The Justification of Julius Caesar’s Death
From the beginning of time, men have always been coerced to do things they don’t necessarily want to do. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Caesar is killed in Act III ii. In the play, a group of conspirators, consisted of Roman men, devise a plan to kill him. Their main reason for this is to restore order back into Rome while possibly implementing a more democratic system. The justification of Julius Caesar goes so, Caesar needed to die because he became to much of a tyrant of Rome, he was ambitious while his intentions would have indubitably harmed Rome and finally he became a narcissistic and sadistic dictator who would have kept the Roman people and the city in enslavement and bondage.
Julius
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Caesar was an ambitious man whose intentions would have hurt Rome had he not been assassinated. In his speech, Brutus says, “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There were tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honor for his valor; and death for his ambition”(III.ii 25-29). This means that Caesar was indeed a magnanimous man, who was loved by everyone, but it doesn't change the fact that he was detrimental to the security of Rome. As he gained more and more power, it became apparent the power had corrupted him. The brave and valorous Caesar that once impressed the highest senators by conquering such a big empire was now gone. As Caesar started to obtain more power, he quickly turned into a sadistic and narcissistic dictator.
He also had no remorse for other people as he thought everyone was below him, even the people that helped him get to the pinnacle of his career. In the play, as the conspirators lure Caesar into the senate house, Metellus Cimber asked Caesar to unbanish his beloved brother. As Cimber kneels before him, Caesar says, “I must prevent thee, Cimber. These couchings and lowly courtesies Might fire the blood of ordinary men, and turn preordinance and first decree Into the law of Children. Be not fond, to think that Caesar bears such rebel blood That will be thaw’d from the true quality With that such melteth fools; I mean, sweet words, Low-crooked court’sies and base spaniel-fawned. Thy brother by decree is banished: If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, I spurn thee like a cur out my way” (III.i 39-50). Caesar is saying that he is beyond everyone, he is not ordinary. He ridicules Cimber by expounding that his brother is banishes and will never return. Caesar also says, in a vociferous tone, he shall kick Cimber out of the way like a dog should he not stop his idiotic requests. This further proves that Caesar was indeed a very barbarous man who only and only cared for the crown even if he had to gibe at innocent Romans to obtain
that. It can be argued that Caesar was a man who truly cared about the people of Rome, as Antony said in his speech at Caesar's funeral. This might have been true but only prior to when Caesar started to gain such unfathomable and indistinguishable power. When Caesar came back from war, he was immediately crowned a magnanimous noble-in fact he was about to crowned king. This obviously corrupted him as he only started to care for the crown and put on a guise that claimed he cared for the people as well. He also started to neglect the people that stood by his side as he thought he was above everyone else. As Brutus said in his speech, this was the reason for Caesar’s downfall. Julius Caesar, the commendable conqueror of lands, was a man that was liked by everyone. He stood for success and beating your opponents until they surrender or die. However, as he came back from war and was about to be crowned king, a fundamental change happened within him. He was adulterated by his limitless power as he mused in the possibility of ruling over Rome. Conspirators saw this and sought fit to assassinate him. His death was justified because he became too much of a tyrant, he had ambitious plans that would have hurt Rome and he would have treated the Roman people with enslavement and servility.
Imagine it is the year 59 B.C.E., the greatest republic to date is collapsing and it seems it is doomed with a senate which does not care about its people. There seems to be no hope. But then comes a young man who has ideas of equality that could save the republic. That man is Julius Caesar. Conqueror of Gaul, Crosser of the Rubicon, member of the First Tiumbarant, Caesar was a brilliant politician and general. At the time, Rome was governed by Pompey and the senate. Both were in favor bettering themselves and not the poor people. Caesar was in favour of improving life for the lower class. This was not accepted by the senate or Pomey, making them question his ethics. As Caesar became more powerful, as when he conquered Gaul, Pompey and the senate began to plot. They could not have someone as dangerous as Caesar in Rome. Because of this, the senate planned and carried out an assassination attempt, and succeeded. This was only for the senate to maintain power and complete control over Rome. Along with caesar, a little bit of
Caesar, a strong and powerful man that doesn’t appear to have any fears. With only revealing slight fears to very trustworthy followers Caesar seemed to be invincible. “But I fear him not. Yet if my name were liable to fear, I do not know the man I should avoid so soon as that spare Cassius.” (I, II, 208-211). The Conspirators saw this as a threat and from that moment planned vengeance on Caesar. While intimidating and harsh the people of Rome adored him. The lines of Flavius when Caesar returns to Rome “Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get you home! Is this a holiday? What, know you not, being mechanical, you ought not to walk upon a laboring day without the sign of your profession?” (I, I, 1-5). They treated his return like a holiday, a festival. Even with this in mind, the Conspirators worries worsened that Caesar would become an overpowering dictator that put Rome at risk. In this situation most citizens would say spare Caesar, but the Conspirators were set on killing him. In the end the Conspirators did what they thought was right and killed Caesar in the senate, but were they right?
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was one of the most outstanding leaders in history. He was the first ruler of the Romano-Hellenic civilization and achieved his goals with great success throughout his life of 56 years. He was assassinated by the conspirators, who accused him for practicing tyranny. This essay will discuss whether it was right for the conspirators to murder Caesar and what its consequences were.
He doesn't like Caesar because he does not want him to have power. In some way he is also jealous ...
