Summary: Act I, scene ii
Caesar enters a public square with Antony, Calpurnia,
Portia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, and a Soothsayer;
he is followed by a throng of citizens and then by Flavius and Murellus. Antony,
dressed to celebrate the feast day, readies himself for a ceremonial
run through the city. Caesar urges him to touch Calpurnia, Caesar’s
wife, as he runs, since Roman superstition holds that the touch
of a ceremonial runner will cure barrenness. Antony agrees, declaring
that whatever Caesar says is certain to become fact.
The Soothsayer calls out from the crowd to Caesar, telling
him to beware the Ides of March. (The “ides” refers to the fifteenth
day of March, May, July, and October and the thirteenth day of the
other months in the ancient Roman calendar.) Caesar pauses and asks
the man to come forward; the Soothsayer repeats himself. Caesar
ultimately dismisses the warning, and the procession departs. Brutus and
Cassius remain. Cassius asks Brutus why he has not seemed himself
lately. Brutus replies that he has been quiet because he has been
plagued with conflicting thoughts. But he assures Cassius that even
though his mind is at war with itself, he will not let his inner turmoil
affect his friendships.
Cassius and Brutus speak together. Cassius
asks Brutus if Brutus can see his own face; Brutus replies that
he cannot. Cassius then declares that Brutus is unable to see what
everyone else does, namely, that Brutus is widely respected. Noting
that no mirror could reveal Brutus’s worthiness to himself, Cassius
offers to serve as a human mirror so that Brutus may discover himself and
conceive of himself in new ways.
Brutus hears shouting and says that he fears that the
people want to make Caesar their king. When Cassius asks, Brutus
affirms that he would rather that Caesar not assume the position.
Brutus adds that he loves Caesar but that he also loves honor, and
that he loves honor even more than he fears death. Cassius replies
that he, too, recoils at the thought of kneeling in awe before someone
whom he does not consider his superior, and declares, “I was born
as 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” (I.ii.99–101).
Cassius recalls a windy day when he and Caesar stood on the banks
of the Tiber River, and Caesar dared him to swim to a distant point.
They raced through the water, but Caesar became weak and asked Cassius
to save him. Cassius had to drag him from the water. Cassius also recounts
an episode when Caesar had a fever in Spain and experienced a seizure.
Cassius marvels to think that a man with such a feeble constitution
should now stand at the head of the civilized world.
Caesar stands like a Colossus over the world, Cassius
continues, while Cassius and Brutus creep about under his legs.
He tells Brutus that they owe their underling status not to fate
but to their own failure to take action. He questions the difference
between the name “Caesar” and the name “Brutus”: why should Caesar’s
name be more celebrated than Brutus’s when, spoken together, the
names sound equally pleasing and thus suggest that the men should
hold equal power? He wonders in what sort of age they are living
when one man can tower over the rest of the population. Brutus responds that
he will consider Cassius’s words. Although unwilling to be further
persuaded, he admits that he would rather not be a citizen of Rome
in such strange times as the present.
Meanwhile, Caesar and his train return. Caesar sees Cassius
and comments to Antony that Cassius looks like a man who thinks
too much; such men are dangerous, he adds. Antony tells Caesar not
to worry, but Caesar replies that he prefers to avoid Cassius: Cassius reads
too much and finds no enjoyment in plays or music—such men are never
at ease while someone greater than themselves holds the reins of
power. Caesar urges Antony to come to his right side—he is deaf
in his left ear—and tell him what he thinks of Cassius. Shortly,
Caesar and his train depart.
