The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar, a Roman tragedy by
Shakespeare
, probably written and performed
1599
, not printed until the
First Folio
(
1623
). Its major source is
North
's translation of
Plutarch
's Lives. The play seems to have been a popular one.
It begins with the events of the year
44
BC
, after Caesar, already endowed with the dictatorship, had returned to Rome from a successful campaign in Spain, and when there are fears that he will allow himself to be crowned king. Distrust of Caesar's ambition gives rise to a conspiracy against him among Roman lovers of freedom, notably Cassius and Casca; they win over to their cause Brutus, who reluctantly joins them from a sense of duty to the republic. Caesar is slain by the conspirators in the senate house. Antony, Caesar's friend, stirs the people to fury against the conspirators by a skilful speech at Caesar's funeral. Octavius, nephew of Julius Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus,...
[The entire page is 216 words long]
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