Summary

Artemidorus, a teacher and friend of some of the conspirators, has learned about the plot to kill Caesar. Though it is not entirely clear how he has learned about the upcoming assassination attempt, he reads aloud from a letter he has written to Caesar that names all the conspirators and asks Caesar to beware of them.

Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna, trust not Trebonius: mark well Metellus Cimber: Decius Brutus loves thee not: thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar.

Artemidorus states that he plans to stand on the street until Caesar passes him by, when he will hand Caesar the letter. If Caesar manages to read the letter, he may live; otherwise, “the Fates with traitors do contrive.”

Analysis

Act 3 involves minor characters, but are nevertheless revelatory of some of the themes and motifs of the play. Artemidorus’s letter, clearly naming all the conspirators, including Ligarius, a late addition to the faction, indicates the conspiracy is already common knowledge. In the form of Artemidorus, the play introduces another viewpoint: the self-aware and wise Roman citizen who is not opposed to Caesar.

So far, the faction has presented the view that to be a lover of Rome is to oppose Caesar. However, the inclusion of the contrary view of Artemidorus, who is a well-regarded teacher, calls into question the moral high ground on which the faction has based their conspiracy.

Although Artemidorus hopes he will be able to give his letter to Caesar, he is full of doubts about the future. Artemidorus’s pessimistic tone adds to the sense of futility and frustration in a scene which evokes a sense of the calm before the storm. Aware of Caesar’s obtuseness by now, the audience, too, doubts Artemidorus’s success yet cannot wait to see how matters unfold. A melancholy Artemidorus proclaims:

My heart laments that virtue cannot live
Out of the teeth of emulation.
If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live;
If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.

Artemidorus’s fear that virtue or perfection, symbolized by Caesar, cannot live out of the harmful rapacious teeth of the envy of the conspirators, as well as his somber observation that Fate sometimes conspires with “traitors,” points to a chaotic, merciless universe where humans are at best the victims of chance. Artemidorus’s words establish the bleak mood which is to hang over all of act 3.