II.92 Bears are said to have been caught by putting looking-glasses in their way; they being so taken with the images of themselves that the hunters could easily master them. Elephants were beguiled into pitfalls, lightly covered over with hurdles and turf.

II.93 toils: nets, snares. The root idea of the word is a 'thing woven' (Cf. Spenser's 'welwoven toyles' in Astrophel, xvii, 1), and while it seems to have primary reference to a web or cord spread for taking prey, the old Fr. toile sometimes means a 'stalking-horse of painted canvas.' Shakespeare uses the word several times. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, V, ii, 351; Hamlet, III, ii, 362.

II.94 eighth F₄ | eight F₁F₂F₃.

II.95 hard F₁ | hatred F₂F₃F₄.

II.96 doth bear Cæsar hard. For a discussion of this interesting expression see note, p. 29, l. 310. "Now amongst Pompey's friends there was one called Caius Ligarius, who had been accused unto Cæsar for taking part with Pompey, and Cæsar discharged him. But Ligarius thanked not Cæsar so much for his discharge, as he was offended with him for that he was brought in danger by his tyrannical power: and therefore in his heart he was always his mortal enemy, and was besides very familiar with Brutus, who went to see him being sick in his bed, and said unto him: 'Ligarius, in what a time art thou sick?' Ligarius, rising up in his bed, and taking him by the right hand, said unto him: 'Brutus,' said he, 'if thou hast any great enterprise in hand, worthy of thyself, I am whole.'"—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

II.97 by him: by his house. Make your way home that way.

II.98 l. 221 Two lines in Ff.

II.99 Let not our looks betray our purposes by wearing, or being attired with, any indication of them. Cf. Macbeth, I, vii, 81.

II.100 [Exeunt ...] | Exeunt. Manet Brutus Ff.

II.101 honey-heavy dew | hony-heavy-Dew Ff | honey heavy dew Johnson | heavy honey-dew Collier.

II.102 The compound epithet, 'honey-heavy,' is very expressive and apt. The 'dew of slumber' is called 'heavy' because it makes the subject feel heavy, and 'honey-heavy,' because the heaviness it induces is sweet. But there may be a reference to the old belief that the bee gathered its honey from falling dew. So in Vergil's Georgics, IV, i, we have "the heavenly gifts of honey born in air." Brutus is naturally led to contrast the free and easy state of the boy's mind with that of his own, which the excitement of his present undertaking is drawing full of visions and images of trouble.

II.103 Scene III Pope.

II.104 Similarities and differences between this scene with Brutus and Portia and that between Hotspur and his wife in 1 King Henry IV, II, iii, will prove a suggestive study. The description of the development of Portia's suspicion here is taken directly from Plutarch. "Out of his house he (Brutus) did so frame and fashion his countenance and looks that no man could discern he had anything to trouble his mind. But when night came that he was in his own house, then he was clean changed: for either care did wake him against his will when he would have slept, or else oftentimes of himself he fell into such deep thoughts of this enterprise, casting in his mind all the dangers that might happen: that his wife, lying by him, found that there was some marvellous great matter that troubled his mind, not being wont to be in that taking, and that he could not well determine with himself."—Plutarch, Marcus Brutus.

II.105 Double negatives abound in Shakespeare. See Abbott, § 406.

II.106 You've Rowe | Y' have Ff.

II.107 suddenly | sodainly Ff.

II.108 wafture Rowe | wafter Ff.

II.109 humour: moody caprice. The word comes to have this meaning from the theory of the old physiologists that four cardinal humors—blood, choler or yellow bile, phlegm, and melancholy or black bile—determine, by their conditions and proportions, a person's physical and mental qualities. The influence of this theory survives in the application of the terms 'sanguine,' 'choleric,' 'phlegmatic,' and 'melancholy' to disposition and temperament.

II.110 condition: disposition, temper. So in The Merchant of Venice, I, ii, 143: "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me." Cf. the term 'ill-conditioned,' still in use to describe an irascible or quarrelsome disposition. In l. 236 'condition' refers to bodily health.

