Act V: Antony and Octavius are surprised to see Brutus and Cassius come to them but Antony says he thinks the reason is so they will appear brave when they really aren't. The four generals meet and, essentially, insult one another for a few minutes before the battle begins.

Cassius admits to Messala that he is having misgivings about the battle. He says he has had a suddent change in philosophy because he used to be Epicurean (didn't believe in supernatural or omens) and now believes in omens. He says eagles were travelling with his soldiers (eagles are good signs) but are now replaced by vultures (bad sign). He is afraid. Cassius convinces Brutus to commit suicide if they lose the battle.

When the battle begins, Brutus sends his men in too early but is able to overcome Octavius' men. Cassius however is at the disadvantage as Antony is overtaking his men. At one point, Cassius sends Titinius to ride to the battle and report back on what happened (because they cannot see that far). Cassius still cannot see well so he has Pindarus climb a hill and yell down what he sees happening. Pindarus mistakenly reports Titinius is taken prisoner and Cassius has Pindarus stab him so he can die. Pindarus feels guilty so he runs away. Titinius returns to see the corpse, says a few words about how Cassius must have misunderstood what he saw and heard and then sends Messala off to tell Brutus what happened. While Messala is away, Titinius stabs himself and dies. Brutus arrives to see both corpses, says he feels sad but cannot cry until after the battle. There is more fighting and Brutus, realizing he is about to lose, asks several men to help him commit suicide. Most say no. Strato eventually agrees to hold Brutus' sword so he can run on it. Strato looks away (like Cassius did) and Brutus runs on the sword (killing himself). Antony and Octavius arrive to see the corpse and say words of praise over the body. They realize Brutus did what he did because he thought it was the right thing to do while the others just wanted revenge or were envious.

Act IV: This act opens with a look at Antony's devious side. He, along with Lepidus and Octavius, are compiling a list of people they intend to kill. Among them are relatives. Lepidus agrees to kill off one of his relatives if Antony will kill of his nephew. Antony agrees. After sending Lepidus off to get the will from Caesar's home, Antony tells Octavius he does not like the idea of sharing the world with Lepidus. He refers to Lepidus as a beast of burden who is good for doing menial work and bearing the burden of their work but he is not smart and not a good leader. Octavius questions Antony a little but doesn't seem to upset by Antony's thoughts. Antony also talks about fixing the will such that the people will not be given as much money as he told them they would be getting.

Scene ii opens with a messenger from Brutus arriving back at Brutus' tent. The messenger says Cassius and his army are nearby. They are in the desert preparing for battle against Antony and Octavius. Brutus asks the messenger how Cassius treated him because the way one treated the messenger is the way one would treat the person who sent the messenger. Cassius treated the messenger with polite formality which tells Brutus their friendship is in trouble. When Cassius arrives he is angry. Brutus brings Cassius into his tent so they can talk in private. Scene iii is their chat. Cassius accuses Brutus of wronging him because Cassius had sent a letter telling Brutus to overlook Lucius Pella's bribes and not punish him but Brutus wouldn't do it. Brutus spends several lines telling Cassius he has lost his honor and then accuses him of refusing to send Brutus money to pay for the soldiers. Cassius argues the entire time, threatens to do something he will be sorry for and eventually lies to Brutus telling him the messenger got the message wrong. Brutus buys the lie and they shake hands. Along comes a poet and Brutus and Cassius throw him out. This shows the audience that Brutus and Cassius are throwing out rationality and reason. Shortly thereafter, Brutus admits his wife has killed herself and then Messala and a couple of others arrive to share news. Antony and Octavius have been killing conspirators. Brutus denies knowing his wife's fate and hears the news from Messala. Cassius then talks about the upcoming battle. He wants to wait where they are and let Antony and Octavius come to him so those soldiers will be tired. Brutus, on the other hand, wants to go to Antony to avoid having the people stuck in the middle, who live under forced contribution thanks to the soldiers, join Antony. Brutus is also afraid that they have tapped all of their resources and are at the height of their enthusiasm. He does not want to lose his advantages. Cassius agrees and leaves. When he is alone with his servant boy, Brutus seems nervous and calls Varro and Claudius to sleep in his tent with him. When all are asleep, Brutus sees Caesar's ghost. Scared, he wakens everyone and sends word to Cassius to start marching to the battlefield immediately.

