How Is Julius Caesar Historically Accurate

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a Shakespearean tragedy, is historically accurate as he used Parallel Lives, a novel by Plutarch, as a reference to build the play. Shakespeare added the details of a military victory that Caesar achieved at the beginning of the play. Shakespeare’s play, written in 1599, includes many elements that are historically accurate such as how and when the characters died and the actions that the characters took that relate to actual history.

At the beginning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare includes the details of Caesar coming home from battle after defeating Pompey the Great. “‘O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey?... and there have sat The livelong day, with patient expectation,

An example in the play is the way that Cassius died. Cassius commits suicide because he heard that his best friend, Titinius had died because Mark Antony’s troops had closed in on him and he was killed as a result. “‘O coward that I am to live so long to see my best friend ta’en before my face!’” (5.3.35-36). In reality, Cassius had died for a different reason. After Caesar was killed by the Conspirators, Cassius and Brutus fought Mark Antony’s army. Cassius took part in the Battle of Philippi and was later defeated by Antony’s forces, which led Cassius to commit suicide. Another example that can disprove Shakespeare’s play as historically accurate is the mention of a clock striking. In Act II, Scene I, Brutus hears a clock striking, which is something that did not exist in this time period. This is called anachronism which was used by many playwrights. The first mechanical clocks ever made was during the fourteenth century and were in popular use. “‘Peace! Count the clock.’ ‘The clock hath stricken three’” (2.1.192-193). In ancient Roman times, a majority of the Romans used sundials. Sundials relied on the sun to work and so that people can use them to actually get the accurate time. But when night came, the time would not be correct at all. Cassius replied to Brutus when he asked what the time was and said it was three. “The sun continued to be the primary source of time measurement throughout the Classical period...decrees decided after sunset were not deemed valid” (Cartwright 4). Even though Shakespeare referenced real historical events by using Parallel Lives, he undoubtedly altered it so that it would aid his audience’s understanding of the