Eve of Ides Read online

  Eve Of Ides

  A Play of Brutus & Caesar

  By David Blixt

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, events, and organizations portrayed in this work are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

  Eve Of Ides

  Copyright © 2012 by David Blixt

  Cover by David Blixt

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author.

  For information about production rights, visit:

  www.davidblixt.com

  Published by Sordelet Ink

  Inspired by the facts of history, the plays of Shakespeare, and the novels of Colleen McCullough.

  For my father

  Al Blixt

  The best man I have ever known

  The first reading of Eve Of Ides was held at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey as part of their ‘Lend Us Your Ears’ series.

  It was directed by Rick Sordlet, and produced by Joe Discher, under Artistic Director Bonnie Monte.

  CAESAR – Edward Gero

  BRUTUS – Grant Aleksander

  ANTONY – Michael Rossmey

  VARRO – Robert Hock

  SERVANT – Arthur Lazalde

  CONTENTS

  FOREWARD

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  PART I

  ACT ONE

  PART II

  ACT TWO

  PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTES

  FOREWARD

  The historian Plutarch writes that, the night before he was assassinated, Caius Julius Caesar attended a dinner party. Also in attendance were his nephew Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) and the leader of the regicidal assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus.

  EVE OF IDES explores the relationship betwen Brutus and Caesar, both before and after death. The first act records the events of that fateful dinner the night before the Ides.

  The second act is a scene hinted at in Shakespeare’s play, but never staged – the second appearance of Caesar’s ghost to Brutus.

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

  CAESAR – Caius Julius Caesar

  SERVANT – an ancient slave in Lepidus’ house

  BRUTUS – Marcus Junius Brutus

  ANTONY – Marcus Antonius

  VARRO – Marcus Terentius Varro

  I

  MARCH 14, 44 BC

  ACT ONE

  MARCH 14, 44 BC

  INTERIOR ROMAN HOUSE - EVENING

  In darkness. Snippets of the Cassius/Brutus dialogue are overcut, creating a cacaphony, with one speech running through clearly.

  CASSIUS (V.O.)

  Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world

  Like a Colossus, and we petty men

  Walk under his huge legs and peep about

  To find ourselves dishonorable graves.

  Men are some times masters of their fates.

  The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

  But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

  The speech then changes to laughter and sounds of a pleasant, slightly rowdy dinner party. It is at a distance, as if in another room.

  Lights up to discover CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR - 55, aristocratic, tall, fit, balding, smartly dressed - standing at a desk with several papers about him. He reads one while signing another, working furiously. During the whole act, he is constantly working. The room does not belong to him, so his clutter seems out of place. He takes one sheet over to the window to read by the fading exterior light. Frustrated, he turns up a lamp. He makes several notes, scratches out a line.

  CAESAR

  (calling) Who’s within?

  A SERVANT enters. The sounds from the dining room increase.

  CAESAR

  (handing the paper to the SERVANT) Take this to Caius Trebonius at once. Tell him to have it prepared for a vote in tomorrow’s meeting.

  SERVANT

  Yes, Caius Julius. At once.

  Thunder.

  CAESAR

  And inform the augers I want sacrifices to keep Jupiter at bay tonight. This storm looks - portentous.

  The SERVANT bows and exits. CAESAR returns to work.

  BRUTUS enters. He is a man in his middle forties, expensively clothed.

  BRUTUS

  A problem, Caesar?

  CAESAR

  No, merely last minute detritus. Go back, Brutus, enjoy the company.

  BRUTUS

  I was deputed to find you.

  CAESAR

  (snorting) With all Antony’s antics, I’m astonished I was missed.

  BRUTUS

  The Dictator’s absence will always be felt.

  CAESAR

  And resented. Almost as much as his presence. Go back, Brutus, feast. Lepidus has set a magnificent table.

  BRUTUS

  For your benefit, Caesar.

  CAESAR

  (Writing industriously) Can’t be helped. Directly after tomorrow’s Senate meeting, I leave for the kingdom of the Parthians. The ghost of Marcus Crassus will haunt me until I avenge his lost eagles. (Lays his pen aside and looks at BRUTUS for the first time) You’re sure you won’t come? A campaign like this comes along once in a lifetime.

  BRUTUS

  Not if you are Caesar.

  CAESAR

  Candidly, even Caesar is excited at the prospect. A truly foreign war, against a rich foe who has bested us once already. Weather, terrain, climate, numbers - all will be against us. The war in Gaul pales in comparison. And then there’s the personal stake. I will have the King of the Parthians kneel before dead Crassus’ tomb and beg forgiveness.

  BRUTUS

  Terrible. Little though I liked the man… (shivers) An airless death frightens me.

  CAESAR

  Then hold your breath until the fear passes.

  BRUTUS

  Face your fear. How very Caesar.

  CAESAR

  We never feel more alive than at the edge of some precipice. (claps his hands together) Come, Brutus! Do! Go with me! I would depart all the more willingly with you at my side.

  BRUTUS

  I have duties to perform here. Your own fault, Caesar. You made me Urban Praetor. Under the law, I cannot leave the city.