ActIII: This act opens with Caesar walking around his house, upset because Calphurnia (his wife) woke him three times by screaming in her sleep, 'help, ho the murder Caesar!" This would unnerve anyone. In a display of superstition, Caesar sends a servant to go to the priests who are like fortune tellers and learn what his future will be. While the servant is gone, Cal enters and tells Caesar not to go outside today. Caesar shows his pride by saying he isn't afraid of the strange things that are happening outside because they could be a warning for anyone not just him. Cal says the heavens do not put out so many strange things to warn people when a beggar dies but they do when a Prince dies. This means the chaos is a warning for Caesar alone. Caesar again acts prideful and says he is more dangerous than danger and men should not fear death because it happens. He also says the coward dies many times (everytime he shows his cowardice a piece of him dies) but the brave dies only once. The servant returns and says the priests tell him not to go out today because when they made a sacrifice they couldn't find a heart in the beast sacrificed. They mean the conspirators are heartless and will kill him. Caesar feels offended because he thinks the priests are calling him a coward. He is more determined than ever to go out until Cal shows her fear and tells him to say it is her fear that keeps him at home. Caesar agrees. Enter Decius who interprets Cal's dream as the people being revived by Caesar's blood not rejoicing in his death. He then says the senators will offer Caesar a crown but not if he won't show up and he says the senators will call him names for hiding behind his wife's fears. Caesar's pride is attacked and he decides to go. At this moment the rest of the conspirators arrive along with Antony and they all go to the capitol.

On the way to the capitol, Artimidorius and the soothsayer try to warn Caesar but his pride gets in the way. Trebonius gets Antony out of the way so he won't have to be killed. Metellus begs Caesar to unbanish his brother and Caesar refuses saying he cannot be moved by begging. Brutus joins Metellus on his knees followed by Cassius and others. Caesar refuses to change his mind about the banished man and refers to himself as the northern star and above other men. Casca is the first to stab him. Brutus is the last one and as he stabs, Caesar says his famous words and then falls dead.

Act II: This act opens with Brutus walking in his orchard and thinking about his decision to join or not to join the conpsiracy to kill Caesar. He says 'for mine own self I know no reason to spurn him' which means he cannot think of one good personal reason to kill Caesar. In fact, he also says something about Caesar always acting justly and never out of favoritism (or the opposite). Still, Brutus thinks about those who went before Caesar and who changed when they came into power. They went from being nice generous guys to being cruel dictators. Therefore, Brutus should kill Caesar before he comes into power and before he becomes a cruel dictator. Brutus uses the metaphors and similes of a serpant and a snake. The conspirators go to Brutus' house to make sure Brutus is with them. Brutus greets them warmly, shaking their hands. The suggestion is made that they swear an oath to promise to go through with the plan and to stick together. Brutus is upset by this suggestion and says anyone who has to take an oath to go through with the plan is doing it for the wrong reasons. Brutus thinks killing Caesar is so justified and necessary that anyone would see it has to be done and would not need to swear an oath that they are doing it. All agree and then Decius suggests they kill Antony as well. The other conspirators understand Antony is a threat because he is Caesar's right hand man and good friend. Brutus again comes out against this suggestion. In Brutus' mind the assassination is going to be a bloodless sacrifice and a good thing. He wants to be known as a person who got rid of the bad stuff rather than a murderer. We can see Brutus is very naive here. He refers to killing Antony as cutting off the head of Caesar and then hacking off the limbs (Antony is a limb). Cassius seems to know better but he agrees with Brutus. Finally, they all leave and Brutus is alone again. Enter Portia. Portia tells Brutus she knows he is upset about something because he has been pacing angrily and verbally short with her. She begs him to tell her his problem and says he should because, even though she is a woman, she is the daugher of Cato (a great man) and the wife of Brutus (another great man). She kneels, stabs herself in the thigh to show she can keep a secret and finally attacks Brutus' honor by saying if he won't tell her the truth she is nothing more than his harlot. Brutus agrees to tell her but is side tracked by the entrance of another conspirator. Scene iii is Artimedoris reading his letter of warning. Scene iv is Portia showing her fear that something bad will happen to Brutus. She sends Lucius to find out how Brutus is doing. The soothesayer confirms her fears.

