Name: Julius Caesar
Author: William Shakespeare

How you explore Julius Caesar on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

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A feed, not a wall of text. 35 characters, 13 places, 11 objects and 7 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 47 passages of Julius Caesar sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as William Shakespeare wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
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9:41

The Cast

Marcus Brutus

Main · Conspirators / Republican faction

A sleepless Roman nobleman turns a private fear into a public killing.

Locations

Rome’s streets

street

Festival torches, thunder, and the cries of a killing mob all pass down the same street.

Passage

Rome cheers a new victor, but Marullus demands loyalty to Pompey's memory.

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The Author’s Pen

Triumph Over Pompeys Blood

MARULLUS. Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft Have you climb’d up to walls and battlements, To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops, Your infants in your arms, and there have sat The livelong day with patient expectation, To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome. And when you saw his chariot but appear, Have you not made an universal shout, That Tiber trembled underneath her banks To hear the replication of your sounds Made in her concave shores? And do you now put on your best attire? And do you now cull out a holiday? And do you now strew flowers in his way, That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude.

Reading

A Roman triumph was supposed to parade foreign captives, and Marullus opens by pointing out there are none: "What tributaries follow him to Rome, / To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?" Caesar has beaten fellow Romans, so this parade celebrates a civil war, not a conquest. This is the crowd Marullus, a tribune, has caught taking a holiday to cheer Caesar's return. He then does something crueler than simple insult: he forces them to remember their own past joy, the whole day spent waiting with their children just to see Pompey pass, and turns it against the man who now "comes in triumph over Pompey's blood."

World Index

The Plot

Rome Uneasy With Its Own GreatnessThe Conspiracy Takes ShapeWarnings Rome Will Not HearThe Capitol Falls SilentThe Forum Changes Its MindAllies Turn on Each OtherPhilippi and the Last Roman

The Cast

Marcus BrutusJulius CaesarCassiusMark AntonyRoman Citizens / The CrowdPortiaCalphurniaDecius BrutusCascaOctavius CaesarSoothsayerArtemidorusLepidusLuciusLuciliusTitiniusMessalaGhost of CaesarConspiratorsFlavius and MarullusCiceroPubliusPopilius LenaTreboniusMetellus CimberCinna the ConspiratorLigariusCinna the PoetYoung CatoVolumniusStratoPindarusDardanius and ClitusVarro and ClaudioAnother Poet

Locations

Antony’s houseBrutus’ orchardBrutus’ tentCaesar’s palaceCamp near SardisRome’s streetsStreet before Brutus’ houseStreet near the CapitolThe Capitol / Senate sittingThe ForumThe plains / field of PhilippiThe public place at LupercalThe Tiber banks / Tiber River

Objects of Note

Artemidorus’s warning paperBrutus’s bookCaesar’s bloodCaesar’s bodyCaesar’s mantleCaesar’s trophies and decorated imagesCaesar’s willThe conspirators’ daggersThe forged letters to BrutusThe Forum pulpit / rostraThe offered crown / coronet

Core Concepts

Caesar becomes more powerful dead than aliveHonor is both virtue and vulnerabilityKilling a tyrant can create political chaosOmens need interpreters, and interpreters are never neutralPublic language is powerRome is a crowd before it is an ideal

The Author's Pen

Plucking Caesar’s FeathersBeware the Ides of MarchBrutus With Himself At WarThe Fault in OurselvesCaesar on Dangerous MenThe Crown Offered ThriceCaesar And The Falling SicknessCassius Plots to Sway BrutusPortentous ThingsWhy Should Caesar Be a TyrantKill Him In The ShellBrutus Reads the LetterNo Oath But HonestySacrificers Not ButchersPortia Demands Brutus’ SecretPortia Demands Brutus’s SecretCalphurnia Stays Caesar HomeDeath Will ComeDecius Sways CaesarArtemidorus Warns CaesarPortia Cannot Keep CounselPopilius Wishes Them WellConstant As the Northern StarThen Fall CaesarLiberty and Ambition's DebtPeace Freedom And LibertyAntony Takes Their HandsAntony Prophesies Civil StrifeBrutus Defends Caesar’s DeathBrutus Is An Honourable ManCaesar’s Mantle and WoundsCaesar’s Will UnleashedA Plain Blunt ManCinna the Poet Torn ApartPrick Him DownLove Begins To SickenBrutus Accuses Cassius Of BriberyPortia Is DeadTaking the CurrentThe Ghost at PhilippiA Sword Against ConspiratorsCaesar Thou Art RevengedTitinius Mourning CassiusYielding To DieBrutus Runs On His SwordThe Noblest Roman