II.111 you, Brutus F₄ | you Brutus F₁F₂F₃.

II.112 Dear my lord. This transposition, common in earnest address, is due to close association of possessive adjective and noun.

II.113 physical: wholesome, salutary. Cf. Coriolanus, I, v, 19.

II.114 dank | danke F₁ | darke F₂ | dark F₃F₄.

II.115 'Rheumy' here means that state of the air which causes the unhealthy issue of 'rheum,' a word which was specially used of the fluids that issue from the eyes or mouth. So in Hamlet, II, ii, 529, we have 'bisson rheum' for 'blinding tears.' So in A Midsummer Night's Dream, II, i, 105, Titania speaks of the moon as washing "all the air, That rheumatic diseases do abound."

II.116 his | hit F₁

II.117 charm F₃F₄ | charme F₁F₂ | charge Pope.

II.118 charm: conjure, appeal by charms. So in Lucrece, l. 1681.

II.119 This speech, and that beginning with l. 291, follow Plutarch very closely: "His wife Porcia[1] ... was the daughter of Cato, whom Brutus married being his cousin, not a maiden, but a young widow after the death of her first husband Bibulus, by whom she had also a young son called Bibulus, who afterwards wrote a book of the acts and gests of Brutus .... This young lady, being excellently well seen[2] in philosophy, loving her husband well, and being of a noble courage, as she was also wise: because she would not ask her husband what he ailed before she had made some proof by her self: she took a little razor, such as barbers occupy to pare men's nails, and, causing her maids and women to go out of her chamber, gave herself a great gash withal in her thigh, that she was straight all of a gore blood: and incontinently after a vehement fever took her, by reason of the pain of her wound. Then perceiving her husband was marvellously out of quiet, and that he could take no rest, even in her greatest pain of all she spake in this sort unto him: 'I being, O Brutus,' said she, 'the daughter of Cato, was married unto thee; not to be thy bed-fellow and companion in bed and at board only, like a harlot, but to be partaker also with thee of thy good and evil fortune. Now for thyself, I can find no cause of fault in thee touching our match: but for my part, how may I shew my duty towards thee and how much I would do for thy sake; if I cannot constantly bear a secret mischance or grief with thee, which requireth secrecy and fidelity? I confess that a woman's wit commonly is too weak to keep a secret safely: but yet, Brutus, good education, and the company of virtuous men, have some power to reform the defect of nature. And for my self, I have this benefit moreover, that I am the daughter of Cato, and wife of Brutus. This notwithstanding, I did not trust to any of these things before, until that now I have found by experience, that no pain or grief whatsoever can overcome me.' With those words she shewed him her wound on her thigh, and told him what she had done to prove herself. Brutus was amazed to hear what she said unto him, and lifting up his hands to heaven, he besought the gods to give him the grace he might bring his enterprise to so good pass, that he might be found a husband, worthy of so noble a wife as Porcia: so he then did comfort her the best he could."—Marcus Brutus.

II.119[1] the correct classical spelling.

II.119[2] i.e. versed.

II.120 the | tho F₁.

II.121 ll. 285–286: In the outskirts or borders, and not at the center or near the heart. The image is exceedingly apposite and expressive.

II.122 This embodies what was known about the circulation of the blood at the close of the sixteenth century. In 1616, the year of Shakespeare's death, William Harvey, born in 1578, lectured on his great discovery, but his celebrated treatise was not published until 1628. The general fact of the circulation was known in ancient times, and Harvey's discovery lay in ascertaining the modus operandi of it, and in reducing it to matter of strict science.

II.123 Cf. The Merchant of Venice, I, 1, 166:

II.124 [Knocking within] Malone | Knocke F₁F₂.

II.125 charactery: "writing by characters or strange marks." Brutus therefore means that he will divulge to her the secret cause of the sadness marked on his countenance. 'Charactery' seems to mean simply 'writing' in the well-known passage in The Merry Wives of Windsor, V, v, 77: "Fairies use flowers for their charactery." So in Keats: "Before high-piled books in charactery Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain."

