A Question of Loyalty in Julius Caesar
Loyalty defined means faithfulness to one's friends, country, ideals, etc. What should one do when these
loyalties conflict with one another? One would have to choose. A choice that can
make or break a man, which I believe broke many men in the play Julius Caesar. One did not know who was
friend or foe. One's dearest friends actually your foes? Not possible, is it? Yes, it is. That is the story of Julius
Caesar. Julius Caesar, a great, noble man. A man for his
country. A man loved by many and respected by all. Even respected by the men that cursed him with death.
Why would men that loved and respected one kill them? Loyalty is the answer. A feeling of loyalty for your
country that surpassed the loyalty of righteous virtues. Perhaps if loyalty had not been involved, the country of
Rome would not have been torn apart. Or perhaps if loyalty to all and everything had been involved a great ruler
named Caesar would have reigned for years. If the people of Rome would have remained loyal to Caesar
perhaps a war would not have occurred, in fact, it most certainly would not have. After the death, the angry mob
should have put the conspirators to death, not let them toy with their minds as they would a five year old. The
mob, like a great many people, believe what is easiest to hear. In the mob of people did loyalty exist? Doubtful,
little if any. What coexisted in the crowd with that little loyalty was ignorance, and much of it.
I believe that Brutus showed the greatest amount of loyalty to his country. He just went about showing it in a
corrupt manner. He sacrificed a great friend for what he thought would better Rome. Perhaps Brutus was one of
the most noble in the play, but he was also the most misled. He was noble for assassinating not for selfish needs,
but for the needs of the country. However, I believe he was weak. Weak for believing that Caesar was
"ambitious". Brutus believed the one side of things that he heard, and that was from Cassius. Brutus is a prime
example of people believing what is easiest heard. If someone would have mentioned Cassius' attitude and
actions I am most certain that Brutus would have seen a sign of tyranny. Brutus was a man that held loyalty to his
country close to his heart. Perhaps this blinded him. It made him oblivious to the idea of Caesar being a good
man with innocent motives.
Mark Antony, another man who possessed loyalty. However, with Antony, loyalty to friends and to that of his
country did not conflict. He saw Caesar for what, I think, he truly was, a noble Roman. Antony was a wise man.
Not being sure of the conspirators plot, he gave them a fair
chance to justify their unjustifiable assassination. When wise Antony saw no reason for the death of Caesar he
played smart. He did not verbally attack the conspirators, he waited. Because Antony was noble and wise, he
waited. He gave citizens of Rome something to think about. He turned the mob, who had turned against Caesar,
for Caesar, against the conspirators.
Noble Antony was willing to go to war to claim vindicate Caesar's death. He was going to get revenge on the
murderers of "the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times."
Julius Caesar, the man that deserved to be dead the least, was deceased. He was loyal to his friends, the
country, even the strangers of Rome. He showed it to. I believe that being loyal to a country means also being
loyal to the citizens of it, and that he was. Antony painted the
perfect picture of how much Caesar cared when he pointed out in his soliloquy that "when the poor have cried,
Caesar hath wept." Being caring is indeed a good part of being loyal. Caesar, a man who gave to his country,
even after death. Is this a man that should have been killed?
The world still today needs a leader like him. The death of Caesar affected many. Brutus' wife, Portia, was
suffering because of the plot she knew of. I believe that Brutus made a terrible mistake of telling Portia. Because
of the sinful acts of her husband, Portia took her life. Initially people were not grief stricken, but in time they
remembered the love they had for Caesar. People, like Octavius' servant, felt the heavy weight of sorrow
immediately after stumbling upon the death. Because of this assassination, a war broke out.
Mark Antony and Octavius' troops versus Brutus and Cassius' troops. Many people suffered through this war.
Portia stricken with sadness took her life. Not too long after Brutus followed, as did Cassius and Titinius. Perhaps
a message to readers is when one is blinded and refuses to see open minded there is no hiding from vindication.