Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
Presented by Paul W. Collins
Copyright 2005 by Paul W. Collins
2
Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare
Presented by Paul W. Collins
All rights reserved
under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this work nay bereproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a databaseor retrieval system, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, audio or video recording, or other,without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Contact:
paul@wsrightnow.com
Note:
Spoken lines from Shakespeare’s drama are in the public domain, as is the Globe(1864) edition of his plays, which provided the basic text of the speeches in this new version of
Julius Caesar
. But
Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare: Presented by Paul W. Collins
, is acopyrighted work, and is made available
for your personal use onl
y, in reading and study.
Student, beware:
This is a
presentation
of
Julius Caesar
, not a scholarly work, so you should be sure your teacher, instructor or professor considers it acceptable as a reference before quotingcharacters’ comments or thoughts from it in your report or term paper.
3
Chapter One
Ceremony and Dissent
crowd of jubilating common folk gathers in celebration along a thoroughfare near theCapitol in ancient Rome—smiling artisans, tradesmen clerks and laborers, and motherslaughing happily with their young children. Everyday chores have been left to wait, as the peoplecome forth to hail their popular leader.They are welcoming him in ceremonial triumph as he returns from battle in Spain, where hehas defeated a rebellion led by sons of the late ruler Pompey and several generals supported byhidebound Senate factions—in a conflict of Roman against Roman.Two stern old noblemen watch, grim-faced; fine togas and headpieces assert their statusamong the wealthy and privileged, long accustomed to governing.They scowl at the celebrants. “
Hence!
Home
, you idle creatures, get you
home!
” shoutsFlavius angrily. “Is this a
holiday?
“
What?
Know you not?—being
workers
you ought not walk upon a labouring day withoutthe sign of your occupation!” He stops a man just joining the crowd. “Speak: what trade artthou?”“Why, sir, a carpenter.”Murellus asks him, “Where is thy leather apron—and thy rule? What dost thou with thy bestapparel on?” He challenges another man: “You, sir—what trade are
you?
”The man replies stolidly. “Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, as you wouldsay, a cobbler.”Murellus, expecting sarcasm, hears it:
cobbler
—a slapdash
bungler
. “But what
trade
artthou? Answer me directly!”“A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe conscience. Which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.”
Bad souls!
“What
trade
, thou knave? Thou wayward
knave
, what
trade?
” demands Murellusangrily.The workman’s chin juts forward; chided for flippancy, summons it: “Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me. Yet, if you
be
out, sir, I can mend you!”“What meanest thou by
that
?” cries Murellus, flushing. “
Mend
me, thou saucy fellow?”“Well, sir—
cobble
you!
”The noblemen are two of five called
tribunes
of the people;
among their duties is preservingthe Roman Republic’s long traditions, many of which are being changed by its highly successfulruler, who has recently been named dictator—and for a lifetime term.Flavius, less irascible, intervenes. “Thou art a cobbler, art thou?” he asks, calmly.“Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl: I meddle with no
tradesman’s
matters—nor
women
’s matters but
with
awl!
” He sees that, despite the rudely ribald jest playing on
withal
,Flavius is listening politely. “I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in greatdanger, I recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon neat’s leather have gone upon
my
handiwork,” the stooped and grizzled man says proudly.“But wherefore art not in thy shop today?” asks Flavius. “Why dost thou lead these menabout the streets?”The cobbler grins. “Truly, sir,
to
wear out their shoes
, to get myself into more work!” he sayswith a wink. “But, indeed, sir, we make holiday,” he adds earnestly, “to see
Caesar
, and to rejoicein his triumph!”“Wherefore
rejoice?
” demands Murellus, red-faced. “What
conquests
brings
he
home? What
tributaries
follow him to Rome to grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?” He shouts at the people on the street: “You
blocks
, you stones, you worse than senseless
things!
” The younger
A
of 00
Julius Caesar.
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