Julius Caesar recap

As Julius Caesar returns to Rome in triumph, Cassius persuades the honorable Brutus that Caesar's popularity threatens the republic. Brutus joins a conspiracy and, despite warnings and omens, the senators assassinate Caesar at the Capitol. Brutus permits Caesar's ally Mark Antony to speak at the funeral. Antony turns the crowd against the killers by displaying Caesar's wounds and invoking his will, forcing Brutus and Cassius to flee Rome. Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus form a new ruling coalition, proscribe enemies, and march against the conspirators. Brutus and Cassius quarrel but reconcile before fighting at Philippi. Caesar's ghost foretells another meeting, and the battle ends disastrously for the republican side. Cassius kills himself after mistakenly believing his forces defeated; Brutus follows when defeat becomes certain. Antony honors Brutus as the one conspirator motivated by public principle, and Octavius assumes command of the settlement after victory.

Rome celebrates Julius Caesar's victory over Pompey's sons, though the tribunes Marullus and Flavius condemn the citizens for transferring their loyalty so quickly. During the festival of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar about the middle of March, but Caesar dismisses him. Cassius then sounds out Brutus, a respected friend of Caesar who is uneasy about the possibility that one man might dominate Rome. Cassius recalls examples of Caesar's physical weakness and argues that Romans have allowed him to become too powerful. Casca reports that Mark Antony offered Caesar a crown three times before the crowd and that Caesar refused it each time. Caesar privately tells Antony that he distrusts Cassius. Brutus has not joined any plot, but Cassius decides to send forged messages that will make opposition to Caesar appear to be a broad public demand.

Violent weather and reports of unnatural sights unsettle Rome. Cassius interprets the storm as a sign against Caesar and recruits Casca, while Cinna distributes forged appeals where Brutus will find them. Brutus concludes that Caesar must die, not for proven tyranny but to prevent what unchecked power might make him. The conspirators visit him at night, and his participation gives their plan moral prestige. Brutus rejects both an oath and Cassius's proposal to kill Antony as well as Caesar, insisting that their act must appear disciplined and necessary rather than bloody. Portia confronts Brutus about his secret distress and asks to be trusted as his wife. At Caesar's house, Calpurnia's nightmare and reports from the priests persuade Caesar to stay home, but Decius reinterprets the dream as a favorable omen and appeals to Caesar's pride. Caesar changes his mind and leaves for the Senate.

Artemidorus waits with a letter naming the conspirators, but Caesar does not read it before entering the Capitol. The plotters gather around him under the pretense of petitioning for the return of an exile. When Caesar refuses, Casca strikes first and the others follow; Brutus's participation completes the murder. Antony initially sends a servant to ask whether he may safely approach. He shakes the assassins' bloody hands and gains permission to speak at Caesar's funeral, although Cassius warns that this is dangerous. Left alone with the body, Antony predicts civil violence and sends word to Octavius to delay his arrival. Brutus addresses the citizens first, arguing that love of Rome required him to stop Caesar's ambition. The crowd accepts this explanation and is ready to honor Brutus before Antony begins his own speech.

Antony gradually overturns the crowd's trust in the conspirators. Without directly attacking Brutus at first, he contrasts the charge of ambition with Caesar's conduct, displays the dead man's wounds, and reveals a will promising money and public grounds to Roman citizens. The listeners become a mob and set out to burn the conspirators' houses. Their violence is indiscriminate: Cinna the poet is killed merely because he shares a name with one of the assassins. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome. Antony joins Octavius and Lepidus in a triumvirate, and the three prepare executions of political enemies while assembling an army. Antony privately treats Lepidus as a useful subordinate rather than an equal. In the opposing camp near Sardis, Brutus and Cassius prepare to meet the new rulers' forces.

Brutus and Cassius quarrel in camp. Brutus accuses Cassius of tolerating corruption and complains that requested funds were denied; Cassius feels that his old ally no longer loves or trusts him. Their anger breaks into reconciliation. Brutus then reveals that Portia has died by suicide after becoming distraught over his absence and the growing power of their enemies. Messala brings news of the proscriptions in Rome and of the advancing triumvirate. Against Cassius's advice to make the enemy come to them, Brutus insists on marching to Philippi before local support can shift away. That night Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus and says they will meet again at Philippi. Brutus remains outwardly composed and moves toward the battle despite the warning.

At Philippi, the leaders exchange accusations before battle. Brutus's attack succeeds on one part of the field, but Cassius's troops are driven back. Unable to see clearly, Cassius sends Titinius to determine whether approaching soldiers are friends. He misreads their welcome of Titinius as a capture and has Pindarus kill him. Titinius returns, finds Cassius dead, and takes his own life. In the renewed fighting, Brutus's side is defeated and his young supporter Lucius is captured but spared. Refusing to be taken to Rome, Brutus asks his companions for help and finally runs upon a sword held by Strato. Antony finds him and declares that Brutus alone among the assassins acted from sincere concern for the common good. Octavius orders Brutus buried with honor and accepts the survivors into his service. Caesar's avengers control the field and Rome's political future.

The battle at Philippi destroys the republican leaders. Cassius, misreading reports from the field and believing his friend Titinius has been captured, orders Pindarus to kill him with the sword used against Caesar. Titinius returns safe, finds Cassius dead, and kills himself. Brutus's forces initially gain ground but are ultimately defeated by Antony and Octavius. With capture imminent, Brutus asks several companions to help him die; Strato finally holds the sword on which Brutus runs. Brutus dies convinced that Caesar's death has been avenged and that suicide preserves his freedom. Antony finds the body and distinguishes Brutus from the other conspirators, judging that Brutus acted from an honest concern for Rome rather than envy. Octavius orders an honorable military burial and takes Brutus's surviving men into his service. Caesar's assassins are dead, their cause is lost, and power passes to Antony and Octavius, whose victory points toward the end of the Roman republic.