hired men, knowing that he was ambitious, praised him and exhorted him to take the office of Cæsar's priesthood." A long speech by Brutus follows the reading of Cæsar's will. It begins: "Now, O citizens, we be here with you that yesterday were in the common court not as men fleeing to the temple that have done amiss, nor as to a fort, having committed all we have to you.... We have heard what hath been objected against us of our enemies, touching the oath and touching cause of doubt...." The effect of this speech is thus described: "Whiles Brutus thus spake, all the hearers considering with themselves that he spake nothing but right, did like them well, and as men of courage and lovers of the people, had them in great admiration and were turned into their favour."
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3. Earlier Plays. As already mentioned, England had plays on the subject of Julius Cæsar from the first years of Elizabeth's reign. As not one of these earlier plays is xiv extant, there can be no certainty as to whether Shakespeare drew upon them for materials or inspiration, but, as Professor Herford says, "he seems to be cognisant of their existence." His opening scene is addressed to a public familiar with the history of Pompey and Pompey's sons. Among these earlier plays was one almost contemporary with the first production of Gorboduc, the first English tragedy. It is referred to under the name of Julyus Sesar in an entry in Machyn's Diary under February 1, 1562. In Plays confuted in five Actions, printed probably in 1582, Stephen Gosson mentions the history of Cæsar and Pompey as a contemporary play. A Latin play on Cæsar's death was acted at Oxford in 1582, and for it Dr. Richard Eedes (Eades, Edes) of Christ Church wrote the epilogue (Epilogus Cæsaris Intersecti). In Henslowe's Diary under November 8, 1594, a Seser and pompie is mentioned as a new play. Mr. A. W. Verity (Julius Cæsar, The Pitt Press edition) makes the interesting suggestion that in III, i, 111-116, there may be an allusion to these earlier plays. Cf. also Hamlet, III, ii, 107-111, quoted below.
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The Scene of the Assassination
The Scene of the Assassination
In transferring the assassination of Cæsar from the Porticus Pompeia ("Pompey's porch," I, iii, 126) to the Capitol, Shakespeare departed from Plutarch and historical accuracy to follow a popular tradition that had received the signal imprimatur of Chaucer:
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