Julius Caesar Review
Caesar – roman general who has just returned from a victory in Spain. Supposed to be
crowned as emperor but refuses the crown 3 times. He is murdered in act 3 by a group
of conspirators.
Brutus- The tragic hero of the play. Brutus is convinced into the conspiracy by Cassius.
Although he was a good friend of Caesar, he was involved in the murder of Caesar. He
kills himself at the end out of guilt. His intentions were only for the good of Rome.
Cassius- Brutus’ ‘partner in crime’, he convinces Brutus that Caesar has become to
powerful and he must be killed. Cassius is basically the one who was the cause of
Caesar’s death, and lied to Brutus telling him that the people wanted Caesar dead.
Antony – A noble man of Rome. Friend to Caesar. Is very upset when Caesar is killed
and vows to get revenge. Defeats Brutus and Cassius in the battle of Philippi.
Octavius – Nephew of Julius Caesar, becomes a co-ruler of Rome with Mark Antony
after the assassination. Later battles Brutus on the plains of Phillipi and loses.
Portia- Brutus’s wife that wanted to know what was going on but Brutus wouldn’t tell
her; and she later killed herself by swallowing fire.
Calpurnia – Wife of Caesar, tried to warn him after she had nightmares that she thought
were bad omens, Decius told them that they were good omens and persuaded Caesar
to go to the senate that day
Titinius-Cassius’s slave that was sent to see who the troops were from far away. When
he gets to the troops Cassius thinks that he is captured but he really is being welcomed.
Artemidorus- Writes a letter and gives it to Caesar warning him to be wary of the
conspirators.
Casca- A Roman politician who was the first to stab Caesar, and he presumably killed
himself after the battle of Philippi.
Cinna poet and was mistaken for a conspirator and was attacked
Lepidus- one of the four that wanted to avenge Caeser’s death
Cicero- a well-known public speaker and senator; part of the conspiracy
Metellus Cimber- a conspirator against Julius Caesar; brother Publius, who was banned
from Rome by Caesar
Flavius- walks with Marullus in streets of Rome and talks to Carpenter and a Shoe
Cobbler who are there to celebrate Caesar’s return they try to break this up
unsuccessfully
Marullus- goes with Flavius into the streets of Rome to shun/scorn the people for
dressing up to see Caesar instead of Mourning Pompey, Then takes down images of
Caesar and is killed for it.
Soothsayer-He is an old blind man who predicts the ides of March being Caesar’s death.
He warns Caesar but Caesar doesn’t listen.
Strato – Brutus’ slave – holds the sword that kills Brutus
Pindarus- A servant to Cassius, he is also the messenger bearing the wrong news
Pompey- co ruler of Rome defeated at the beginning of the story by Julius Caesar
Shakespeare- wrote Julius Caesar, wrote in blank verse
Tragedy- always ends in death; genre of literature that tells of the rise and fall of a
powerful but flawed tragic hero
Tragic Hero- Someone whose pride gets in the way of their true judgment.
Tragic Flaw- Some weakness in the hero that leads to his downfall.
Blank Verse- Poetry that does not rhyme and is written in iambic pentameter. It is
usually used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.
Iambic Pentameter- every other syllable is expressed harder than the others. There are
always ten syllables in a line. Line begins with an unaccented syllable