Julius Caesar

Background o Until 509 B.C., Rome was a monarchy o In that same year, the Brutus family evicted Tarquinius Superbus from the throne and Rome was established as a republic o By 100 B.C., Rome was a moderate democracy; the Senate was ruling Rome o In 60 B.C., a triumvirate (3-man rule) of Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey was formed to govern Rome

o In 58 B.C., Caesar was made governor of part of Gaul o At the age of 44, he began his military career and proceeded to conquer all of Gaul o After Crassus was killed in battle, trouble began to develop between Pompey and Caesar. o Pompey persuaded the Senate to order Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome o Caesar, instead, invaded Rome and made himself absolute ruler of Rome o Pompey fled to Greece o Caesar defeated Pompey’s army, and Pompey fled to Egypt where he was later murdered

o Three years after Caesar defeated Pompey’s army, he defeated Pompey’s two sons. o Caesar was made dictator for life o Shakespeare begins his play with Caesar returning in victory from Spain o Caesar was the undisputed leader of the entire Roman world

Rome at the time of Caesar’s death

Hero o Julius Caesar is a tragedy, just like Romeo and Juliet o Unlike Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar is not the hero of the play o In this play, the hero is Brutus, a man who believes his actions are for the good of his country o Brutus dominates much of the play

Setting o The setting is Rome, Italy, part of the continent of Europe, along the Tiber River

Life in Rome o There were two classes of people in Rome o The rich people were called Patricians o The poor people were called Plebeians

Politics o Julius Caesar is a political play o Political issues are the root of the tragic conflict in the play o It is a play about a general who would be king, but because of his own pride and ambition, meets an untimely death o Shakespeare appears to be saying good government must be based on morality

Focus of the play o The play focuses on men who were responsible for the assassination of Julius Caesar and their ill-fated attempt to control Rome.

Timeline o Shakespeare compresses the actual historical time of 3 years into six days.