Marcus Antonius, or Mark Antony. He eulogizes Caesar in such eloquent terms that the Roman citizens rebel against the conspirators. Part of the triumvirate governing and battling after the death of Caesar, Antony expresses little faith in the abilities of co-triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Antony gets a taste of things to come when Octavius will not allow Antony to dictate who assumes what battlefield on the plains of Philippi. Significantly, Antony's are not the last words of the play; those go to Octavius, though Antony's final speech is memorable in its commentary about Brutus: "This was the noblest Roman of them all."
ARTEMIDORUS OF CNIDOS
Artemidorus of Cnidos teaches rhetoric and has written a warning note to Caesar. Its intended recipient never reads the note.
BRUTUS, DECIUS
Decius Brutus is part of the plot to kill Caesar. Arriving first to escort Caesar to the Senate, he hears Calpurnia's dream recited as the reason Caesar has chosen to stay at home. Decius offers a favorable interpretation of the dream and convinces Caesar to go to the Senate as planned.
BRUTUS, MARCUS
Marcus Brutus is part of the plot against Julius Caesar. Though he loves and is trusted by Caesar, he believes Caesar will eventually accept the crown, and Brutus cannot tolerate the thought of tyranny in Rome. Brutus does not feel Caesar-or anyone-should be chosen king and fears dissolution of the Roman republic, yet it takes a fair amount of convincing from the other conspirators before Brutus joins the group and assists in planning Caesar's murder. He is the last to stab Caesar. It is Brutus' argument that keeps Mark Antony from being murdered with Caesar, and Brutus' ill judgment that allows Antony to eulogize Caesar. Brutus becomes embroiled in the war against the triumvirate after Caesar's death. Visited by Caesar's ghost twice upon the battlefields of Sardis and Philippi, Brutus foresees failure of the conspirators' ultimate aim. He chooses to die rather than be captured, and is refused assistance by three companions (Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius) before his servant Strato holds the sword so that Brutus might run upon it.
CAESAR, JULIUS
Julius Caesar is an immensely popular and powerful man in Rome, three times offered the kingship by Antony and likely to be made king by the Senate. Caesar shows few overt signs of desiring kingship, yet he is nonetheless slain on the Senate floor by a band of conspirators. Though the play is named for Caesar, Caesar appears only moderately in the drama and is killed in act two. His ghost reappears later in the play.
CAESAR, OCTAVIUS
Octavius becomes a third member in the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus after the murder of Julius Caesar. There is a subtle competition between Octavius and Antony reflected in their actions and relationships. Octavius sees Lepidus as a good soldier yet allows Antony to relegate Lepidus to the position of underling, keeping this good soldier away form the battlefields at Sardis and Philippi. Yet Octavius gives notice, if only through subtle foreshadowing, that he will not be led by Antony, for when Antony tries to assign areas of the battleground for each to cover, Octavius is arbitrary but firm in choosing that field of battle that Antony had originally marked for himself.
CALPURNIA
Calpurnia is the wife of Julius Caesar. A sensitive woman devoted to her husband, she dreams that her husband's statue pours forth blood in which Caesar's compatriots bathe their hands. Caesar has decided to remain at home because of the portent of Calpurnia's dream, but when Decius re-interprets the vision Caesar chooses to go to the Senate, and Calpurnia's warning becomes ineffectual.
CASCA
Casca is one of the conspirators wishing to see Caesar dead. He reports that Antony had three times offered Caesar the crown and had three times been refused. He adds that the Senators plan to make Caesar king. On the day of Caesar's murder, Casca's knife stroke is the first.
CASSIUS, CAIUS
Caius Cassius is one of the conspirators wishing to see Caesar dead. Caesar distrusts him, saying he has "a lean and hungry look." He urges (to Brutus) that Brutus is indeed Julius Caesar's equal, and he carries out a plan to throw persuasive messages in at Brutus' window. As Brutus' brother-in-law, Cassius remains a key rebel throughout the political battles that follow Caesar's murder; at the end, he is assisted in suicide by his servant Pindarus on the plains of Philippi.
