Examples Of Greed In Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was a Roman politician and military general who experienced true betrayal from who he believed were his closest friends. As close as he was to becoming Rome’s new leader, he was just as far away. In the play, “Julius Caesar” Shakespeare portrayed Caesar as almost clueless but a power-hungry politician who was willing to take over Rome any second. Unfortunately for Caesar, he was killed before he had a chance to truly fight for the right of the crown. With the exemption of Brutus, Cassius and Decimus were those who suffered from severe jealousy. Brutus simply wanted what was best for Rome and Julius Caesar was not it. What ultimately lead to Caesars death was his greed and plain ignorance.

From the very beginning the issues that

resonated within Rome were very clear. There were very well over three decisions that lead to the death of Caesar, the war between Cassius and Antony and who really ruled Rome, but in this examination three decisions will be discussed.
To begin with the first issue, Caesar had assumed he would become the leader of Rome.

Because he had an army of followers, he figured he was fit to be king. To his dismay, many disagreed which led to the group of conspirators to be formed. In Act One, Scene One an example of Caesars imperious actions shows his true character. He had returned from a battle and defeated Pompey who had been Rome’s faithful leader. People had decorated his statues to celebrate his victory when they had once done the same for Pompey. Caesar’s power and influence were so strong, he had loyal supporters that would do anything he asked of without the blink of an eye. Caesar was showing early signs of being a tyrant and that needed to be stopped. This is where the first decision of the conspirators comes in. They simple decide that he was no longer fit to be in any part of Rome’s royalty. The group of conspirators was made up of mostly of the

Senate.
At the time the romans had not realized that Caesar was on a destructive path.

It is not until Scene Two of Act One for them to see what was really happening. Anton had offered Caesar the crown three times and each time Caesar denied it in hopes of looking humble in front of the roman people. Unluckily for Caesar, the crowd was pleased with this decision of him denying the crown. Caesar had been wrong this whole time. Not everyone loved him as much as his followers did and that nearly killed him. He was so upset that the crowd did not want him that he worked to manipulate the crowd into doing so. This was an opportunity for the conspirators to strike. Take Caesar down while he was weak, and this would stop the tyranny that was bound to happen, and Cassius would be granted with the crown.

Cassius (the original leader) had a plan but was missing his main link to fully and properly execute his plan. Brutus was the missing key. Cassius knew where Brutus stood with Caesar but had convinced him that they were doing this for the right purposes. Caesar had too much power and that was not acceptable. Although Brutus was a close friend of Caesar, he wanted what was best for Rome. He saw Caesar as a tyrant and that was the opposite of what Rome needed. That was one of the biggest turns in the play because everyone besides the other conspirators, saw it as betrayal, but it was beneficial for Caesar to be

gone.
Brutus had no doubt that Caesar would consume too much power. Caesar would use his power for his own benefit and not Rome’s. For instance, Brutus states, “Crown him...That at his will he may do danger with.” Inherently saying that if Caesar were to become king it would be poisonous to the kingdom. While all this happens, Brutus has no personal connection with the assassination of Caesar. Matter of fact, he sees it as an act of heroism.
After the discussion that caused Brutus to side with the conspirators, the ball of civil war, assassination and death began to roll. Starting with the plan of Caesars execution, Cassius made his intentions very clear and had thought out every detail. He would take over Rome himself. Brutus on the other hand was doing this because he wanted Rome to be free and stay noble. Despite the relationship these two had, they were doing this for various reasons that lead to the same result. Once the Senators follow through with their vicious murder plot, they begin to near close to their supposed freedom. However, with every upside there is a downside. This so happened to be the conspirators second crucial decision. A decision they had not fully thought out.
This decision was letting Marcus Antony, the most loyal follower, of Caesar live and speak to the people of Rome. At first the idea seemed harmless, until the entire population of Rome was turned against the conspirators and went after blood. Antony had stood before them and convinced them that not only was Caesar not a tyrant but that he also cared for every single person. This was a complete 180 turn from what Brutus had told them. He had expressed that Caesar had deserved to die for the prosperity of Rome. With the conspirator’s mistake this completely ruined their seamless plan of becoming legends. They had another concern to deal with. Antony need to be dealt with and soon. What better way to solve their problems than war?
This seemed to be the only answer considering the cities sudden intelligence and someone with a vendetta against the conspirators.
Following the death of Julius Caesar and Marcus Antony’s speech, came the third decision that determined the lives of the main characters of the play. Instead of waiting to march for the last battle like Cassius had suggested, Brutus disagrees believing that if they arrive to Philippi before the necessary time they will receive reinforcements. Brutus’s plan was unsuccessful and only caused a downward spiral. Before the battle starts both sides come together and discuss their futures. When Antony, Lucillius, Octavius, Titinius Messala, Brutus and Cassius gather together nothing, but insults are thrown. Both sides angry for their reasons trying to prove to the other side which side is correct and the other wrong. Was war necessary?
According to both Marcus Antony and Cassius it was. This was their final decision before everything went left. The first signs that this war was a horrendous concept were the bad omens Cassius had recently seen. What had once been two mighty eagles lined across their army banner were now gone. The eagles had been replaced with ravens and crows and multiple other scavenger birds that circled over the troops as if they were diseased and infested prey. Because of this sign, Cassius knows their future is uncertain and meets with Brutus to explain what he had seen. Both understand that this may be the last time the see each other. While they do not wish to die, they know that if they do it will be for the city of Rome.
Starting with the monstrous murder of Caesar, Brutus declared, “Must end that work the ides of March begun” and he was there to finish the job. The job Brutus was here to finish was the war between him and Antony. Brutus’s goal was to free Rome of tyrants and by the looks of it Antony was on the borderline that determined whether they were or not. This was by far the best decision that both the conspirators and the supposed “good” guys made. With Caesar gone, there only remained one more obstacle. The obstacle was everyone who decided that Antony was correct and not realizing Caesars potential to become a disastrous ruler.
Throughout the play, every decision that was made by the conspirators only lead to death, a civil war, and murder. It was expressed in the beginning explain that Caesar was tyrant. Cassius and Brutus made sure to take of this issue. If Caesar were killed the kingdom would be freed of tyranny and continue to prosper. Consequently, Caesar did have a passionate fan base with Antony as their leader. Antony was out for revenge and had to goal of stopping the conspirators. The conspirators figured their only solution against Antony was to kill him as they should have done after Antony found out they were the murders of Caesar. This lead to the many back and forth arguments between each side trying to prove their point.
The initiation of the war began after Antony read Caesars will aloud and presented his wounded boy to the crowd. This only sparked a revolution. The developing of the conspirators was a decision itself. They were deciding that they would remove Caesar and do as they please. Overall every resolution the conspirators came to impact everyone everywhere. While at the time it seemed like the best thing, it would have been better if they would have let Caesar live.
If Caesar were to live, the conspirators would have never turned against each other and would have stayed alive. Unfortunately, that is not how Shakespeare decided to write his play. Caesar was an uncontrollable tyrant who needed to be taken out. With the conspirator’s agreement, they did what they felt was necessary and had to face the consequences. The consequences being almost everyone’s death, the price needed to be paid.

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