  CAESAR

  Sulla’s law, Brutus, Sulla’s law! What one dictator put in place, another can remove. Or simply grant an exemption. Let it be no obstacle.

  BRUTUS

  It wouldn’t be a Right Act.

  CAESAR

  (sighing) Zeno. When Cato died I hoped never to hear his philosophy again.

  BRUTUS

  Let me rephrase, then. However rigged the elections were, I was voted in by the people in their Centuries. It would be shirking my obligation to Rome to leave the people without their chief judge for the whole term of my year in office. (CAESAR starts to speak) No, don’t - please, don’t make it more difficult. I am not you. I am not martial at heart. As well you know.

  CAESAR

  Yes. What was it your mother used to tell people when she kept you back from the Campus Martius?

  BRUTUS

  A weak chest.

  CAESAR

  But not a weak stomach. Or a weak heart. Your misfortune, Brutus, is that you’ve never campaigned with me. Cicero is far from being the next Ares, and poor Pompey was past it. Come, see a real campaign.

  BRUTUS

  I have seen one, Caesar. From the losing side.

  CAESAR

  Pharsalus was not Pompey’s best hour, true. (grimly) But neither was it mine. Oh Brutus! Come with me! I’ll even bring your brother-in-law, if you like. Little though I love Cassius, he’s a brilliant s
oldier, and his organizational skills almost equal my own. The pair of you can be my senior legates, and we will finally be what we always should have - allies in a great cause.

  BRUTUS

  (ruefully amused) You’re not used to ‘no’, are you?

  CAESAR

  (grinning) Certainly not these days. It’s refreshing, in a way. But I would appreciate your company, above all men’s. Truly.

  BRUTUS

  I will - think on it, Caesar.

  CAESAR

  You don’t have much time.

  BRUTUS

  No. Just tonight. (beat) You’ll have my answer after the Senate’s business tomorrow.

  CAESAR

  Excellent. I’m sure your good sense will rule. You are the most pragmatic of fellows, as well as the gentlest. My darling little Julia always said--

  BRUTUS

  (interrupting) Wasn’t Antony angling for the senior legate post.

  CAESAR

  What?

  BRUTUS

  I thought Antony was tapped for senior legate.

  CAESAR

  (grimly) Antonius is not coming.

  BRUTUS

  You’re not taking him?

  CAESAR

  Not if he were Hercules himself. No, I’ll leave him with just enough power to satisfy him, with Dolabella and Lepidus to muzzle him.

  BRUTUS

  He was just talking in there just now. He thinks he’s going.

  CAESAR

  He is not. If he doesn’t like it, he can jump in the Tiber.

  BRUTUS

  Caesar, you don’t believe the rumors--

  CAESAR

  It’s no rumor.

  BRUTUS

  Caesar, it’s nonsense, just someone’s--

  CAESAR

  It is absolutely true. Antonius leapt the wall to my house in an attempt to murder me.

  BRUTUS

  No! Surely he just meant to steal a little money. Everyone knows his debts are colossal.

  CAESAR

  And what better way to pay them than for Antonius to inherit my fortune.

  BRUTUS

  Better he wasn’t your heir, then.

  CAESAR

  I am of the same mind. But I have no intention of crossing that particular river just yet.

  BRUTUS

  Crossing rivers has never worried you before. (beat) That was unworthy. Forgive me.

  CAESAR looks at BRUTUS with genuine affection.

  CAESAR

  Anything, my boy. There is nothing you could ever do that would disappoint me.

  BRUTUS

  (uncomfortable) A shame you do not feel the same about Antony.

  CAESAR

  I wouldn’t walk the length of my shadow for Antony. But for you, Brutus, I would walk the Nile and back.

  BRUTUS pours himself some wine, mixing it with water. Suddenly his head comes up.

  BRUTUS

  That business in the street today, the soothsayer--

  CAESAR

  Ha! Yes, old Spurinna puts on quite a show, doesn’t he? ‘Beware the Ides of March’ indeed!

  BRUTUS

  You think he was paid by Antony.

  CAESAR

  It does seem likely, doesn’t it? Antonius is behind nine-tenths of this ‘King of Rome’ nonsense. You saw him offer me that idiot crown? Not once, but three times.

  BRUTUS

  I heard about it. But why would he--?

  CAESAR

  Perhaps he means to make my death more palatable by turning the public against me.

  BRUTUS

  Or the nobility. There are rumors - whispers of… men who mean you harm.

  CAESAR

  (wryly) I’m sure.

  BRUTUS

  The Ides are tomorrow.

  CAESAR

  (signing another order) I know it too well. I’ll be up at dawn to officiate the sacrifices to Mars. It’s his month.

  BRUTUS

  You shouldn’t have dismissed your lictors. It gives men ideas.

  CAESAR

  Bodyguards are an admission that there is danger. Caesar will not live in fear. Nor will he be seen to do so.

  BRUTUS

  Even if it tempts men’s lesser natures.

  CAESAR

  The gods do not test men past their abilities.

  BRUTUS

  Nor elevate them past their desserts.

  CAESAR

  Just so. (pause) There is something on your mind, Brutus.

  BRUTUS

  I’m struggling with something, Caesar.