CATO, MARCUS PORCIUS
A "ghost character." Cato is Portia's butler. We hear that he committed suicide when Caesar defeated Pompey's armies, choosing not to live under the tyrant he thought Caesar would prove to be.
CATO, MARCUS
A "ghost character." Marcus Cato is young Cato's father; his son serves with Brutus' troops.
CATO, YOUNG
The son of Marcus Cato, Young Cato is a friend of Brutus and Cassius. He believes the spirit of Caesar walks upon the earth and has caused the death of Cassius.
CICERO
Cicero is a Roman Senator. He offered a Greek oration when Caesar was offered the crown; Casca claims not to have understood any of that oration. Cicero dies by the order of the triumvirate after Caesar's death.
CIMBER, METELLUS
Metellus Cimber is one of those who plot Caesar's death. He begins the deadly series of events at the Senate by kneeling before Caesar and asking for the recall of his banished brother Publius Cimber.
CIMBER, PUBLIUS
A "ghost character." Publius Cimber is the banished brother for whom Metellus Cimber kneels before Caesar and begs his return from banishment. He does not appear on stage during the play.
CINNA THE CONSPIRATOR
Cinna is part of the conspiracy against Caesar. He reports to Casca and Cassius of several strange sights about the city on the eve of Caesar's murder. Cassius directs Cinna to deliver certain anonymous letters and signs meant to urge Brutus to join the conspiracy.
CINNA THE POET
Cinna the Poet has no family tie to the conspirator Cinna but is accosted on his way to Caesar's funeral by vengeful citizens and is condemned simply because his name is Cinna and torn to pieces by the angry mob.
CLAUDIUS
Claudius is Brutus' servant. He is asked to sleep inside Brutus' tent when his master feels ill at ease because of war and ghostly visitations.
CLITUS
Clitus is Brutus' servant. He reports that Statilius is missing after a signal torchlight is waved, and he refuses his master's request to assist in Brutus' suicide when the battle seems lost.
DARDANIUS
Dardanius is Brutus' servant. Brutus asks Dardanius to kill him so he might avoid capture, but Dardanius refuses the request.
FIRST CITIZEN
The First Citizen urges a triumph for Brutus after Caesar's murder, claiming that Caesar was a tyrant.
FIRST COMMONER
The First Commoner is a local carpenter. Accosted on the street by Flavius, the First Commoner explains that he is not working because he is celebrating Caesar's triumph.
FLAVIUS
Flavius is the Roman tribune who accosts the First Commoner in the streets of Rome, demanding to know why the citizen is not working. Flavius next takes it upon himself to pull the celebratory scarves from the statues and images of Caesar throughout the city.
FOURTH CITIZEN
The Fourth Citizen initially believes Brutus is a much better person than was Caesar, and he wants Antony to speak no ill of Brutus. After hearing Antony's eulogy of Caesar, however, this Fourth Citizen recalls that Caesar had indeed refused the crown three times. He is the first to demand that Antony read Caesar's will.
GHOST OF CAESAR
The Ghost of Caesar appears to Brutus twice during the battles between the triumvirs and the conspirators.
LABEO
Labeo is an officer who, along with Flavius, receives orders from Brutus to continue the battle at Philippi.
LENA, POPILIUS
Popilius Lena is a Roman Senator. He is with Caesar at the entrance to the Senate, and he expresses to Cassius the hope that the day's enterprise will go well.
LEPIDUS, MARCUS AEMILIUS
Lepidus is part of the triumvirate established to rule after Caesar's murder. According to Antony, Lepidus is the weakest link in the trio's chain, fit only to be led, taught, or driven; Lepidus is notably absent during the battle scenes, though Octavius has dubbed Lepidus a good soldier.
LIGARIUS, CAIUS
Caius Ligarius has only a small role in the conspiracy against Caesar, but he firmly allies himself with the murderers even though he suffers from illness at the time of the crucial events in the Senate.
