble of my countenance 

 Merely upon myself. Vexed I am 

 Of late with passions of some difference, 

 Conceptions only proper to myself, 

 Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors; 

 But let not therefore my good friends be grieved-- 

 Among which number, Cassius, be you one-- 

 Nor construe any further my neglect, 

 Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, 

 Forgets the shows of love to other men. 

 CASSIUS  Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion; 

 By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 

 Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 

 Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face? 

 BRUTUS  No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself, 

 But by reflection, by some other things. 

 CASSIUS  'Tis just: 

 And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 

 That you have no such mirrors as will turn 

 Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 

 That you might see your shadow. I have heard, 

 Where many of the best respect in Rome, 

 Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus 

 And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 

 Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. 

 BRUTUS  Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, 

 That you would have me seek into myself 

 For that which is not in me? 

 CASSIUS  Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear: 

 And since you know you cannot see yourself 

 So well as by reflection, I, your glass, 

 Will modestly discover to yourself 

 That of yourself which you yet know not of. 

 And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus: 

 Were I a common laugher, or did use 

 To stale with ordinary oaths my love 

 To every new protester; if you know 

 That I do fawn on men and hug them hard 

 And after scandal them, or if you know 

 That I profess myself in banqueting 

 To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. 



 Flourish, and shout  BRUTUS  What means this shouting? I do fear, the people 

 Choose Caesar for their king. 

 CASSIUS  Ay, do you fear it? 

 Then must I think you would not have it so. 

 BRUTUS  I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well. 

 But wherefore do you hold me here so long? 

 What is it that you would impart to me? 

 If it be aught toward the general good, 

 Set honour in one eye and death i' the other, 

 And I will look on both indifferently, 

 For let the gods so speed me as I love 

 The name of honour more than I fear death. 

 CASSIUS  I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 

 As well as I do know your outward favour. 

 Well, honour is the subject of my story. 

 I cannot tell what you and other men 

 Think of this life; but, for my single self, 

 I had as lief not be as live to be 

 In awe of such a thing as I myself. 

 I was born free as Caesar; so were you: 

 We both have fed as well, and we can both 

 Endure the winter's cold as well as he: 

 For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 

 The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, 

 Caesar said to me 'Darest thou, Cassius, now 

 Leap in with me into this angry flood, 

 And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word, 

 Accoutred as I was, I plunged in 

 And bade him follow; so indeed he did. 

 The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it 

 With lusty sinews, throwing it aside 

 And stemming it with hearts of controversy; 

 But ere we could arrive the point proposed, 

 Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!' 

 I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, 

 Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 

 The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 

 Did I the tired Caesar. And this man 

 Is now become a god, and Cassius is 

 A wretched creature and must bend his body, 

 If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 

 He had a fever when he was in Spain, 

 And when the fit was on him, I did mark 

 How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake; 

 His coward lips did from their colour fly, 

 And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world 

 Did lose his lustre: I did hear him groan: 

 Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans 

 Mark him and write his speeches in their books, 

 Alas, it cried 'Give me some drink, Titinius,' 

 As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me 

 A man of such a feeble temper should 

 So get the start of the majestic world 

 And bear the palm alone. 



 Shout. Flourish  BRUTUS  Another general shout! 

 I do believe that these applauses are 

 For some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar. 

 CASSIUS  Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world 

 Like a Colossus, and we petty men 

 Walk under his huge legs and peep about 

 To find ourselves dishonourable graves. 

 Men at some time are masters of their fates: 

 The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 

 But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 

 Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'? 

 Why should that name be sounded more than yours? 

 Write them together, yours is as fair a name; 

 Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; 

 Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em, 

 Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar. 

 Now, in the names of all the gods at once, 

 Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, 

 That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed! 

 Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! 

 When went there by an age, since the great flood, 

 But it was famed with more than with one man? 

 When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome, 

 That her wide walls encompass'd but one man? 

 Now is it Rome indeed and room enough, 

 When there is in it but one only man. 

 O, you and I have heard our fathers say, 

 There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd 

 The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome 

 As easily as a king. 

 BRUTUS  That you do love me, I am nothing jealous; 

 What you would work me to, I have some aim: 

 How I have thought of this and of these times, 

 I shall recount hereafter; for this present, 

 I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 

 Be any further moved. What you have said 

 I will consider; what you have to say 

 I will with patience hear, and find a time 

 Both meet to hear and answer such high things. 

 Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this: 

 Brutus had rather be a villager 

 Than to repute himself a son of Rome 

 Under these hard conditions as this time 

 Is like to lay upon us. 

 CASSIUS  I am glad that my weak words 

 Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus. 

 BRUTUS  The games are done and Caesar is returning. 

 CASSIUS  As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve; 

 And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you 

 What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. 



 Re-enter CAESAR and his Train  BRUTUS  I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, 

 The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 

 And all the rest look like a chidden train: 

 Calpurnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero 

 Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes 

 As we have seen him in the Capitol, 

 Being cross'd in conference by some senators. 

 CASSIUS  Casca will tell us what the matter is. 

 CAESAR  Antonius! 