II.126 Editors from Pope down have been busy trying to mend the grammar and the rhythm of this line. But in Shakespeare the full pause has often the value of a syllable, and the omission of the relative is common in Elizabethan literature. See Abbott, § 244.

II.127 Re-enter ... with Dyce | Enter ... and Ff after [Exit Portia].

II.128 l. 313 (and elsewhere): Ligarius | Cai. Ff.

II.129 To wear a kerchief. It was a common practice in England for those who were sick to wear a kerchief on their heads. So in Fuller's Worthies, Cheshire, 1662, quoted by Malone: "If any there be sick, they make him a posset and tye a kerchief on his head: and if that will not mend him, then God be merciful to him."

II.130 I here discard my sickness. Ligarius here pulls off the kerchief. Cf. Northumberland's speech, 2 Henry IV, I, i, 147, "hence, thou sickly quoif! Thou art a guard too wanton for the head."

II.131 In Shakespeare's time, 'exorcist' and 'conjurer' were used indifferently. The former has since come to mean only 'one who drives away spirits'; the latter, 'one who calls them up.'

II.132 My mortified spirit: my spirit that was dead in me. So 'mortifying groans' in The Merchant of Venice, I, i, 82, and 'mortified man' in Macbeth, V, ii, 5. Words directly derived from Latin are often used, by Shakespeare and sixteenth century writers, in a signification peculiarly close to the root notion of the word.

II.133 l. 327 Two lines in Ff.

II.134 Thunder Ff.

II.135 Scene II Rowe | Scene IV Pope.

II.136 This scene, taken with the preceding, affords an interesting study in contrasts: Cæsar and Brutus; Calpurnia the yielding wife, and Portia the heroic.

II.137 Cæsar's house | Ff omit.

II.138 Enter Cæsar ... | Enter Julius Cæsar ... Ff.—in his night-gown Pope omits.

II.139 Enter Cæsar in his night-gown.' Night-gown' here, as in Macbeth, II, ii, 70, V, 1, 5, means 'dressing-robe' or 'dressing-gown.' This is the usual meaning of the word in English from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth. So Addison and Steele use it in The Spectator.

II.140 l. 1 Two lines in Ff.

II.141 In Plutarch the scene is thus graphically described: "Then going to bed the same night, as his manner was, and lying with his wife Calpurnia, all the windows and doors of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, and made him afraid when he saw such light; but more, when he heard his wife Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put forth many fumbling lamentable speeches: for she dreamed that Cæsar was slain.... Cæsar rising in the morning, she prayed him, if it were possible, not to go out of the doors that day, but to adjourn the session of the Senate until another day. And if that he made no reckoning of her dream, yet that he would search further of the soothsayers by their sacrifices, to know what should happen him that day. Thereby it seemed that Cæsar did likewise fear or suspect somewhat, because his wife Calpurnia until that time was never given to any fear and superstition; and that then he saw her so troubled in mind with this dream she had. But much more afterwards, when the soothsayers having sacrificed many beasts one after another, told him that none did like[1] them: then he determined to send Antonius to adjourn the session of the Senate."—Julius Cæsar.

II.141[1] i.e. satisfy.

II.142 success: the result. The root notion of the word. See note, p. 65, l. 324. But in V, iii, 65, the word is used in its modern sense.

II.143 'Ceremonies' is here put for the ceremonial or sacerdotal interpretation of prodigies and omens, as in II, i, 197.

II.144 ll. 16–24: Cf. Hamlet, I, i, 113–125; Vergil, Georgics, I, 465–488.

II.145 hurtled F₁ | hurried F₂F₃F₄.

II.146 hurtled: clashed. The onomatopoetic 'hurtling' is used in As You Like It, IV, iii, 132, to describe the clashing encounter between Orlando and the lioness. Chaucer, in The Knightes Tale l. 1758, uses the verb transitively, suggesting a diminutive of 'hurt':

II.147 did neigh F₂F₃F₄ | do neigh F₁.