Plot point 01

Rome Uneasy With Its Own Greatness

A conquering hero returns to cheering crowds, and two men start counting who else is afraid.

Objects of Note

Caesar’s trophies and decorated images

Garlands crown Caesar's statues until two tribunes decide the celebration has gone too far.

The Cast

Julius Caesar

Main · Caesar’s circle

A public man dismisses warnings until his body becomes Rome’s most powerful sign.

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Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 128 classics in the Literah library

The Julius Caesar feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of Julius Caesar

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

Rome Uneasy With Its Own Greatness
The Conspiracy Takes Shape
Warnings Rome Will Not Hear
The Capitol Falls Silent
The Forum Changes Its Mind
Allies Turn on Each Other
Philippi and the Last Roman

The author's pen in Julius Caesar

The passages themselves, William Shakespeare's own words, as Literah maps it.

Triumph Over Pompeys Bloodch. 1
Plucking Caesar’s Feathersch. 1
Beware the Ides of Marchch. 2
Brutus With Himself At Warch. 2
The Fault in Ourselvesch. 2
Caesar on Dangerous Mench. 2
The Crown Offered Thricech. 2
Caesar And The Falling Sicknessch. 2
Cassius Plots to Sway Brutusch. 2
Portentous Thingsch. 3
Why Should Caesar Be a Tyrantch. 3
Kill Him In The Shellch. 4
Brutus Reads the Letterch. 4
No Oath But Honestych. 4
Sacrificers Not Butchersch. 4
Portia Demands Brutus’ Secretch. 4
Portia Demands Brutus’s Secretch. 4
Calphurnia Stays Caesar Homech. 5
Death Will Comech. 5
Decius Sways Caesarch. 5

The characters of Julius Caesar

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

Marcus Brutusmajor
Julius Caesarmajor
Cassiusmajor
Mark Antonymajor
Roman Citizens / The Crowdmajor
Portiasupporting
Calphurniasupporting
Decius Brutussupporting
Cascasupporting
Octavius Caesarsupporting
Soothsayersupporting
Artemidorussupporting
Lepidussupporting
Luciussupporting
Flavius and Marullusminor
Cicerominor

The locations in Julius Caesar

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Rome’s streetsstreet
The public place at Lupercalpublic place
Brutus’ orchardorchard
Caesar’s palacepalace room
Street near the Capitolstreet
Street before Brutus’ housestreet
The Capitol / Senate sittingcapitol senate
The Forumforum
Antony’s househouse room
Camp near Sardismilitary camp
Brutus’ tentmilitary tent
The plains / field of Philippibattlefield
The Tiber banks / Tiber Riverriver

The core concepts in Julius Caesar

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

Killing a tyrant can create political chaos
Public language is power
Honor is both virtue and vulnerability
Omens need interpreters, and interpreters are never neutral
Caesar becomes more powerful dead than alive
Rome is a crowd before it is an ideal

The objects of note in Julius Caesar

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

Caesar’s trophies and decorated images
The offered crown / coronet
The forged letters to Brutus
Artemidorus’s warning paper
The conspirators’ daggers
Caesar’s body
Caesar’s blood
Caesar’s mantle
Caesar’s will
The Forum pulpit / rostra
Brutus’s book

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How you explore Julius Caesar on Literah

The plot of Julius Caesar

The author's pen in Julius Caesar

The characters of Julius Caesar

The locations in Julius Caesar

The core concepts in Julius Caesar

The objects of note in Julius Caesar

Explore Julius Caesar. And 127 more.

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