First of all, Caesar always felt entitled to himself and always had the audacity to see everyone as beneath him. A great example of Caesar’s bravery and fearlessness is when he was eighteen and was escape the punishment from the dictator Sulla, so in the process he was captured by pirates, who decided to be help for ransom. “When they demanded twenty talents for his ransom, he laughed at them for not knowing who he was, and spontaneously promised to give them fifty talents instead, Next after he had dispatched friends to various cites to gather the money…he felt so superior to them that whenever he wanted to sleep, he would order them to be quiet” . Even being surrounded by murderous pirates clearly out numbered, he refused to let them think that they were in charge while he was in their captivity for thirty-eight days.
September 9th, 2007: Inmate Jerry Martin, a 37 year old white male steals a truck from a Huntsville parking lot. He drives it into a female correctional officer’s horse, ultimately ending in her falling to her death. An innocent woman, killed because of a man’s poor decision. Homicide is a felony widely regarded as one of, if not the, worst offences a human can commit. The act of ending a man or woman’s life, whether intentional, or unintentional, is one that can very rarely be justifiable. That being said, however, I do believe there are some instances where homicide can be socially accepted.
Caesar was a man known for his love of knowledge and exploring the things that he doesn’t know. While on his way to Rhodes to study with Apollonius, a Greek rhetorician he was kidnapped by pirates who demanded a ransom for his life (5 Things). Insulted by how little they asked for he went as far to even demand that they raise it, and eventually after they received the money he had them captured and executed (5 Things). This shows just how ruthl...
Julius Caesar was the dictator of Rome in his prime. Some say his journey to the top was paved in corruption, other claimed he was a man of the people. His enemies knew to fear him for his ruthlessness. His followers adored him because everything that he had succeeded in was done for them. Unfortunately, his betrayal transpired by his senators who felt he had grown too powerful and stabbed him to death. However, Julius Caesar’s connection to the political world, his innate ability as an army general, and his desire to advocate for the rights of his people made him a great leader.
They were losing their freedoms and thought the only way to resolve this problem was to kill Caesar. Killing Caesar did not help make the government a democracy like the Senate had wanted. Marcus Brutus and Cassius ended up leaving Rome, so their plot did not help them. Caesar was the leader of Rome, the top of the Roman Empire. The people he thought he could trust most, his so-called friends, took him to the bottom of the Roman Empire, to his grave.
In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, I saw two main characters as tragic heroes. First, I saw Julius Caesar as a tragic hero because his will to gain power was so strong that he ended up losing his life for it. The fact that he could have been such a strong leader was destroyed when he was killed by conspirators. I saw Marcus Brutus as a second tragic hero in this play. Brutus was such a noble character that did not deserve to die. The main reason why he did die, however, was because he had led a conspiracy against Caesar and eventually killed him. These two characters were the tragic heroes of the play in my opinion.
First of all, Marcus Brutus has the character flaw of poor judge of character. He cannot discern a person’s character or true motivation. He, however, acts on his judgments, regardless of whether they are true or not. Brutus feels that Caesar is too ambitious for power, and that he, along with the other eight men plotting the demise of Caesar, must prevent it, “And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg— / Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous— / And kill him in the shell” (911). Brutus decides that Caesar must die because he ambitious. Ambition is not necessarily an evil and virulent thing. Ambition causes men and women to strive towards reaching an attainment. Brutus assumes that Caesar will turn his back on his supporters due to this ambition. One of the most famous lines in Julius Caesar is the dying words of Caesar: “Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar” (938). If Caesar had truly turned h...
Julius Caesar is remembered as one of the greatest military minds in history and credited with arranging the basis for the Roman Empire. Caesar’s military brilliance bought Rome more land and more power, which led into the increase of size and strength of Rome. Caesar’s dictatorship helped the strength in Rome. Julius Caesar was assassinated which lead to a monarchy that was ruled by Octavin. Caesar’s death caused an effect to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Many people today in the 21st century try and follow the greatness of Julius Caesar. The assassination of Julius Caesar was a tragedy with the contributions Caesar made to strengthen Rome’s success.
With this speech, Caesar seals his fate. After disregarding three separate warnings that his life would be in danger and he still goes to the Senate that day, Caesar sits surrounded by the noblemen and denies their request to revoke the banishment of Cimber. He denies fate and believes that his free will is enough to save him. His ego and self-importance grows stronger by the word, as he compares himself to the brightest star in the sky. He is stabbed to death by men who, until they were convinced otherwise, had been loyal to Rome and Caesar. By the end of the play, Caesar’s supercilious opinion of himself proves true.
Honor and power is what drives the conspirators to assassinate Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Caesar is now the single leader of Rome, and members of the Senate have concerns that he will abuse his sole power. Therefore, they plot and accomplish the assassination of Caesar in an attempt to rebuild the balance of Rome. Rome falls into chaos with an unknown future with no central leader for the people to follow. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius, a member of the Senate, explains to his friend, Brutus, that Caesar is not the god he makes himself out to be. Instead, he argues both he and Brutus are equal to Caesar and are just as deserving of the throne. Cassius’ speech to Brutus diminishes Caesar’s godly demeanor through
Tragedies most often refer back to the actions of men. The play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, provides a good example to how the quote is shown to be accurate." The calamities of tragedy do not simply happen, nor are they sent [by the gods]: they proceed mainly from actions, and those actions of men." This statement is profoundly proven through the past and present actions of the conspirators throughout the play. From the beginning of the play, the reader can identify who will necessarily betray and plot to murder Caesar.