When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome,
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.

O, you and I have heard our fathers say,

There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome

As easily as a king.

160

Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ;
What you would work me to, I have some aim:
How I have thought of this and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter; for this present,
I would not, so with love I might entreat you,
Be any further mov'd. What you have said
I will consider; what you have to say

I will with patience hear, and find a time
Both meet to hear and answer such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
Brutus had rather be a villager

Than to repute himself a son of Rome

Under these hard conditions as this time

Is like to lay upon us.

170

156. Rome . . . room : pronounced alike in Shakespeare's day, and indeed very long afterwards.

159. There was a Brutus : Junius Brutus, the friend of Collatinus (see Lucrece), and first consul after the expulsion of the Tarquins. [The allusion affords an extremely artful climax.]

160. The eternal devil the devil of the next world, of eternity, who attends to the eternal tormenting of the unregenerate.

==

162. nothing jealous not at all suspicious, doubtful. 171. chew upon this ruminate, think over. = It is said that this use of "chew "is obsolete: erroneously. Not long ago I heard a man, who I am sure never saw the inside of a Shakespeare, if, indeed, the outside, say, "I give [gave] him that to chaw on.' 174. [these such.]

=

Cas. I am glad that my weak words

Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus.
Bru. The games are done and Cæsar is returning.
Cas. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve;
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day.

Re-enter CESAR and his Train.

Bru. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius,
The angry spot doth glow on Cæsar's brow,
And all the rest look like a chidden train :
Calpurnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes
As we have seen him in the Capitol,
Being cross'd in conference by some senators.
Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
Cæs. Antonius!

Ant. Cæsar?

Cos. Let me have men about me that are fat: Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. Ant. Fear him not, Cæsar; he's not dangerous; He is a noble Roman and well given.

180

190

Cas. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not: Yet if my name were liable to fear,

I do not know the man I should avoid

So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer, and he looks

200

177. [thus much. It is worth while to note that Shakespeare did not warrant the phrase this much which is creeping into ordinary usage.]

185. Cicero. This is Shakespeare's own imagination of Cicero; there is no record of such an expression on his face.

197. well given well addicted, of honest habit and manners.

Quite through the deeds of men; he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
That could be mov'd to smile at any thing.
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.

I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Cæsar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.

210

[Sennet. Exeunt Cæsar and all his Train, but Casca. Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me?

Bru. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, That Cæsar looks so sad.

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not? Bru. I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd. Casca. Why, there was a crown offer'd him: and being offer'd him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus; and then the people fell a-shouting.

Bru. What was the second noise for?

Casca. Why, for that too.

222

Cas. They shouted thrice: what was the last cry for?

Casca. Why, for that too.

Bru. Was the crown offer'd him thrice?

Casca. Ay, marry, was 't, and he put it by thrice,

221. [A truly vigorous rejecter turns the palm outward, for the palm strikes. Shakespeare's conception of the character of Cæsar, as determining the tragedy, is presented here. Plutarch says: “The chiefest cause that made him mortally hated was the covetous desire he had to be called king."]

every time gentler than other; and at every putting

by mine honest neighbours shouted.

Cas. Who offer'd him the crown?

Casca. Why, Antony.

Bru. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.

230

Casca. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner of it: it was mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown; -yet 't was not a crown neither, 't was one of these coronets; and, as I told you, he put it by once: but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offer'd it to him again; then he put it by again: but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he offer'd it the third time; he put it the third time by: and still as he refus'd it, the rabblement shouted and clapp'd their chapp'd hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps and utter'd such a deal of stinking breath because Cæsar refus'd the crown that it had almost choked Cæsar; for he swounded and fell down at it: and for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air.

250

Cas. But, soft, I pray you: what, did Cæsar swound? Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foam'd at mouth, and was speechless.

Bru. 'Tis very like: he hath the falling sickness. Cas. No, Cæsar hath it not; but you and I And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.

Casca. I know not what you mean by that; but, I

248. [swounded, a regular enough word, as can be seen by the form three lines below; but there is often an effort at intensifying the action in such forms, as for example in the irregular "drownded."]

254. the falling sickness: the old English name for epi lepsy, which had not quite passed out of use forty years ago.

am sure, Cæsar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleas'd and displeas'd them, as they use to do the players in the theatre, I am no true man.

Bru. What said he when he came unto himself?

261

Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the common herd was glad he refus'd the crown, he pluck'd me ope his doublet and offer'd them his throat to cut. An I had been a man of any occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues. And so he fell. When he came to himself again, he said, If he had done or said any thing amiss, he desir'd their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried “Alas, good soul!" and forgave him with all their hearts: but there's no heed to be taken of them; if Cæsar had stabb'd their mothers, they would have done no less.

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
Casca. Ay.

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing?

Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.

275

258. [tag-rag. We have a phrase which makes these words even more contemptuous.]

265. pluck'd me ope. Here “me” is used in a dative sense: 'plucked me" meaning plucked for me, or to me; that is, before me. This use is not uncommon in Shakespeare's time, and later [De Quincey comments on the Biblical passage, "Saddle me the ass,” by telling of the reader who mistook the italicizing in the verse which followed for emphasis instead of a word omitted in the original, “And they saddled him."]

266. [a man of any occupation, i. e. a mechanic or tradesman, like those of the rabble. We still ask : "What is his occupation?"]

279. he spoke Greek. Greek was used by highly cultivated Romans as French is used by people of the same sort to-day.