II.148 taste of death. This expression occurs thrice in the New Testament (King James version). Plutarch relates that, a short time before Cæsar fell, some of his friends urged him to have a guard about him, and he replied that it was better to die at once than live in the continual fear of death. He is also said to have given as his reason for refusing a guard, that he thought Rome had more need of him than he of Rome. "And the very day before, Cæsar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain letters, as he was wont to do, at the board: so, talk falling out amongst them, reasoning what death was best, he, preventing their opinions, cried out aloud, 'Death unlooked for.'"—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.

II.149 Re-enter ... | Enter a ... Ff.

II.150 should: would. The present-day usage is post-Elizabethan.

II.151 are Capell | heare F₁F₂ | hear F₃F₄ | heard Rowe.

II.152 Scene V Pope.

II.153 afeard F₁F₂F₃ | afraid F₄

II.154 truth? | truth: Ff.

II.155 to-night: last night. So in The Merchant of Venice, II, v, 18.

II.156 statue Ff | statua Steevens | statuë Camb.

II.157 statue. In Shakespeare's time 'statue' was pronounced indifferently as a word of two syllables or three. Bacon uses it repeatedly as a trisyllable, and spells it 'statua,' as in his Advancement of Learning: "It is not possible to have the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Cæsar, no, nor of the kings or great personages."

II.158 In ancient times, when martyrs or other distinguished men were executed, their friends often pressed to stain handkerchiefs with their blood, or to get some other relic, which they might keep, either as precious memorials of them, or as having a kind of sacramental virtue. 'Cognizance' is here used in a heraldic sense, meaning any badge to show whose friends the wearers were.

II.159 The Roman people were specially yearning to avenge the slaughter of Marcus Crassus and his army by the Parthians, and Cæsar was at this time preparing an expedition against them. But a Sibylline oracle was alleged, that Parthia could only be conquered by a king; and it was proposed to invest Cæsar with the royal title and authority over the foreign subjects of the state. It is agreed on all hands that, if his enemies did not originate this proposal, they at least craftily urged it on, in order to make him odious, and exasperate the people against him. To the same end, they had for some time been plying the arts of extreme sycophancy, heaping upon him all possible honors, human and divine, hoping thereby to kindle such a fire of envy as would consume him.

II.160 it were a mock Apt to be render'd: it were a sarcastic reply likely to be made. Cf. the expression, 'make a mock of.'

II.161 liable: subject. Cf. King John, II, i, 490. The thought here is that love stands as principal, reason as second or subordinate. "The deference which reason holds due from me to you is in this instance subject and amenable to the calls of personal affection."

II.162 Plutarch thus describes the scene: "But in the mean time Decius Brutus, surnamed Albinus, in whom Cæsar put such confidence, that in his last will and testament he had appointed him to be his next heir, and yet was of the conspiracy with Cassius and Brutus: he, fearing that if Cæsar did adjourn the session that day, the conspiracy would be betrayed, laughed at the soothsayers, and reproved Cæsar, saying, 'that he gave the Senate occasion to mislike with him, and that they might think he mocked them, considering that by his commandment they were assembled, and that they were ready willingly to grant him all things, and to proclaim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, and that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and land. And furthermore, that if any man should tell them from him they should depart for that present time, and return again when Calpurnia should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill-willers say, and how could they like of his friends' words? And who could persuade them otherwise, but that they should think his dominion a slavery unto them and tyrannical in himself? And yet if it be so,' said he, 'that you utterly mislike of this day, it is better that you go yourself in person, and, saluting the Senate, to dismiss them till another time.' Therewithal he took Cæsar by the hand, and brought him out of his house."—Julius Cæsar.

II.163 Scene VI Pope.

II.164 Enter Publius ... | Ff have Publius after Cinna.

II.165 This was probably Publius Silicius, not a conspirator. See III, i, 87, where he is described as "quite confounded with this mutiny."

