Read the extract from 'Julius Caesar' Act 3, Scene 2, given below and answer the questions that follow: Antony: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious; If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest– For Brutus is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men– Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
What were the three conditions that Brutus had laid down before allowing Antony to speak to the citizens of Rome?
Topic: Act 3 Scene 1 — Brutus's conditions
Answer
Brutus imposed three conditions: (1) Antony was not to blame the conspirators in any way. (2) He was to say only what good he could of Caesar, and to state that he spoke by the conspirators’ permission. (3) He was to speak from the same pulpit, but only AFTER Brutus had addressed the citizens first.
One mark per condition, so list them cleanly and do not blur two into one. Worth adding in a final line: Antony keeps every condition in the letter and breaks all three in spirit — he never says a direct word of blame, yet leaves the crowd howling for the conspirators’ blood. Cassius opposed letting Antony speak at all; Brutus overruled him, and this is his fatal error of judgement.