· Author- William Shakespeare
· Tragedy- does the ending benefit for the good guy or the bad guy?
       -Julius Caesar play is a tragedy b/c of the ending (Julius dies)
       -Comedy- does not have to be funny 
· Takes place in Rome (Central Italy)
       -Founded in 753 a.d.
       -Trojan War: Greeks vs. Trojans
       -Trojan fighter Aenenas fled to central Italy b/c of the Greeks won
       -Won b/c of the Trojan horse
       -Aenenas had twins- Romulus and Remus
       -Romulus considered 1st king of city b/c killed brother to be sole ruler 
       -Rome is famous for it's powerful army = Rome ruled civilized world
· Rome occupied Tiber River that is surrounded by 7 hills
       -Excellent location
       -Tiber River= trade, water, transportation
       -Since have 7 hills, Rome was well protected
· Caesar was "ripped from mother's womb"
       -Get caesarian section from Caesar's name
· Rome divided into stages of Roman history
       -Kingships- early history of Rome (Monarchy)
       -Republic- this is when story takes place (Republic- people get to choose who want to rule their nation)
               -Made up of Senate- Roman law making body
               -Roman society split into 2 levels- plebeian- commoner patrician- aristocrat 
               -Results in a Civil War
       -Empire

Start of Book:

ACT I:
· Rome founded in approximately 753 B.C. and ended in 476 A.D.
· The play opens with Caesar's return to Rome after defeating Pompey, his rival
· Cobbler- a person who mends shoes
· The celebration of Luprecal included a foot race in which Marc Antony would participate
-Calpurnia is Caesar's wife
-Caesar hopes to cure his wife's infertility by having Marc Antony touch her as he runs by
· A soothsayer in the crowd warns Caesar to "BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH"
-Ides of March- 15th day of the month
-"Flourish" is a stage direction, which calls for a fanfare of sennet
· Cassius a senator wants to kill Caesar b/c he does not want him to become a dictator and that will do away with a Republican government
-Cassius wants Brutus to join his group of conspirators to plot a plan to kill Caesar for patriotism
-Cassius needs Brutus b/c he is a respectable Roman
· Caesar does not trust Cassius and thinks he is dangerous
-Caesar thinks that people like Cassius do not like people w/ more power than them
-Cassius is jealous and he thinks Caesar is just like the Colossus- big statue
· Marc Antony is Caesar's right hand man
· Caesar is deft in his left ear
· Cassius is trying to persuade Brutus into joining the group, and in the background of shouting is going on
-Casca (patrician) said that there was shouting b/c Caesar refused a crown 3 times from Antony
-All of the crowd cheered b/c he refused it and they all had bad breath and Caesar fainted and foamed @ the mouth (that is where we get caesars)
-Caesar wanted to take the crown but wanted to put on a show, so he wanted the crowd to boo him for not taking it, so he got mad and stormed away
-He said that his feelings toward the crowd was his illness and the crowd forgave him
· Rabblement- commoners
· "Greek to me"- I have no idea what your talking about
· Cassius wants Casca to eat with him
· Brutus thinks Casca is blunt but Cassius says that it is just a mask covering what he really thinks
· Seduce- temptation and giving in (Cassius believes he has seduced Brutus into the plan)
· Cassius is going to write many letters in different handwriting (pretending to be prominent Romans) and put them on Brutus' pratis chair (senator chair), window sill @ home, and stick one on the statue of his ancestors
-The main points of the letters are going to say that Brutus is wise and important and Caesar is overly ambitious (this will finally make Brutus part of the conspiracy)
· Casca tells Cicero (older and wiser) that many strange things were happening that night: met a lion in downtown = Capitol and the lion ignores him, saw an owl in daytime, saw a slave = bondsman with hand on fire but his was not burned
· Casca thinks all of these things were omens- sign, that something bad was going to happen
· Cassius tempted gods to hit him with lighting, Cassius says Casca is dull and not a true Roman b/c Casca thinks Cassius shouldn't of done that
-Cassius says all these weird things were happening b/c of Caesar and he says he is going to kill Caesar to get himself out of Caesar's control
-Cassius thinks that Casca is a slave to Caesar but Casca says that is in it with him and is part of the pan now, and Cassius is happy
· They are about to embark on a bloody dangerous journey and are meeting at Pompey- theater in the Capitol
· Cinna enters (a conspirator) and tells Cassius that they really need Brutus but Cassius says that he already suckered him and Cassius told Cinna to take the letters to Brutus and then come back to Pompey
· Cassius & Casca are going to talk to Brutus to finish convincing him
-If Brutus joins, people would know that if Brutus were in it then people would think it would be a heroic that they killed Caesar