II.166 This is a graphic and charming touch. Here, for the first time, we have Cæsar speaking fairly in character; for he was probably the most finished gentleman of his time, one of the sweetest of men, and as full of kindness as of wisdom and courage. Merivale aptly styles him "Cæsar the politic and the merciful."

II.167 o'clock Theobald | a Clocke Ff.

II.168 o' nights Theobald | a-nights Ff.

II.169 [Aside] Rowe | Ff omit.

II.170 [Aside] Pope | Ff omit.

II.171 yearns Capell | earnes F₁F₂.

II.172 yearns: grieves. The Folios read 'earnes.' Skeat considers earn (yearn) 'to grieve' of distinct origin from earn (yearn) 'to desire.' Shakespeare uses the verb both transitively and intransitively. The winning and honest suavity of Cæsar here starts a pang of remorse in Brutus. Drinking wine together was regarded as a sacred pledge of truth and honor. Brutus knows that Cæsar is doing it in good faith; and it hurts him to think that the others seem to be doing the like, and yet are doing a very different thing.

II.173 Scene III Rowe | Scene VII Pope.—A street ... Ff omit.

II.174 Enter Artemidorus ... In Plutarch, Julius Cæsar, Artemidorus is thus introduced: "And one Artemidorus also, born in the isle of Gnidos, a doctor of rhetoric in the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession was very familiar with certain of Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most part of all their practices against Cæsar, came and brought him a little bill, written with his own hand, of all that he meant to tell him. He, marking how Cæsar received all the supplications that were offered him, and that he gave them straight to his men that were about him, pressed nearer to him, and said: 'Cæsar, read this memorial to yourself, and that quickly, for they be matters of great weight, and touch you nearly.'"

II.175 reading a paper Rowe | Ff omit.

II.176 security gives way to: false confidence opens a way for.

II.177 lover: friend. See note, p. 100, l. 13.

II.178 emulation: envious rivalry. So in Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 134: "an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation."

II.179 contrive: plot, conspire. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 360.

II.180 Scene IV Capell.—Another part ... Capell | Ff omit.

II.181 The anxiety of Portia is thus described by Plutarch, Marcus Brutus: "For Porcia, being very careful and pensive for that which was to come, and being too weak to away with so great and inward grief of mind, she could hardly keep within, but was frighted with every little noise and cry she heard, as those that are taken and possessed with the fury of the Bacchantes; asking every man that came from the market-place what Brutus did, and still sent messenger after messenger, to know what news."

II.182 constancy: firmness. Cf. II, i, 299. So in Macbeth, II, ii, 68.

II.183 bustling Rowe | bussling Ff.

II.184 A loud noise, or murmur, as of stir and tumult, is one of the old meanings of 'rumor.' So in King John, V, iv, 45: "the noise and rumour of the field." Since the interview of Brutus and Portia, he has unbosomed all his secrets to her; and now she is in such a fever of anxiety that she mistakes her fancies for facts.

II.185 Sooth: in truth. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, I, i, 1. See Skeat, and cf. note on 'soothsayer,' p. 10, l. 19.

II.186 Enter the Soothsayer Ff | Enter Artemidorus Rowe.

II.187 Enter the Soothsayer. Rowe substituted 'Artemidorus' for 'the Soothsayer' here, and many modern editors have adopted this change. But North's Plutarch furnishes a source for the Soothsayer as distinct from Artemidorus, and the reading of the Folios has a dramatic edge and effectiveness which Rowe's change destroys.

II.188 o'clock Theobald | a clocke F₁.

II.189 l. 32 Two lines in Ff.

II.190 l. 39 Two lines in Ff.

II.191 Ay | Aye Ff | ah Johnson.

II.192 Brutus hath a suit That Cæsar will not grant. These words Portia speaks aloud to the boy, Lucius, evidently to conceal the true cause of her uncontrollable flutter of spirits.

II.193 [Exeunt severally] Theobald | Exeunt F₁.

Act III

III.1 Rome. Before ... Publius, and others Capell (substantially) | Flourish. Enter Cæsar ... Artimedorus, Publius, and the Soothsayer Ff | Ff omit Popilius.

