English: Julius Caesar

Two tribunes, Flavius and Murellus, find scores of Roman citizens wandering the streets, neglecting their work in order to watch Julius Caesar’s triumphal parade: Caesar has defeated the sons of the deceased Roman general Pompey, his archrival, in battle. The tribunes scold the citizens for abandoning their duties and remove decorations from Caesar’s statues. Caesar enters with his entourage, including the military and political figures Brutus, Cassius, and Antony. A Soothsayer calls out to Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” but Caesar ignores him and proceeds with his victory celebration. (enotes.com)

The historical Gaius Julius Caesar lived from 100 B.C.E. to March 15, 44 B.C.E. In 60 B.C.E., Caesar formed a political alliance with Crassus and Pompey called the First Triumvirate. Caesar led many wars, which expanded Rome’s territory as far as Britain, and subsequently touched off a civil war; his victory led to his being proclaimed a dictator for life, which in turn led to his assassination and the rise of the Roman Empire. In Shakespeare’s time, due to government censorship, writers who wished to comment on contemporary politics had to do so indirectly, which they often did by focusing on historical situations that seemed similar to current events. In 1599, Queen Elizabeth was getting old and had produced no heirs, and there was concern that political strife—even civil war—might follow her death. It is likely that Shakespeare intended Julius Caesar as a warning to ambitious British nobles who might try to seize power after Elizabeth died. (litcharts.com)

Shakespeare’s father was a glove-maker, and Shakespeare received no more than a grammar school education. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, but left his family behind around 1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor and playwright. He was an immediate success: Shakespeare soon became the most popular playwright of the day as well as a part-owner of the Globe Theater. His theater troupe was adopted by King James as the King’s Men in 1603. Shakespeare retired as a rich and prominent man to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1613, and died three years later.