  CAESAR

  Then please allow me to help. I will happily be the whetstone to your sword.

  BRUTUS

  I’ve been thinking… it sounds ridiculous to say out loud.

  CAESAR

  So be ridiculous. You may trust me not to laugh.

  BRUTUS

  I’ve been thinking of the Republic. Of Roma herself.

  CAESAR

  That is far from ridiculous, Brutus. I spend nearly every waking hour in the same contemplation. And I am hardly ridiculous.

  BRUTUS

  No. Wine?

  CAESAR

  Never.

  BRUTUS

  I’ve never known a man so abstemious. Or is it the taste?

  CAESAR

  I like the taste fine. I do not like how it dulls my mind. Homer had it right. ‘Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile.’ If a man is the sum of his actions, actions require thought. I do not want history judging me based on some alchohol-riddled misstep.

  BRUTUS

  ‘In vino veritas.’ They say wine reveals our true natures.

  CAESAR

  (laughing) Perhaps that’s why I am afraid! But drink up, Brutus - you’ve nothing locked deep in your soul that needs hiding, I’m sure.

  BRUTUS stares at his cup, then sets it aside.

  BRUTUS

  What’s that you’re signing?

  CAESAR

  (holds up one piece of paper) This? An order to restore the property to Curio’s family - past time. (holds up another) This is an execution order for one of Pompey’s freedmen who tried to inform on his family. Can’t have that. (holds up a third) This is a pardon for Africanus’ men who came over to us before the battle in Spain.

  BRUTUS

  Life and death, with the stroke a pen.

  CAESAR

  Mightier than the sword. So tell me, Marcus Junius Brutus - what have you been thinking about Roma and the poor old Republic?

  BRUTUS

  I’ve been wondering when we lost our way. When we stopped being the people we say we are. I’ve been wondering how the gods will restore the Republic.

  CAESAR

  Is she lost? Forgive me, that was facetious. Believe it or not, Brutus, the gods work through me. I am their instrument.

  BRUTUS

  Caesar - the Republic cannot be restored by a dictator.

  His very existence refutes the notion. Democracy cannot be imposed.

  CAESAR

  You have been thinking.

  BRUTUS

  Yes. And I think you’re setting a dangerous precedent.

  CAESAR

  Of?

  BRUTUS

  Of - there’s not other word for it. Kingship. Of absolute rule. The office of Dictator was created for a time of crisis, a strong leader to run Rome for six months at most, then step down. You’ve turned it into a lifetime appointment.

  CAESAR

  Did I? I thought it was voted by the people.

  BRUTUS

  You are one more step down the path that Sulla pioneered.

  CAESAR

  (coldly) I am no Sulla.

  BRUTUS

  No. You are fair where he was foul, in every way.

  CAESAR

  I’m glad you see that. So many of the First Class do not. Despite the fact that Sulla would have had their heads.

  BRUTUS

  But he laid the trap you’
ve fallen into.

  CAESAR

  Trap?

  BRUTUS

  Would you have marched your army on Rome without his example to guide you?

  CAESAR

  Interesting. You’re either questioning my nerve or my ingenuity. To be sure, Sulla was - unnatural. But for all that, he was quite the pragmatist. As am I.

  BRUTUS

  I wish I were.

  CAESAR

  I’m glad you are not. Rome needs dreamers just as much as it needs doers. What is Rome, if not a dream? Brutus’ Dream. That would be a fine title for a play.

  BRUTUS

  You should write it.

  CAESAR

  I’m afraid I have a different theatrical endeavor in mind. Did you know the Parthians used poor Crassus’ head as a prop for a production of the Bacchae? He was dead Pentheus, molten gold still in his throat.

  BRUTUS

  Horrible.

  CAESAR

  When I’ve won, I have it in mind to stage the same play, with king Orodes in the role. Like for like.

  BRUTUS

  Horrible. Caesar, vengeance doesn’t suit you. Instead of Parthia, you should retire and write poetry. You have the knack.

  CAESAR

  What, sitting around a luscious villa in Tusculum and stringing words together? I’m no Cicero. And there’s too much to be done! I can’t not be doing. I’d die of boredom.

  BRUTUS

  Then you’d die a hero. The man who walked away from power.

  CAESAR

  Ha! Weren’t you just warning me of turning into Sulla? He did just that - walked away from power, retired to that luscious villa for games and theatre and remarkably inventive sex for the rest of his days. Yet he is reviled.

  BRUTUS

  Of course he’s reviled! He marched a Roman army on Rome! On a defenseless city!

  CAESAR

  As did I.

  Thunder. The rain starts growing in intensity.

  BRUTUS

  That was different.

  CAESAR

  How? No, how, exactly? Both of us used the military to make a political point.

  BRUTUS

  You were still the general. Technically his march was mutiny.

  CAESAR

  Technicalities are for lesser lawyers, Brutus.

  BRUTUS

  The law is made up of those technicalities.

  CAESAR

  The law is a breathing thing, Brutus. It cannot be static. When the Senate - a few hundred men of birth and wealth, making laws for people they despise - when they make laws that go against the wishes or interests of the people, they abrogate their authority.