Flavius & Marullus

1.1.1

Tribunes who wish to protect the plebeians from Caesar's tyranny; they break up a crowd of commoners waiting to witness Caesar's triumph and are "put to silence" during the feast of Lupercal for removing ornaments from Caesar's statues.

Mechanical

1.1.3

A working person (aka “plebian”)

Awl

1.1.22

A small pointed tool used for piercing holes, especially in leather.

Pompey

1.1.42

A leading Roman general and statesman, whose career was significant in Rome’s transformation from a republic to empire. Friends with Julius Caesar for a time but then they became enemies as they fought for leadership of Rome.

Tiber

1.1.58

The Tiber River served as a freshwater source and a means of trade and transportation. Runs through Rome.

Capitol

1.1.63

Shakespeare’s “Capitol” is not historically accurate. The only Capitol in Ancient Rome was Capitoline Hill, the site of a temple to Jupiter. In reality the senate was temporarily meeting at Pompey’s Theatre while a new senate building (Curia Julia) was being constructed.

Lupercal

1.1.67

An ancient Roman festival of purification and fertility, held annually on February 15. Also a celebration of the founding of Rome. Memorial to the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus.

Julius Caesar

1.2.1

A successful military leader who wants the crown of Rome. He declared himself dictator. He is imperious, and has become easily flattered, and overly ambitious. He is assassinated midway through the play; later, his spirit appears to Brutus at Sardis and also at Philippi.

Casca

1.2.2

Witness to Caesar's attempts to manipulate the people of Rome into offering him the crown, he reports the failure to Brutus and Cassius. He joins the conspiracy the night before the assassination and is the first conspirator to stab Caesar.

Calphurnia

1.2.4

The wife of Julius Caesar; she urges him to stay at home on the day of the assassination because of the unnatural events of the previous night as well her prophetic dream in which Caesar's body is a fountain of blood.

Antony

1.2.7

He appears first as a confidant and a devoted follower of Caesar, and he offers Caesar a crown during the feast of Lupercal. He has a reputation for sensuous living, but he is also militarily accomplished, politically shrewd, and skilled at oration. He is able to dupe Brutus into allowing him to speak at Caesar's funeral and by his funeral oration to excite the crowd to rebellion. He is one of the triumvirs, and he and Octavius defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi.

Soothsayer

1.2.15

A person supposed to be able to foresee the future. This character warns Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March.”

Ides of March

1.2.20

March 15th of 44 A.C. Ides (Latin, Idus) means the say in the middle of the month. In the Roman calendar, the ides occurred in the middle of every month.

Brutus

1.2.22

A praetor; that is, a judicial magistrate of Rome. He is widely admired for his noble nature. He joins the conspiracy because he fears that Caesar will become a tyrant, but his idealism causes him to make several poor judgements and impedes his ability to understand those who are less scrupulous than he. Brutus defeats Octavius' forces in the first battle at Philippi, but loses the second battle and commits suicide rather than be taken prisoner.

Cassius

1.2.24

The brother-in-law of Brutus and an acute judge of human nature, Cassius organizes the conspiracy against Caesar and recruits Brutus by passionate argument and by deviously placed, forged letters. He argues that Antony should be assassinated along with Caesar, that Antony should not speak at Caesar's funeral, and that he (Cassius) and Brutus should not fight at Philippi, but he eventually defers to Brutus in each instance. He is defeated by Antony at the first battle of Philippi, and he commits suicide when he mistakenly believes that Brutus has been defeated.

Aeneas

1.2.114

Aeneas was a Trojan hero who saved Rome and his father, Anchises. Seen as an ancestor to Romulus and Remus. His full story was written by the Latin poet Virgil and is found in the Aeneid.

Troy

1.2.115

Troy is a city that began in 3000 BC and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Shakespeare is referring to the legend of Troy or the Trojan War which was set to have occurred in 1200 BC during the 10th siege of Troy by Greece. The Greeks won and Aeneas fled Troy and founded Rome.

Underlings

1.2.142

A person lower in status or rank.

Coronets

1.2.236

Derived from the Latin corona (also "wreath"), from the Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnē, "garland, wreath").“Antony offers him something that could be seen as a crown, but could also be seen as only a victor's garland—a coronet.”

Cicero

1.3.1

A senator and a famous orator of Rome. He is calm and philosophical when he meets the excited Casca during the night of portentous tumult proceeding the day of the assassination. The triumvirs have him put to death.

Gods

1.3.12

The Roman Empire was primarily a polytheistic civilization, which meant that people recognized and worshiped multiple gods and goddesses. The main god and goddesses in Roman culture were Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.

Cinna

1.3.135

The conspirator who urges Cassius to bring "noble" Brutus into the conspiracy; he assists by placing some of Cassius' forged letters where Brutus will discover them.

