Brutus julius caesar biography romans countrymen lovers

Read the ‘Romans, countrymen and lovers! Hear me for my cause’Julius Caesar monologue below (spoken by Brutus) with a modern English translation and analysis:

Spoken by Brutus, Act 3 Scene 2

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: –Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I depart,–that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, whe

1528[3.2]

Enter Brutus and goes into the pulpit, and 1529Cassius with the plebians.

3.2.11530Plebians

We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!

3.2.21531Brutus

Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.

3.2.31532Cassius, go you into the other street,

3.2.41533And part the numbers.

3.2.51534Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here;

3.2.61535Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;

3.2.71536And public reasons shall be rendered

3.2.81537Of Caesar's death.

15381 Plebian

Of Caesar's death. I will hear Brutus speak.

3.2.915392 Plebian

I will hear Cassius and compare their reasons,

3.2.101540When severally we hear them renderèd.

3.2.10.1[Exit Cassius, with some of the Plebians.]

3.2.1115413 Plebian

The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence!

3.2.121542Brutus

Be patient till the last.

3.2.131543Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my 1544cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for 1545mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you 1546may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake 1547your senses that you may the better judge. If there be 1548any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him 1549I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If 1550then that friend demand why Brutus rose against 1551Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but 1552that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were 1553living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead to 1554live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; 1555as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I 1556honor him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him. 1557There is tears for his love; joy, for his fortune; honor, for 1558his valor; and death, for his ambition. Who is here 1559so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak, for him 1560have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not 1561be a Roman? If any, speak, for him have I offended.

The title of Shakespeare’s tragedy is misleading, in that “Julius Caesar” shows us much more about Antony and the friend who betrays Caesar, Brutus, than it does about the legendary leader of Rome.

Brutus: “There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures” (IV. III).

The title of Shakespeare’s tragedy is misleading, in that Julius Caesar shows us much more about Antony and the friend who betrays Caesar, Brutus, than it does about the legendary leader of Rome. Tested by war and separated by mistrust, these three compatriots have a long history that knots them together in the fabric of Rome. The conspiracy to kill Caesar required the people’s esteem of Brutus for legitimacy. So the first public words of Brutus at the funeral would prove crucial in explaining Caesar’s death. He overrules other conspirators to grant Mark Antony permission to follow him as a speaker and he vastly underestimates Antony’s sense of purpose and his command of the podium. With these two decisions, Brutus changes the arc of both of their lives. Only later does Brutus recognize that the tide he missed on the day he killed Caesar would determine the voyage of his own life, as well as many other lives, soon to be engulfed in a raging flood of blood. By the time he recognizes this tide, it is long gone.

When Mark Antony first sees the bloodied body of Caesar lying crumpled at the feet of the statue of Pompey, he barely contains his composure before the conspirators. By taking each of their hands, sticky with blood, and affirming each of them as friends, he appears to affirm their deed. Only after they have left, does he speak truly, addressing Caesar’s corpse.

Thou art the ruins of the 

Quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" is the first line of a speech by Mark Antony in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. Occurring in Act III, scene II, it is one of the most famous lines in all of Shakespeare's works.

Summary

Antony has been allowed by Brutus and the other conspirators to make a funeral oration for Caesar on condition that he will not blame them for Caesar's death; however, while Antony's speech outwardly begins by justifying the actions of Brutus and the assassins, Antony uses rhetoric and genuine reminders to ultimately portray Caesar in such a positive light that the crowd is enraged against the conspirators.

Throughout his speech, Antony calls the conspirators "honourable men" – his implied sarcasm becoming increasingly obvious. He begins by carefully rebutting the notion that his friend, Caesar, deserved to die because he was ambitious, instead claiming that his actions were for the good of the Roman people, whom he cared for deeply ("When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff"). He denies that Caesar wanted to make himself king, for there were many who witnessed the latter's denying the crown three times.

As Antony reflects on Caesar's death and the injustice that nobody will be blamed for it, he becomes overwhelmed with emotion and deliberately pauses ("My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me"). As he does this, the crowd begins to turn against the conspirators.

Antony then teases the crowd with Caesar's will, which they beg him to read, but he refuses. Antony tells the crowd to "have patience" and expresses his feeling that he will "wrong the honourable men / Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar" if he is to read the will. The crowd, increasingly agitated, calls the conspirators "traitors" and demands tha