LUCILIUS
Lucilius is a friend of Cassius and Brutus. He serves in the legions fighting against the triumvirate, noting that Cassius seems to receive him less warmly than he did prior to Caesar's murder. When captured, Lucilius pretends to be Brutus, but Mark Antony identifies him and orders that he not be killed.
LUCIUS
Lucius is Brutus' servant. He brings Brutus a paper found at the window-a letter urging Brutus to "Speak, strike, redress." Lucius plays the David to Brutus' Saul at Sardis, playing soothing music for his master.
MARULLUS
Marullus is a Roman tribune who, with Flavius, accosts a cobbler in the streets and asks why the man is not working. Marullus and Flavius go about Rome removing celebratory scarves from statues and images of Caesar.
MESSALA
Messala is a friend of Brutus and Cassius. He brings news to Brutus that Octavius, Antony, and Ledipus have put one hundred Senators to death, and he appears with Octavius and Antony at the play's end as they find the body of Brutus and give over Strato into Octavius' service.
PELLA, LUCIUS
Lucius Pella is among the troops fighting with the conspirators. Brutus censures Pella for taking Sardinian bribes.
PINDARUS
Pindarus is a servant of Cassius. He warns his master on the battlefield to fly farther off because Antony is too close, and he holds his sword for Cassius to run upon and avoid being taken prisoner.
POET
At the Sardis encampment, the Poet chides Brutus and Cassius for their loud squabbling, for he says it decreases their honor in the eyes of their subservient troops.
PORTIA
Portia is Brutus' wife. She is a devoted spouse and is concerned with what weighs so heavily upon her husband's mind and spirit. The daughter of Cato, Portia is reported to have committed suicide by swallowing fire when she heard of the troop strength amassed against Brutus.
PUBLIUS
Publius is one of those who plot Caesar's death. He arrives with his cohorts to escort Caesar to the Senate.
SECOND CITIZEN
This Second Citizen responds to Antony's eulogy of Caesar by suggesting a statue of Brutus be commissioned. By the end of the eulogy, however, the Citizen decries Brutus and company as murderous traitors.
SECOND COMMONER
The Second Commoner is a cobbler caught in the streets celebrating the victories of Caesar.
SERVANT OF CAESAR
Caesar's Servant is sent to bid the priests to make a sacrifice. He returns with the news that the sacrificial animal was heartless, indicating that Caesar should not go forth on that day-the Ides of March.
SERVANT OF OCTAVIUS
Octavius' Servant is sent by Antony to warn Octavius that Caesar has been murdered and Rome is not safe for Octavius. The Servant reports that Octavius and Lepidus are already in Rome.
SERVANT OF ANTONY
This Servant is sent to ask Brutus why Caesar was killed, and to offer Antony's loyalty to Brutus.
SOOTHSAYER
The Roman Soothsayer warns Caesar to beware the Ides of March. Like Calpurnia's dream, the priest's sacrifice, and Artemidorus' unread letter, the Soothsayer's warning goes unheeded.
STATILIUS
Statilius displays the torchlight on the plains of Philippi and never returns.
STRATO
Strato is Brutus' loyal servant. Upon his master's request, he holds Brutus' sword while his master runs upon it. Strato is accepted into Octavius' service at the play's end.
THIRD CITIZEN
The Third Citizen, upon hearing the beginning of Antony's eulogy, suggests that Brutus assume Caesar's title. By the end of Antony's oration, however, this Citizen fears that someone worse than Caesar is likely to end up ruling Rome.
TITINIUS
Friend of Brutus and Cassius, Titinius is mistakenly thought to have been taken prisoner at Philippi. Still at liberty, however, Titinius finds the dead Cassius; miserable, he kills himself.
TREBONIUS
Trebonius is part of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. His specific assignment is to draw Mark Antony away from Caesar just prior to the attack.
VARRO
Varro is Brutus' servant. He is asked to sleep in his master's tent after Brutus sees the ghost of Caesar.
VOLUMNIUS
Volumnius is a friend of Brutus and Cassius. Brutus tells him that Caesar's ghost has appeared twice to him. Later, he refuses to hold a sword for Brutus to run upon when Brutus would avoid capture.