Julius Caesar William Shakespeare

The play opens with two?tribunes?discovering the?commoners?of Rome celebrating?Julius Caesar‘s?triumphant return?from?defeating?the sons of his military rival,?Pompey. The tribunes, insulting the crowd for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, attempt to end the festivities and break up the commoners, who return the insults. During the?feast of Lupercal, Caesar holds a victory parade and a?soothsayer?warns him to “Beware?the ides of March,” which he ignores. Meanwhile,?Cassius?attempts to convince?Brutus?to join his?conspiracy?to kill Caesar. Although Brutus, friendly towards Caesar, is hesitant to kill him, he agrees that Caesar may be abusing his power. They then hear from?Casca?that?Mark Antony?has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times. Casca tells them that each time Caesar refused it with increasing reluctance, hoping that the crowd watching would insist that he accept the crown. He describes how the crowd applauded Caesar for denying the crown, and how this upset Caesar. On the eve of the ides of March, the conspirators meet and reveal that they have forged letters of support from the Roman people to tempt Brutus into joining. Brutus reads the letters and, after much moral debate, decides to join the conspiracy, thinking that Caesar should be killed to?prevent?him from doing anything against the people of Rome if he were ever to be crowned.