Act I, scene iii is the storm scene. You have to understand the philosophy of the Chain of Being to fully grasp the nuances of this scene. There are strange happenings along with the violent storm and these are heralded as "prodigious" and "portentious" things. The overall feeling is that bad things are happening and the heavens or gods are angry with the people. Casca and Cicero are the first ones in the scene to discuss the storm and such. Cicero leaves as Cassius approaches. He tells Casca the storm is caused by Caesar's attempts to move up the chain by becoming king. As proof, Cassius says he has offered himself to the heavens by standing in the path of the lightening and he is not harmed. Therefore, the gods are not angry with him. Casca buys this story but the astute audience member knows the chaos could just as well be caused by the conspirator's plot to overthrow Caesar. Cassius says he is going to stab Caesar (I will wear my dagger..) to avoid being mistreated by Caesar (Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius). Cassius says something using the word "offal," which means a type of dung or manure that is used as fuel for fires. Cassius refers to Rome as offal because it is fueling the fire of Caesar's glory. Cinna arrives on the scene and the three agree one will throw the anonymous letters in Brutus' window so Brutus will think the people want him to overthrow Caesar and become king. Later in the night, the conspirators will all meet at Pompey's theatre and they will go together to visit Brutus. Cassius is sure they have most of Brutus' loyalty and one more visit will convince Brutus to join the conspiracy. Casca compares Brutus' addition to the conspirators to alchemy because he thinks Brutus' good reputation (which is like gold) will make their reputations (which are like regular metals) better (turn them to gold). It is slow reading as we have to figure out what is being said as we go along. Keep in mind, the version we are using contains notes and plot summaries to assist you as you read. In scene i, we saw Marullus and Flavius confront the commoners. Shakespeare filled this scene with puns as the cobbler confused the soldiers. It ends with the soldiers shooing the crowds away and setting off to take down the decorations. Before they leave we hear the quote about plucking feathers from Caesar's wing so that he will fly an ordinary pitch. The soldiers mean the people are the feathers and if they can prevent the people from hailing Caesar then Caesar will not become powerful and he will be an ordinary man. They also say they are afraid Caesar will treat them like servants if he becomes too powerful. This is a recurring theme. Cassius mentions it in scene ii and Brutus, himself, will use it as a reason to kill Caesar in the orchard scene later.

In scene ii, we see Caesar and his entourage head in to the games. On the way, Caesar tells Antony to touch Calpurnia during the race to help her become unbarren. This passage lets the audience know Caesar has no legitimate heir. This will become very important later on when he dies and his estate is divided. After Caesar and the others enter the coloseum, Cassius stands behind to talk with Brutus. He begins his manipulation by asking Brutus if they are still friends because Brutus has appeared unfriendly lately. Brutus assures Cassius that they are good friends and admits he is at war with himself. Cassius, knowing this war could be about Caesar, presses his advantage and raises the question of the mirror. Cassius wants Brutus to let him be Brutus' mirror and reflect the people's views of Brutus' greatness and worthiness to be leader. There is a general cheer from the coloseum and Brutus says he fears the people are making Caesar king. Cassius moves on the word fear and starts to talk of how Caesar is just a mortal man like Brutus. Cassius tells the story of how he saved Caesar's life when they were swimming and adds that Caesar did not reward him for it. Cassius also tells of the time Caesar was sick and cried like a sick girl (an insult back then). Finally, Cassius says the name Brutus and the name Caesar are the same and that Brutus is just as good a man as Caesar. Caesar is a giant because they (Cassius, Brutus and the other people) made him that way through worshipping him. It follows, then, that if they made him great they can make him ungreat. Brutus says he had already had some ideas similar to Cassius' and that he will listen to more of what Cassius has to say in the future.

Before the scene ends, Caesar, Antony and Casca enter. Caesar tells Antony he does not like Cassius because Cassius is power hungry. Antony tells Caesar not to worry about him. Caesar also show his mortality when he admits he is deaf in one ear.

At Cassius' and Brutus' request, Casca tells the story of the shouting in the coloseum. There were 3 cheers. Apparently, Antony had offered Caesar a coronet (a crown-like headpiece) three times and Caesar rejected it all three times. Each time he rejected it, the crowd cheered louder. At the end, Caesar fainted but Brutus says he has the falling sickness (epilepsy). This is another sign that Caesar is mortal.