 ANTONY  Caesar? 

 CAESAR  Let me have men about me that are fat; 

 Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights: 

 Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; 

 He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. 

 ANTONY  Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous; 

 He is a noble Roman and well given. 

 CAESAR  Would he were fatter! But I fear him not: 

 Yet if my name were liable to fear, 

 I do not know the man I should avoid 

 So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much; 

 He is a great observer and he looks 

 Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays, 

 As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music; 

 Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort 

 As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit 

 That could be moved to smile at any thing. 

 Such men as he be never at heart's ease 

 Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, 

 And therefore are they very dangerous. 

 I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd 

 Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar. 

 Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 

 And tell me truly what thou think'st of him. 



 Sennet. Exeunt CAESAR and all his Train, but CASCA  CASCA  You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me? 

 BRUTUS  Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanced to-day, 

 That Caesar looks so sad. 

 CASCA  Why, you were with him, were you not? 

 BRUTUS  I should not then ask Casca what had chanced. 

 CASCA  Why, there was a crown offered him: and being 

 offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, 

 thus; and then the people fell a-shouting. 

 BRUTUS  What was the second noise for? 

 CASCA  Why, for that too. 

 CASSIUS  They shouted thrice: what was the last cry for? 

 CASCA  Why, for that too. 

 BRUTUS  Was the crown offered him thrice? 

 CASCA  Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every 

 time gentler than other, and at every putting-by 

 mine honest neighbours shouted. 

 CASSIUS  Who offered him the crown? 

 CASCA  Why, Antony. 

 BRUTUS  Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. 

 CASCA  I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it: 

 it was mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark 

 Antony offer him a crown;--yet 'twas not a crown 

 neither, 'twas one of these coronets;--and, as I told 

 you, he put it by once: but, for all that, to my 

 thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he 

 offered it to him again; then he put it by again: 

 but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his 

 fingers off it. And then he offered it the third 

 time; he put it the third time by: and still as he 

 refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their 

 chapped hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps 

 and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because 

 Caesar refused the crown that it had almost choked 

 Caesar; for he swounded and fell down at it: and 

 for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of 

 opening my lips and receiving the bad air. 

 CASSIUS  But, soft, I pray you: what, did Caesar swound? 

 CASCA  He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at 

 mouth, and was speechless. 

 BRUTUS  'Tis very like: he hath the failing sickness. 

 CASSIUS  No, Caesar hath it not; but you and I, 

 And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. 

 CASCA  I know not what you mean by that; but, I am sure, 

 Caesar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not 

 clap him and hiss him, according as he pleased and 

 displeased them, as they use to do the players in 

 the theatre, I am no true man. 

 BRUTUS  What said he when he came unto himself? 

 CASCA  Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the 

 common herd was glad he refused the crown, he 

 plucked me ope his doublet and offered them his 

 throat to cut. An I had been a man of any 

 occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word, 

 I would I might go to hell among the rogues. And so 

 he fell. When he came to himself again, he said, 

 If he had done or said any thing amiss, he desired 

 their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three 

 or four wenches, where I stood, cried 'Alas, good 

 soul!' and forgave him with all their hearts: but 

 there's no heed to be taken of them; if Caesar had 

 stabbed their mothers, they would have done no less. 

 BRUTUS  And after that, he came, thus sad, away? 

 CASCA  Ay. 

 CASSIUS  Did Cicero say any thing? 

 CASCA  Ay, he spoke Greek. 

 CASSIUS  To what effect? 

 CASCA  Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the 

 face again: but those that understood him smiled at 

 one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own 

 part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more 

 news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs 

 off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you 

 well. There was more foolery yet, if I could 

 remember it. 

 CASSIUS  Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? 

 CASCA  No, I am promised forth. 

 CASSIUS  Will you dine with me to-morrow? 

 CASCA  Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your dinner 

 worth the eating. 

 CASSIUS  Good: I will expect you. 

 CASCA  Do so. Farewell, both. 



 Exit  BRUTUS  What a blunt fellow is this grown to be! 

 He was quick mettle when he went to school. 

 CASSIUS  So is he now in execution 

 Of any bold or noble enterprise, 

 However he puts on this tardy form. 

 This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 

 Which gives men stomach to digest his words 

 With better appetite. 

 BRUTUS  And so it is. For this time I will leave you: 

 To-morrow, if you please to speak with me, 

 I will come home to you; or, if you will, 

 Come home to me, and I will wait for you. 

 CASSIUS  I will do so: till then, think of the world. 



 Exit BRUTUS  Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see, 

 Thy honourable metal may be wrought 

 From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet 

 That noble minds keep ever with their likes; 

 For who so firm that cannot be seduced? 

 Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus: 

 If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, 

 He should not humour me. I will this night, 

 In several hands, in at his windows throw, 

 As if they came from several citizens, 

 Writings all tending to the great opinion 

 That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely 

 Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at: 

 And after this let Caesar seat him sure; 

 For we will shake him, or worse days endure. 



 Exit  Shakespeare homepage  |  Julius Caesar  | Act 1, Scene 2 

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