Praetor's Chair

1.3.145

Also known as the curule seat, the Praetor’s chair was a cross-frame stool with bronze legs. It was used by leaders with military and political power.

Pompey's Theatre

1.3.154

Built by Pompey the Great for the production of plays. It also stood as a garden complex and a space for senate meetings. Also the actual site of Julius Caesar’s murder.

Lucius

2.1.6

Brutus' young servant; Brutus treats him with understanding, gentleness, and tolerance.

Tarquin

2.1.54

The seventh and last king of Rome. He reigned from 534 to 509 BC. His reign brought terror to Rome resulting in his expulsion from Rome and the end of the monarchy.

Faction

2.1.77

Referring to “friends” and “lovers” of Caesar so as to make a distinction between a personal and political connection

Decius

2.1.102

The conspirator who persuades Caesar to attend the Senate on the day of the ides of March by fabricating a flattering interpretation of Calphurnia's portentous dream and by telling Caesar that the Senate intends to crown him king.

Metellus

2.1.145

The conspirator who attracts Caesar's attention by requesting that his brother's banishment be repealed, allowing the assassins to surround Caesar and thereby giving Casca the opportunity to stab him from behind. Real name was Tillius Cimber.

Trebonius

2.1.192

The first of the conspirators to second Brutus' argument that Antony be spared, Trebonius lures Antony out of the Senate House so that the other conspirators can kill Caesar without having to fear Antony's intervention. Consequently, he is the only conspirator who does not actually stab Caesar.

Portia

2.1.237

The wife of Brutus and the daughter of Marcus Cato. She argues that those familial relationships make her strong enough to conceal Brutus' secrets, but on the morning of the assassination, she is extremely agitated by the fear that she will reveal what Brutus has told her. She commits suicide when she realizes that her husband's fortunes are doomed.

Ligarius

2.1.316

No friend of Caesar's, he is inspired by Brutus' nobility to cast off his illness and join the conspirators in the early morning of the ides of March.

Kerchief

2.1.318

In Shakespeare's time wearing a kerchief was a sign of sickness. The kerchief was wrapped about the head, sometimes with a poultice, to relieve pain.

Publius

2.2.110

An elderly senator who arrives with the conspirators to escort Caesar to the Capitol. He is stunned as he witnesses the assassination. Brutus sends him out to tell the citizens that no one else will be harmed. Publius Volumnius was a 1st-century BC Roman philosopher, and a friend and companion of Marcus Junius Brutus who led the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar. Volumnius and Brutus had been students of philosophy together.

Artemidorus

2.3.1

He gives Caesar a letter as the emperor enters the Capitol; in the letter, he lists the conspirators by name and indicates that they intend to kill him, but Caesar does not read it.

Cimber

3.1.35

Lucius Tillius Cimber was Roman senator. He came up with the diversion that allowed the cospirators to attack Caesar.

Olympus

3.1.75

The tallest mountain in Greece, where the 12 major deities lived.

Nervii

3.2.167

Barbarian tribe from Northern Gaul (France today). Caesar defeated them in battle.

Cinna the poet

3.3.1

He is mistaken by the angry Roman mob for one of Caesar's conspirators and unjustly murdered.

Plebean

3.3.5

Free Roman Citizen. Part of the working class

Octavius

4.1.2

Adoptive son of Caesar and heir of all his wealth. He will become the first emperor of Rome after defeating Anthony.

Sardis

4.2.28

Ancient capital of the kingdom of Lydia.

Hybla Bees

5.1.34

Along with the bees of Mount Hymettus and Mount Ida in Greece, the wild bees of Mount Hybla in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, were the most celebrated source of honey in Antiquity.

Greek Philosphy on Suicide

5.1.100-107

Suicide might be acceptable in some circumstances, particularly when “one’s honor was irretrievably lost.”

Roman ensign- or standard-bearer

5.3.1-5

The Standard was important as a rallying point, symbol of pride and, more practically, as a means of communication in battle.

Parthia

5.3.37

An ancient land corresponding to modern day Iran. Caesar had planned a Parthian invasion but did not live to see it through. Antony would later lead the invasion.

Belief in Ghosts and Spirits

5.3.95-97

Romans “believed that spirits protected the family, home and even the trees and rivers. These spirits were worshipped regularly.”

Gods of War

5.4.23

Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva were the gods of war, often called upon to protect soldiers in battle.

Ancient Roman Burial Rites

5.5.76-77

“... the installation of a deceased man or woman’s remains into a tomb was accompanied by a ceremony. The deceased was dressed in fine clothing and a wreath placed on the head. A solemn parade processed from his or her house to the Forum with family, friends, and clients marching in that.”