Transcript Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar
Characters
Julius Caesar
• Roman Emperor
• Unable to separate
public and private
life
• Believed he was as
eternal as the North
Star
Brutus
• A Roman senator
• Leader of the
conspiracy against
Julius Caesar
• Fears Caesar
aspires to be a
dictator
Mark Antony
• Loyal friend to and
supporter of
Caesar
Cassius
• A Roman
concerned with
Caesar’s rise to
power
• Leader of the
conspiracy against
Julius Caesar
• An opportunist
Octavius
• Julius Caesar’s
nephew and heir
Conspirators with
Brutus
• Casca
• Decius Brutus
• Cinna
• Metullus Cimber
• Trebonius
• Caius Ligarius
Calpurnia
• Caesar’s wife
Portia
• Brutus’ wife
Lucius and Strato
• Brutus’ servants
Soothsayer
• Fortune-teller
• Tries to warn
Caesar of his fate
Leptius
• A Roman General
responsible for the
reconciliation of
Antony and
Octavious
Cinna
• Poet
• Fatally confused
with Cinna the
conspirator
An introduction to Julius Caesar
• Deals with Roman generals and the life and times
of ancient Rome
• It is a political play about a general who would be
king, but who, because of his own PRIDE and
AMBITION, meets an untimely death
• Shakespeare says that good government must be
based upon morality.
What was going on in
Rome during this time?
• For centuries, Romans debated and even
fought civil wars while trying to decide
whether a MONARCHY, a
REPUBLIC, or a DICTATORSHIP
was the best form of government.
A timeline based on real events
100 B.C.
Rome was a democracy
60 B.C.
a triumvirate (a three-man rule)
of Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey
was formed to govern Rome.
58 B.C.
Caesar was made
Governor of Gaul
44 B.C.
Shakespeare writes
Julius Caesar
0 B.C
5 Acts
• Acts 1 and 2- deal with conspiracy against
Caesar
• Act 3- the climax of the play with Caesar’s
death
• Act 4- consequences of the plot
• Act 5- the fate of the assassins