by David Blixt
Brutus. For us all, the name is enough.
BRUTUS
What about those that follow, then? The one’s who’ll never meet you, never know you. Those hollow men who will wrap themselves in your name and leave ruin in their wake.
CAESAR
You do not know.
BRUTUS
But I do! This night of all nights, I see things clearly. You were right, motives matter less than deeds! Whatever my motives, my deed will be remembered! I will be a beacon of light, a warning that will ring down the ages - Sic, semper tyrannus. Thus tyrants must fall. I did right! You hear me? I did right!
CAESAR
I never said you did not.
BRUTUS is about to speak when he’s interrupted by a shout from offstage.
VARRO
Brutus! Brutus!
Enter VARRO, running as fast as he is able, a smile on his face. He comes up short, looking around - he does not see CAESAR.
VARRO
Were you talking--?
BRUTUS
(glancing CAESAR’s way) I was - rehearsing my oration to the troops.
VARRO
(excitedly) You may not need it! Antony has come, under a flag of truce!
BRUTUS turns to CAESAR, who smiles wanly and opens his hands.
CAESAR
Perhaps all is saved.
BRUTUS
Should I receive him?
CAESAR VARRO
A general must. I would.
BRUTUS
(nodding) Very well. Send him in.
VARRO
Do you want me-?
BRUTUS
No, this is not a meeting for history. The results will speak for themselves.
Disappointed, VARRO exits. BRUTUS turns to CAESAR.
BRUTUS
What will he want?
CAESAR
To win.
Enter ANTONY. He is dressed in full military regalia. He stops sharply and gives a proper salute.
ANTONY
Salve, Marcus Junius Brutus.
BRUTUS
(saluting in kind) Salve, Marcus Antonius.
ANTONY relaxes.
ANTONY
Got any wine?
CAESAR
Nothing changes.
BRUTUS
Over there by the tent flap. Help yourself.
ANTONY
(crossing to pour) Thank the gods you’re civilized. I remember the old warhorse never let me drink on campaign. And they say he was a great man. Feh. (drinks)
CAESAR
Old warhorse.
ANTONY
(looking about him) Nice. A little Spartan for my taste, but still, a proper commander’s tent. Must be nice to have money. (throws back the rest of the wine, starts pouring again) Heard about your wife. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d be lying. She was one of the plagues you left behind you in Rome.
BRUTUS
Explain yourself.
ANTONY
Oh don’t get all peevish! I was talking about the women - all of them! You hear what they did? All those noble ladies - your wife, Cicero’s old battleaxe, that barren cunt Calphurnia, even your harpy of a mother! Never thought anything would bring all those women together. But there they were, marching in lockstep like a proper legion!
BRUTUS
Why?
ANTONY
Why else? Money! We needed it! Lepidus and Octavius and I, we needed gold to come chasing after you, more gold than we could get from confiscating your lands and property. So we had the Senate decree a tax on women.
BRUTUS
You’re joking.
CAESAR
(laughing) Fools. Never wake the women.
ANTONY
Can you imagine it? All those widows with fat allowances, living in their villas on the Palatine and Aventine. They could fund a war against Olympus! But would the crafty bitches pay? No! You know what they did? Put on their husbands’ armor and marched into the street. A legion of women, beating swords on shields and breastplates screaming, ‘No voice, no money! Give us our voices and we’ll give you our gold!’ Can you believe it? They wanted the vote!! Said if they were going to be taxed, they ought to have a say in government!
CAESAR
Good for you, Calphurnia.
BRUTUS
And what did you do? Send in your armies?
ANTONY
What could we do? That’s one law that was revoked in record time. Let the gorgons keep their gold. (clapping his hands together) So, Marcus Junius, I imagine you can guess why I’m here.
BRUTUS
To surrender?
ANTONY
Ha! Funny! Never knew you to joke. But seriously, you have to give up. It’s the only honorable thing to do.
CAESAR
Honorable.
CAESAR moves ANTONY’s wine goblet to his other side.
BRUTUS
This, from you. You promised you wouldn’t speak against us. An amnesty.
ANTONY
You promised Caesar loyalty. An oath is only as good as circumstance allow. And I didn’t speak against you - kept my word to the letter. Besides, be fair, when I made the promise I thought I was Caesar’s heir. Then I read the will. That snake Octavius…
BRUTUS
Don’t like your partner?
ANTONY
(rolling his eyes) He’s not - I don’t know - (spits) Can’t even talk about him. At least you have a colleague you can work with. Cassius, that’s a real man. Married to your sister to boot. Family.
BRUTUS
Octavius is a cousin of yours, isn’t he?
ANTONY
No, now he’s Caesar’s son. Young Caesar! Caesar reborn! Cacat! Mentula! No no - not a man! He’s as cunning as a woman! Verpa! Fellator!
ANTONY reaches for his drink, finds it missing, then discovers it on his other side. Puzzled, he drinks.
BRUTUS
(looking at CAESAR, supressing a smile) Family is a wretched nuisance.
CAESAR winks.
BRUTUS
So, did you come here to complain? I’m afraid you haven’t chosen a very sympathetic ear.
ANTONY
(setting his drink down again) No no. I came because you’re a man of sense. Thank you for making two camps. I could never have had this conversation with Cassius present. Jupiter, I doubt I’d leave this room alive if he were here.
BRUTUS looks to CAESAR, who has just moved ANTONY’s drink again. ANTONY traces his gaze and glances around uneasily.
ANTONY
He’s not, is he?
BRUTUS
No. We are quite alone, you and I.
ANTONY
Good. Listen, Brutus, let’s be men, end this. Why spill more Roman blood? If you surrender, Cassius’ll have no choice but do the same. You’ll be a hero.
BRUTUS
I’ve been a hero. It doesn’t last.
ANTONY
Well, that’s true enough, isn’t it? There’s always a new darling for the mobs around the corner. It amazes me Caesar lasted as long as he did. But then he always had the luck.
ANTONY reaches for his cup, which has moved again.
BRUTUS
Luck? Give the man his due, Antony. He made his luck.
ANTONY
(finding his drink) Hmph. Surprised to hear you of all men defending him.
BRUTUS
You shouldn’t be. So, what are you offering?
ANTONY
The lives of your men, and Cassius’ men.
BRUTUS
A noble offer. And for myself and Cassius? The other Liberators?
ANTONY
I’d like to offer safe passage to Rome and a fair trial. But young Caesar has taken an oath to see you dead. I can’t promise he won’t murder you the moment you hand over your sword. He’s learned from Caesar’s clemency. Leave no enemy alive. (grins) You see why I couldn’t bring this offer to Cassius.
BRUTUS
Whereas you think I relish the prospect
of dying?
ANTONY
Cassius will do anything to survive. You do what you believe is right. Brutus is an honorable man.
BRUTUS favors ANTONY with a stoney glare. ANTONY smirks back. He’s decided to keep his cup in his hands.
BRUTUS
Antonius, your army is starving. We have the high ground and more supplies. And if I’m not a natural military man, neither is Octavius. Matched for men, and with those advantages, why would I consider surrender?
ANTONY
To end the war.
CAESAR
(to ANTONY) And do so on your terms, giving you a victory over Octavius as well. Oh very good, Antony! It’s almost clever. You’ll look like the peacemaker, the clement one - picking up the sole piece of my legacy young Octavian has spurned. (to BRUTUS) Ask him what will happen to your soldiers?
BRUTUS
What will happen to my men?
ANTONY
I’ll take personal charge of them. They’ll have to swear allegiance to me, become my clients. Small price to guarantee their lives.
CAESAR
And providing Antony a personal army to wage war against Octavian when the time comes. Clever, clever Antony.
BRUTUS
What will you use them for?
ANTONY
I mean to finish what Caesar started - the war against the Parthians. He laid it all out, no reason those splendid plans should go to waste. I’ll keep moving East, honor the old boy’s memory.
CAESAR
Ruinously expensive.
BRUTUS
With what money?
ANTONY
Oh, I plan to stop by Aegypt first. Still haven’t met the queen. She must be in mourning. I’ll ask her to donate some of her vast wealth to complete Caesar’s last wish.
BRUTUS
And if she refuses?
ANTONY
I’ll take what I need.
CAESAR
Making you richer than Octavius. You’ll return from the East a hero and have yourself named Dictator. Clever, clever Antony. (to BRUTUS) Turns out all he needed was a spur.
ANTONY
Well?
BRUTUS
How long do I have to decide?
ANTONY
How long do you need? To a patriot, the answer should be obvious. End the war, even if it means giving your life for your men.
BRUTUS
Admit that I was wrong.
ANTONY
I can promise you a better death than the one you gave Caesar. Ecastor, I’ll even let you fall on your sword! Can’t be fairer than that! It’s more than Octavian’ll give you.
CAESAR
What does it matter, so long as it’s quick?
BRUTUS
Wait a moment. How do you know what kind of death we gave Caesar? You weren’t there - you were outside, with Trebonius.
CAESAR
Yes. Trebonius.
ANTONY
There were plenty of witnesses. I heard--
BRUTUS
Trebonius - Trebonius.
ANTONY
What about him?
BRUTUS
After the murder, he was genuinely astonished you’d run away. He seemed-- (beat) Antony, the night before the Ides, at dinner, you asked a question.
ANTONY
(pouring himself a fresh cup) Did I? I don’t remember. Had a lot to drink that night.
BRUTUS
You asked what was the best way to die.
ANTONY
(quaffs his drink at one pull) That’s right, I did. What about it?
BRUTUS
You bastard. You knew. You and Trebonius, you had a side arrangement, didn’t you? Fixed it up between you. When I spoke out against killing you alongside Caesar, Trebonius was the only one who took my side. He told you what we were planning, didn’t he? If things went bad, you were supposed to get him off. After all, he didn’t stab Caesar - he was outside, with you! Only you betrayed him. You ran, and came back playing the role of the heir, all outraged innocence. He was stuck playing his part. You bastard.
ANTONY
I shook your hand. I kept my word. I said nothing against you to the people.
BRUTUS
You’re a bastard, Antony. A demagogue, a sot, and a, a--
CAESAR
Betrayer.
BRUTUS
Yes, a betrayer.
ANTONY
That’s rich! Brutus calls me betrayer! That’s being called tall by a giant. Your betrayal dwarfs mine, oh honorable one. If mine even existed. And as Trebonius was the first Liberator to die, there’s no way to prove anything.
BRUTUS
You and Octavian deserve each other. Oh, how I wish I’d been there when you heard the will! I knew, by the way. Caesar told me. He even offered--
ANTONY
What?
BRUTUS crosses to a locked box. Opening it, he produces a piece of paper, carefully preserved. Contemptuously he hands it to Antony, who reads it over.
BRUTUS
The night before the Ides, he offered to make me his heir. Anyone but you, he said.
For a moment ANTONY is still, his face contorted in rage. He makes to tear the paper, but BRUTUS snatches it back. ANTONY pauses, then shakes himself, throws back the last contents of his cup.
ANTONY
You have until dawn, Brutus. Think of your men. Think of your honor. Think what Caesar would do.
CAESAR and BRUTUS
Caesar would destroy you.
ANTONY
Well, that’s not something I have to worry about, is it? Thanks to you.
Giving BRUTUS a mock salute, ANTONY exits.
BRUTUS
That must’ve stung.
CAESAR
I saw him for what he is. He’s clever like a hammer’s clever.
BRUTUS
A drunken hammer, hitting nails askew at random.
CAESAR
Bam bam bam.
They start to laugh.
BRUTUS
Is that bulge for real?
CAESAR
I’d say he stuffs his loincloth, but I’ve seen him. All his brains are between his legs!
BRUTUS
The man is an utter, absolute, irredeemable ass.
CAESAR
King Midas got his ears from Antony.
BRUTUS
And such a letch! Whenever I think of him, I imagine a rutting beast nosing up some waif’s skirt!
CAESAR
And a trough of wine.
BRUTUS
I know! Does he have a third leg? Where does all the wine go?
CAESAR
Veni, vidi, vomui. He came, he saw, he vomited!
They fall about laughing.
BRUTUS
(laughter subsiding) Is his offer real?
CAESAR
I imagine so. Not because he honors his word. He needs those men. Octavian has all my clients and most of my soldiers. And he has my personal wealth.
BRUTUS
From what I hear, the army refused to march if he wasn’t with them. They think he’s lucky.
CAESAR
Well, he is - he’s Caesar’s heir! But like you told Antony, a man makes his own luck.
BRUTUS
Which doesn’t help me in the least. Now I’ve another choice to make - thank you, Antonius! Die, and save my men. Or fight, and watch them fall.
CAESAR
You were lamenting a lack of choices. As these things go, this isn’t a poor one. Your life for that of your men.
BRUTUS
An admission of guilt.
CAESAR
No. Of defeat. Victory doesn’t always go to the one in the right. Sometimes circumstance, not justice, decides a war.
BRUTUS
If I hand them over, they’ll just die in the next war.
CAESAR
That’s not on your conscience. A man is responsible for his choices, not those of others.
BRUTUS
If I give in to save my men, what does that say about the lives already lost?
CAESAR
The dead are past caring. Worry about the living.
BRUTUS
You’re here. Are you past caring?
CAESAR
So you’d throw good Roman lives after dead ones? Sisyphisian, the last dead man justifies the next one. Where does it end?
BRUTUS
If they die in a just cause…
CAESAR
What does it matter if the cause is just, if it is lost?
BRUTUS
Motives matter.
CAESAR
Results matter more. History will not judge the quality of the cause, only the number of men lost.
BRUTUS
No. History forgets the men. There are always more men. It’s the cause that lingers. Some things worth dying for. (beat) Does it hurt?
CAESAR
I cannot answer the general. Only my own experience. Yes. It hurt. Then it didn’t.
BRUTUS
You died well.
CAESAR
I had Pompey’s example. I saw his statue and remembered - they said he hid his face so that his murderers could not see it. What’s the line from Homer? ‘In his death all things appear beautiful.’
BRUTUS
Which brings us back to the question. How does Brutus die?
CAESAR
Ignore motive. Look at the deed.
BRUTUS
The deed. If I surrender to save my men, history will record I didn’t believe in my side enough to fight. If your death taught me anything, it’s that how a man dies matters - if not to him, to posterity. (beat) I have to try. Even if it’s a lost cause, I can’t just submit, not when there’s a even a gossamer-thin chance. That’s not the way a Roman behaves. We may fall, we never surrender.
CAESAR
So good men must die to hold up your image of yourself.
BRUTUS
Let the dice fly high. Don’t think I don’t see the irony. But I’m willing to go a step further than you… (struck by a thought) That’s it. That’s the answer, isn’t it?
CAESAR
What is?
BRUTUS
Murderers should not profit from their crime.
CAESAR
Go on.
BRUTUS
Law. Justice. Force, counter-force. Order, chaos.
CAESAR
Speak plainly, Brutus.
BRUTUS
It’s not that you were wrong to cross the Rubicon. You were balancing an injustice. But by not stepping down afterwards, by trying to impose order on Rome, you created your own injustice. Which I ended. It ends with me. (with realization) It must be by my death.
CAESAR
Brutus, what are you--?
BRUTUS
You fought against the tyranny of the nobility. I fought against the tyranny of Caesar Dictator. Thus, always tyranny. You were justified to cross the Rubicon. I was justified to kill you for it. Force, counter-force. Both were Right Acts. And with my death, I’ll save Rome again.