Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and most quoted tragedies: many people know lines such as ‘Et tu, Brute?’ even if they have never read the play or seen it staged. It was first written in about 1600-1 and the first known staging took place in 1623 but, presumably, other performances actually predate this.

The structure of the play shows similarity with classical dramatic structures. Caesar is at his highest point of success in the early acts before being assassinated at the centre of the play. The conspirators then have their highest point of success before finally meeting their own end by the conclusion of act 5. Most of the action is based on the conspiracy to kill Caesar and the aftermath of this act, although throughout the play there are constant reminders of the influence of the common people and the ways they can shape political revolutions. The play begins with the festival of Lupercalia and the workers are enjoying their holiday and threatening to overturn the existing social and political order with their anarchic celebrations. This theme was previously seen in the history plays concerning Henry VI, when the power of the mob was also made apparent.

In Rome, Julius Caesar is regarded as a glorious, conquering general of such power and ability that he is to be offered the crown, thereby bringing to an end the Roman Republic (bearing in mind that it would have been very dangerous for Shakespeare or anyone else to promote republicanism at that time). Fearing that he would accept this offer, the conspirator Cassius and his colleagues endeavour to persuade Brutus to join their plot. Brutus is considered to be a very noble and honourable Roman and he would be a splendid public face for the coup. Brutus is eventually persuaded and joins in the murder of Caesar in the Senate, with all conspirators stabbing the would-be tyrant. Seizing this opportunity, Marc Antony subsequently whips up a crowd to support the memory of Caesar and to wage war against the plotters. He then forms a triumvirate with Octavius Caesar (subsequently to become the Emperor Augustus) and the little-regarded but conveniently-rich Lepidus. The triumvirate wastes little time in inaugurating repressive measures (the conspirators were, after all, right to be suspicious of Caesar and his camp) and hundreds are marked down for extra-judicial executions.

The play reaches a conclusion at the battle of Philippi, at which the conspirators are defeated by the triumvirate and the Roman Empire is subsequently established. Along the way, all kinds of supernatural activities take place and lend a different dimension to the materialist nature of political revolution. In addition, numerous examples of extraordinary rhetoric surround the set-piece speeches, most notably Marc Antony’s reading of Caesar’s will (the ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears’ speech). The brilliance of the structure, together with the language, characterization and the depth of the themes tackled make this one of Shakespeare’s very best plays.