III.2 Cf. Plutarch, Julius Cæsar: "There was a certain soothsayer, that had given Cæsar warning long time afore, to take heed of the day of the Ides of March, which is the fifteenth of the month; for on that day he should be in great danger. That day being come, Cæsar, going unto the Senate-house, and speaking merrily unto the soothsayer, told him 'the Ides of March be come.'—'So they be,' softly answered the soothsayer, 'but yet are they not past.'" Note Shakespeare's development of his material.

III.3 schedule F₃F₄ | Scedule F₁F₂.

III.4 us ourself. The plural of modern English royalty transferred to ancient Rome. Another of the famous anachronisms.

III.5 See quotation from Plutarch, Julius Cæsar, above, p. 74.

III.6 As already indicated (see note, p. 39, l. 126), the murder of Cæsar did not take place in the Capitol, but Shakespeare, departing from Plutarch, followed a famous literary tradition. So in Chaucer, The Monkes Tale, ll. 713–720. Cf. the speech of Polonius, Hamlet, III, ii, 108–109: "I did enact Julius Cæsar; I was kill'd i' the Capitol; Brutus kill'd me." See Introduction, Sources, p. xv.

III.7 Cæsar goes ... | Ff omit.

III.8 Advances ... | Ff omit.

III.9 This is mainly Steevens's (1773) stage direction. Capell's (1768) is interesting: "Artemidorus is push'd back. Cæsar, and the rest, enter the Senate: The Senate rises. Popilius presses forward to speak to Cæsar; and passing Cassius, says,..."

III.10 makes to: advances to, presses towards.

III.11 mark. No necessity to pronounce this as dissyllabic. The pause has the effect of a syllable.

III.12 constant: firm. So in ll. 60, 72, 73. Cf. II, i, 227, 299; iv, 6.

III.13 So in Plutarch, Marcus Brutus: "Another senator called Popilius Læna after he had saluted Brutus and Cassius more friendly than he was wont to do, he rounded[1] softly in their ears, and told them, 'I pray the gods you may go through with that you have taken in hand; but, withal, dispatch, I read[2] you, for your enterprise is bewrayed.' When he had said, he presently departed from them, and left them both afraid that their conspiracy would out.... When Cæsar came out of his litter, Popilius Læna went ... and kept him a long time with a talk. Cæsar gave good ear unto him; wherefore the conspirators ... conjecturing ... that his talk was none other but the very discovery of their conspiracy, they were afraid every man of them; and one looking in another's face, it was easy to see that they all were of a mind, that it was no tarrying for them till they were apprehended, but rather that they should kill themselves with their own hands. And when Cassius and certain other clapped their hands on their swords under their gowns, to draw them, Brutus marking the countenance and gesture of Læna, and considering that he did use himself rather like an humble and earnest suitor than like an accuser, he said nothing to his companion (because there were many amongst them that were not of the conspiracy), but with a pleasant countenance encouraged Cassius; and immediately after, Læna went from Cæsar, and kissed his hand.... Trebonius on the other side drew Antonius aside, as he came into the house where the Senate sat, and held him with a long talk without." In the Julius Cæsar Plutarch makes Decius detain Antony in talk.

III.13[1] i.e. whispered.

III.13[2] i.e. advise.

III.14 [Exeunt Antony ...] Ff omit.

III.15 presently: immediately, at once. So Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers always use the word. See l. 143; IV, i, 45.

III.16 address'd: prepared. Often so in sixteenth century literature. Cf. As You Like It, V, iv, 162; Henry V, III, iii, 58; 2 Henry IV, IV, iv, 5. This old meaning survives in a well-known golf term.

III.17 Are ... ready? | Dyce gives to Casca; Ritson (conj.) to Cinna.

III.18 [Kneeling] Rowe | Ff omit.

III.19 couchings: stoopings. 'Couch' is used in the sense of 'bend' or 'stoop' as under a burden, in Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III, i, 4: