A Probable Italian Source of Shakespeare's "Julius Cæsar". Alexander Boecker

Rome to rise and mutiny.”—J. C., III., II, 224.

      “He hath brought many captives home to Rome,

      Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.”

      Calpurnia denounces Brutus:

      “O Bruto, ò Bruto, veramente Bruto,

      Non men d’animo, e d’opre, che di nome,

      Come t’è dato il cuor d’uccider quello,

      Ch’à te donato avea la vita e in luogo

      Preso t’avea di figlio? ahi scelerato,

      Ahi d’ogn’ umanità nemico; cuore

      Più che d’Orso, e di Tigre Ircana crudo,

      Come a ferir quel sacrosanto corpo,

      Orrido gel non ti legò le membra?”—P. 133.

      Antony specifically mentions Brutus as “the well beloved.” Of special significance is the fact that he makes the same play on the name Brutus^[17] as we find in Pescetti:

      “O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts

      And men have lost their reason.”—III., II, 102.

      It is noteworthy that Calpurnia, after the play on the name, proceeds to emphasize the brutality of the murder, not only by referring to the closeness of the relation between Brutus and Caesar, but also by comparing the insensate cruelty of his assassin to that of the most savage beasts. There is no warrant for this touch in the histories. Again, note the parallel:

      “For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel;

      Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.”

      —III., II, 180.

      Another individual touch of Pescetti’s reappears in Antony’s oration. Thus the Chorus in “Cesare,” on hearing that Caesar’s body is being borne to his house by a few slaves, exclaims,

      “E quegli, a cui comandamenti presti

      Erano i Regi, e le provincie intiere,

      Or appena hà trè servi,

      Che ’l portin sù le spalle.”^[18]—Ces., p. 127.

      The Messenger at the sight of the corpse laments,

      “Ecco dov’ è ridutto

      Il pur dianzi Signor dell’ universo.”—P. 136.

      Antony says:

      “But yesterday the word of Caesar might

      Have stood against the world: now lies he there,

      And none so poor to do him reverence.”—III., II, 117.

      Also Act III., Sc. I:

      “O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?

      Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,

      Shrunk to this small measure?”

      Calpurnia exclaims:

      “Dunque, oimè, quella destra,

      C’hà vinti, e debellati

      Potentissimi eserciti, e distrutte

      Fortissime Cittadi, or fredda torpe

      Ad ogni officio inutile, e impotente?”—Ces., p. 129.

      The corpse^[19] of Caesar is not displayed upon the stage, but the comments of the Chorus warn the spectator that it is approaching borne by the slaves, and Calpurnia cries:

      “Fermate o là, posate

      Quel corpo in terra, acciocchè col mio pianto

      Lavi dall’ aspre sue ferite il sangue.”—Ces., p. 136.

      The familiar,

      “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now”

      has its parallel in the lines of the speech of the Second Messenger addressed to the Chorus of Women:

      “Apparecchiate, o donne, gli occhi al pianto.”^[20]—Ces., p. 146.

      Calpurnia, in her exhortation to the soldiers referred to before, continues:

      “Sù, che fate? stringete

      Nell’ una man il ferro

      Nell’ altra le facelle,

      E correte alle case

      De’ traditori ingiusti,

      E uccidete, e ardete ciò, ch’avvanti

      Vi si para, ond’ al cielo

      Salgano le faville, e ’l Tebro porti

      L’onde sanguigne al mare.

      Che parlo? o dove sono? ahi che ’l soverchio

      Dolor t’hà tratta di te stessa fuori,

      Infelice Calpurnia.”—Ces., p. 134.

      Noteworthy in the above is the touch, “Che parlo? o dove sono?” etc. Thus Antony pauses:

      “Bear with me;

      My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

      And I must wait till it come back to me.”

      Plutarch records the doings of the mob after they had been aroused by Antony’s speech. He recounts that the mob cried “Kill the murderers,” but chronicles no other exclamations. Neither does Appian. In Pescetti, Calpurnia’s speech contains material for the exclamations which interrupt Antony’s discourse, but a direct parallel is to be found in the cry of the soldiers inflamed by the exhortations of Caesar’s wife and the laments of the Chorus. They shout:

      “Sù diam di mano all’armi,

      E gridando armi, armi, armi,

      Alla vendetta gli animi infiammiamo.

      Arme, arme, sangue, sangue, ammazza, ammazza,

      Degli empi traditor non resti razza.

      Altri occupi le porte,

      Altri corra alla piazza,

      Altri al Tempio di Giove, altri alla Corte,

      E per tutti apparisca orrore, e morte.”—Ces., pp. 143–144.

      During Antony’s speech the mob cries:

      “Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay!

      Let not a traitor live!”

      This is not only a close verbal parallel, but the similarity in the exclamatory treatment is remarkable.

      Another personal touch is to be found in the idea that Caesar’s fall was Rome’s fall, which is strong throughout Pescetti, and is not traceable to the influence of the historians. Thus the Second Messenger says:

      “Giunto è l’ultimo dì; giunto è la fine

      Di questa altiera patria, ò donne; Roma

      Fù; noi fummo Romani; or ogni gloria,

      Ogni grandezza nostra è posta in fondo.”—Ces., p. 146.

      Antony exclaims,

      “O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!

      Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,

      Whilst bloody treason flourished over us.”

      But one more point in connection with Antony’s oration remains for discussion. Antony’s friendship for Caesar and his desire for vengeance on the latter’s murderers are matters just as readily derivable from Plutarch’s accounts as from the oration by Antony as recorded in Appian. Pescetti, following Appian’s account of the events immediately following the assassination, puts the following in the