· Lucius is Brutus' servant
· Taper- long thin candle
· Brutus knows Caesar has to die even though he has no grudge against him
-Brutus is worried that is Caesar gets absolute power then he will change!
-If give him the crown Caesar will have the power to control all of Rome and he won't have any guilt
-Brutus does not know if Caesar works from the heart or from the head, but knows that people with power look down on people w/ scorn
-Brutus knows he has to prevent that!
-Caesar is prone to go to the extremes
· Brutus: Caesar is like an serpent's egg and it is not dangerous when the serpent is in the egg (just like Caesar is not dangerous with out the crown) but when the egg hatches the serpent is dangerous (Caesar is dangerous if he gets the crown)
· Lucius shows Brutus the letter (from Cassius) that he found
· In letter it talks a lot about Speak- influence people on what to do Strike- get rid of Caesar Redress-correct what was wrong (dictatorship)
· Brutus decides to become a conspirator & other conspirators come to his house
-Decius and Casca argue about where the sun rises
· *Conspirators* : Cassius, Brutus, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius (guys who are going to kill Caesar)
· Cassius wants everyone to take an oath but Brutus says that they don't need to b/c if their reasons for being here in the 3 AM in the morning are not really true then they should go home and go to bed
· They want Cicero (older and wiser and good speaker) to be in the plan, b/c people respect him b/c he is mature
-Brutus says he would not join b/c he is not a follower, he is a leader and it has to be his idea
· Decius asks if they are just going to kill Caesar b/c Marc Antony is his right hand man
-Cassius afraid that Antony will become dictator and take revenge for Caesar's death, so they are going to kill him too
-Brutus stands up and says that they have to murder Caesar honorably and if they do this they would be purgers- remove him (they don't want to be called murders b/c they want to remove something that is bad). He also says that they can't kill Antony b/c he is just a limb on Caesar and can do no harm
· 3 AM on the Ides of March- 15th of March & the day Caesar is killed
-Conspirators need to split up but Cassius says that Caesar has become superstitious and since that night had so many omens happen he might stay in his house all day and never come to the Capitol
-Augurers- Roman officials charged w/ observing & interpreting omens for guidance in public affairs
-Decius says he can get Caesar to come to the Capitol by flattering him but Cassius says that all of them are going to get him @ 8:00
-Metellus mentions Caius Ligarius (supported Pompey, Caesar's enemy), so they go and fetch him b/c he is anti-Caesar
· Portia is Brutus' wife, comes in and Brutus sends her away
-Portia knows that Brutus is not sick (which he says he is) but there is something on his mind. Night and morning air to Romans is bad for your health
-Portia wants to know what is up? And who were those guys who were there?
· Portia is the daughter of the famous Roman, Cato
-Portia says she is upset about Brutus not telling her about his secrets (she tells him that she is a strong woman)
-Tells Portia he is going to tell her later
· Ligarius comes to Brutus and says he has so much respect for him he will forget about his illness (he is sick right now) and he will do what he says in the conspiracy
· On there to get Caesar to take him to the Capitol, Brutus is going to Ligarius how they are going to kill him