A soothsayer enters the scene and "with a clear tongue shriller than all the music," warns Caesar of the ides of March. He also is unable to recognize and take heed of good advice. The fact that he calls upon another man, known for his athleticism, carousing, and womanizing, suggests that Caesar is impotent.Ī lack of virility is not Caesar's only problem. Antony is about to run a race (an important and religious element of the Lupercalian festivities) and Caesar calls on him to touch Calphurnia, Caesar's wife, as he passes "for our elders say, / The barren, touched in this holy chase, / Shake off their sterile curse." Calphurnia has not borne Caesar any children, and while in the Elizabethan mind the problem would have resided with the woman, here, Caesar's virility is also in question. The audience is given evidence of this at the opening of Scene 2. Unrest is possible in Rome because the new leader is weak. The three men agree to think further about the matter, and when Casca and Brutus have gone, Cassius in a brief soliloquy indicates his plans to secure Brutus firmly for the conspiracy that he is planning against Caesar.
He tells them that Mark Antony offered the crown to Caesar three times, but that Caesar rejected it each time and then fell down in an epileptic seizure. Such men are dangerous."Īs Caesar exits, Brutus and Cassius stop Casca and converse with him. Caesar re-enters with his attendants and, in passing, he remarks to Mark Antony that he feels suspicious of Cassius, who "has a lean and hungry look / He thinks too much. Several times during their conversation, Cassius and Brutus hear shouts and the sounds of trumpets. Brutus is obviously moved, but he is unsure of what to do. He reminds Brutus of Brutus' noble ancestry and of the expectations of his fellow Romans that he will serve his country as his ancestors did. Cassius reminds Brutus that Caesar is merely a mortal like them, with ordinary human weaknesses, and he says that he would rather die than see such a man become his master. Brutus has clearly been disturbed about this issue for some time.
Caesar shares the belief that if a childless woman is touched by one of the holy runners, she will lose her sterility.Ī soothsayer calls from the crowd warning Caesar to "beware the ides of March," but Caesar pays no attention and departs with his attendants, leaving Brutus and Cassius behind.Ĭassius begins to probe Brutus about his feelings toward Caesar and the prospect of Caesar's becoming a dictator in Rome. Caesar, having entered Rome in triumph, calls to his wife, Calphurnia, and orders her to stand where Mark Antony, about to run in the traditional footrace of the Lupercal, can touch her as he passes.
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