"Cliff Notes - Julius Caesar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Don't they know that Caesar wants to be king?

Caesar parades by in full glory, just in time to help celebrate
the races on the Feast of Lupercal. A soothsayer bids him
"Beware the ides of March" (March 15), but Caesar--anxious not
to show fear in public dismisses the man as a dreamer. The
procession passes by, leaving behind two Roman Senators:
Cassius, a long-time political enemy of Caesar, and Brutus,
Caesar's friend. Like other members of the Senate, Brutus and
Cassius are aristocrats who fear that Caesar will take away
their ancient privileges.

Cassius now goes to work on Brutus, flattering him, reminding
him of his noble ancestry, trying all the while to determine
just how unhappy Brutus is with Caesar and just how willing
Brutus is to join the conspiracy. Does Brutus know where
Cassius is leading him? It's hard to tell. Brutus admits only
that he's dissatisfied, and agrees to discuss the matter
further.

Caesar, now back from the races, tells his friend Antony that he
doesn't trust a man like Cassius, with his "lean and hungry
look." He has good reason to be suspicious.

Casca tells Brutus and Cassius how the Roman people three times
offered Caesar the crown, and how three times he refused it.
Perhaps Caesar doesn't want to be king--that's what his friends
would argue; but to his enemies, Caesar was merely playing on
the gullibility of the people, pretending to be humble in order
to win their support.

On a stormy night full of mysterious omens, Cassius converts
Casca to his cause and arranges for Cinna, a fellow-conspirator,
to throw a message through Brutus' window. The note will, he
hopes, win the noble Senator to their side.

Alone in his garden, Brutus tries to justify the part he is
about to play in the murder of his friend, Caesar. He decides
finally that Caesar's ambition poses a grave danger to the
future of the Republic and that Caesar should be destroyed, not
for what he is, but for what he's likely to become. The
conspirators arrive at Brutus' house and agree to murder Caesar
the next day at the Capitol. They would like to murder Antony,
too, but Brutus, anxious to keep his hands clean and to preserve
his precious honor, insists that Antony be spared.

After the conspirators leave, Brutus' wife Portia enters. She
wants to know what's happening. Brutus worries that the news
may be too frightening for her to bear, but nevertheless
confides in her.