Who is caesars primary enemy

Flavius and Murellus are initially angry because they see a number of commoners neglecting their work. They are upset that the people turned their affections so quickly to Caesar, and that Caesar is becoming too self-important. Even though Flavius and Murellus do not appear again in the play, they are the first to voice the distrust of Caesar that eventually leads to his murder later in the play.

Caesar goes to the Senate because his ambition surpasses his desire to comfort his wife. Midway through the scene, Decius—one of the conspirators—arrives to escort Caesar to the Senate. Knowing that he needs to convince Caesar to come, Decius tells two lies.

Second, Decius says the Senate plans to crown Caesar the first emperor of Rome. Later, this plan goes awry. Cassius kills himself with the same sword that killed Caesar because he believes his friend Titinius has been captured by enemy troops.

Cassius sends Titinius to ride to a distant camp and determine whether the camp belongs to friends or enemies. The audience learns immediately after Cassius dies that Titinius was never captured and is alive among friends. Cassius thus kills himself for no good reason. Although he appeared politically savvy and cunning throughout the play, Cassius proves in the final act he is not as shrewd as the audience is led to believe.

The conspirators justify the assassination of Caesar by claiming that they want to preserve the Roman Republic, in which no one is king and the ruling aristocrats are equals. If Caesar claims absolute power and becomes crowned as king, the Roman Republic will end as they know it. While Julius Caesar does show that the conspirators have some valid reasons to fear Caesar—mainly because Caesar really does regard himself as superior—the play presents this decision as a mistake in several ways.

The decision itself is made in sinister circumstances, in the midst of a storm and with the conspirators masked. There are differing responses to this question, depending on which character provides the answer. Casca explains to Brutus and Cassius that, in the arena, Caesar refused the crown every time Antony offered it because each time he refused, the crowd responded uproariously.

On the other hand, Antony uses the same incident to reveal that Caesar refused the crown because he was not ambitious or power-hungry. There is the obvious euphemistic interpretation that silence means death, suggesting Caesar had the two tribunes killed for speaking out against him in public.

Yet other theories suggest that the pair may have been stripped of rank and possibly tortured, having their tongues cut out, or that they were simply threatened, stripped of rank, and forced to stop publicly opposing Caesar. Antony shakes hands with the conspirators to make them believe that he does not have ill intentions toward them.

During their dispute in Act 4, scene 3, Brutus informs Cassius that Portia is dead. He is able to dupe Brutus into allowing him to speak at Caesar's funeral and by his funeral oration to excite the crowd to rebellion. He is one of the triumvirs, and he and Octavius defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi.

A soothsayer He warns Caesar during the celebration of the feast of Lupercal to "beware the ides of March. Marcus Brutus A praetor; that is, a judicial magistrate of Rome. He is widely admired for his noble nature. He joins the conspiracy because he fears that Caesar will become a tyrant, but his idealism causes him to make several poor judgements and impedes his ability to understand those who are less scrupulous than he.

Brutus defeats Octavius' forces in the first battle at Philippi, but loses the second battle and commits suicide rather than be taken prisoner. Cassius The brother-in-law of Brutus and an acute judge of human nature, Cassius organizes the conspiracy against Caesar and recruits Brutus by passionate argument and by deviously placed, forged letters. He argues that Antony should be assassinated along with Caesar, that Antony should not speak at Caesar's funeral, and that he Cassius and Brutus should not fight at Philippi, but he eventually defers to Brutus in each instance.

He is defeated by Antony at the first battle of Philippi, and he commits suicide when he mistakenly believes that Brutus has been defeated. Cicero A senator and a famous orator of Rome. He is calm and philosophical when he meets the excited Casca during the night of portentous tumult proceeding the day of the assassination.

The triumvirs have him put to death. Cinna The conspirator who urges Cassius to bring "noble" Brutus into the conspiracy; he assists by placing some of Cassius' forged letters where Brutus will discover them. Lucius Brutus' young servant; Brutus treats him with understanding, gentleness, and tolerance.

Decius Brutus The conspirator who persuades Caesar to attend the Senate on the day of the ides of March by fabricating a flattering interpretation of Calphurnia's portentous dream and by telling Caesar that the Senate intends to crown him king. Metellus Cimber The conspirator who attracts Caesar's attention by requesting that his brother's banishment be repealed, allowing the assassins to surround Caesar and thereby giving Casca the opportunity to stab him from behind.

Trebonius The first of the conspirators to second Brutus' argument that Antony be spared, Trebonius lures Antony out of the Senate House so that the other conspirators can kill Caesar without having to fear Antony's intervention. Consequently, he is the only conspirator who does not actually stab Caesar. Portia The wife of Brutus and the daughter of Marcus Cato. She argues that those familial relationships make her strong enough to conceal Brutus' secrets, but on the morning of the assassination, she is extremely agitated by the fear that she will reveal what Brutus has told her.

She commits suicide when she realizes that her husband's fortunes are doomed. Caius Ligarius No friend of Caesar's, he is inspired by Brutus' nobility to cast off his illness and join the conspirators in the early morning of the ides of March.

Publius An elderly senator who arrives with the conspirators to escort Caesar to the Capitol. He is stunned as he witnesses the assassination. Brutus sends him out to tell the citizens that no one else will be harmed. Artemidorus He gives Caesar a letter as the emperor enters the Capitol; in the letter, he lists the conspirators by name and indicates that they intend to kill him, but Caesar does not read it. This comment intensifies the dramatic tension in the moments immediately prior to the assassination by causing Cassius and Brutus to briefly fear that they have been betrayed.

Cinna the poet On his way to attend Caesar's funeral, he is caught up in the riot caused by Antony's funeral oration. The mob at first confuses him with Cinna the conspirator, but even after they discover their error, they kill him anyway "for his bad verses. Octavius Caesar The adopted son and heir of Julius Caesar; he is one of the triumvirs who rule following the death of Caesar.

He and Antony lead the army that defeats Cassius and Brutus at Philippi. He is weak, and Antony uses him essentially to run errands.