Julius Caesar — Act IV, Scenes 1 to 3: Introduction

Foundation first

You need five small ideas before you read Act IV. Each one comes back in the exam.

1. Rome was a republic. There was no king. The Senate and elected officials ruled. Brutus and Cassius killed Caesar because they feared he would make himself a king. That is the "cause" they still talk about in Act IV.

2. A triumvirate is a rule by three men (tri = three, vir = man). Do not mix up the two groups.

3. Two camps. Learn who stands where.

4. Blank verse. The play is written in blank verse: lines of ten syllables that do not rhyme, with the stress falling on every second syllable (iambic pentameter). Say it aloud: there IS a TIDE in the af-FAIRS of MEN. Five beats, ten syllables. When feeling runs high, the rhythm breaks. In the quarrel, one line of verse is shared by two speakers ("I am." / "I say you are not."), which makes the argument sound fast and sharp. The Poet is the exception: he speaks in rhyming couplets ("be" / "ye"), and the rhyme sounds childish next to the generals' verse. That is part of the joke.

5. Three tools of the dramatist.

• Soliloquy: a speech by a character alone on stage, telling the audience his thoughts. The nearest thing in this act is Brutus talking to himself over his book while the boy sleeps.
• Aside: words spoken so that others on stage do not hear them.
• Dramatic irony: the audience knows something a character does not. Brutus says he is "arm'd so strong in honesty", and we have just heard him demand money that was raised by the very methods he condemns.

Quick check. Which triumvirate does Act IV show: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, or Antony, Octavius and Lepidus? Answer: Antony, Octavius and Lepidus. The first group is the one before Caesar's death.

Act IV takes place some time after Caesar's funeral. Rome is now torn by civil war. Two sides face each other:

• In Rome, Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar (Caesar's young adopted heir) and Lepidus have joined together as the triumvirs (a ruling group of three). They are drawing up lists of enemies to be put to death.
• In Asia Minor, near Sardis, Brutus and Cassius have raised armies. But the partnership between them is cracking.

Act IV shows that both sides are far from noble. The triumvirs coldly bargain over the lives of their own relatives; Antony despises his partner Lepidus. Brutus and Cassius quarrel bitterly over money and honour, make up, and then make the fatal decision to march to Philippi. The act ends with Caesar's Ghost appearing to Brutus — "thou shalt see me at Philippi."

Reading between the lines

• Why two camps? Shakespeare places the triumvirs' cold bargaining beside the liberators' hot quarrel. Both sides are damaged. The triumvirs lose their humanity; the liberators lose their unity. Neither side is the "clean" side any longer.
• The turning point. Until Act III, the conspirators seemed to be winning. Act IV is where the tide turns against them. Their cause is still noble in words ("justice' sake"), but money, pride and tempers are eating it from inside.
• Why does the act end with a Ghost? A quarrel can be mended with a handshake. A ghost cannot. Caesar's spirit tells Brutus that the killing has a price that is still to be paid.

Worked examples

Example 1 (MCQ, 1 mark). Who were the members of the Second Triumvirate? (a) Julius Caesar, Crassus, Pompey (b) Brutus, Cassius, Casca (c) Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, Lepidus (d) Octavius, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony

Model answer. (c). Option (a) is the First Triumvirate, which is the favourite wrong option. A question of this kind was asked in ICSE 2025, Q1(v).

Why this scores: the student knows the Second Triumvirate came after Caesar's death, so Caesar cannot be in it. That one fact removes options (a) and (d).

Example 2 (short answer, 3 marks). Who are the triumvirs, and what are they doing when Act IV opens?

Model answer. The triumvirs are Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, three men who now rule Rome together. When the act opens they are sitting at a table in a house in Rome. They are pricking (marking) the names of the men who are to be put to death. This list of enemies is called a proscription.

Why this scores: three names (1), the place and the action (1), and the correct word proscription (1).

Example 3 (long answer, about 130 words). "In Act IV neither side is wholly noble." Do you agree?

Model answer. I agree. In Rome, the triumvirs are ruthless. Lepidus agrees to give up his own brother and Antony agrees to give up his nephew Publius to be killed, and Antony plans to cut the legacies that he once used to win the crowd. He also calls his partner Lepidus "a slight unmeritable man" and treats him as a "property". In the camp, Brutus and Cassius are better men, but they quarrel over bribes and gold. Brutus, who speaks of "justice' sake", is angry because Cassius did not send him money raised by the methods he condemns. Both sides therefore fall short of their own ideals. The difference is that the liberators regret it, and they make peace.

Why this scores: a clear opinion in the first line, evidence from both camps, a quotation or two, and a closing comparison. Examiners reward "agree + proof", not a retelling.

Doubts cleared

Q. Why are Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor and not in Rome? After the mob rose against them in Act III, they fled Rome and went east to raise armies. Sardis is in Asia Minor, where Brutus and Cassius have gathered their forces.

Q. Who is Octavius, and why is he "young Octavius"? He is Caesar's great-nephew and adopted heir, a young man next to the experienced Antony. Antony says, "I have seen more days than you."

Q. Is Act IV one scene? No. It has three scenes: Scene 1 in Rome, Scene 2 before Brutus's tent, Scene 3 inside the tent. Some school editions print Scenes 2 and 3 as one continuous scene. The events are the same.

Q. Is Lepidus a villain? He agrees to his own brother's death, so he is not innocent. But Antony and Octavius use him and look down on him, and Octavius admits he is "a tried and valiant soldier". He is a weak man in strong company.

Mistakes to avoid

• Writing that the Second Triumvirate is Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. That is the First.
• Placing Brutus and Cassius in Rome. They are in the camp near Sardis.
• Calling Octavius "Caesar's son". He is Caesar's adopted heir (and great-nephew).
• Retelling the plot where the question asks for a reason. Begin with the reason, then add the event.

Check yourself

1. How many triumvirs are there in Act IV, and which of them is the weakest?
2. Which character speaks in rhyming couplets?
3. In which place do Brutus and Cassius quarrel?

Answers: 1. Three: Antony, Octavius and Lepidus; Lepidus is the weakest. 2. The Poet. 3. In Brutus's tent, in the camp near Sardis.