What Is The Triumvirate In Julius Caesar
In Act 4 of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Scene 1 shows the 2nd Triumvirate of Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Marcus Lepidus composing a list of people who need to be killed. Caesar has been assassinated, and Antony has started a civil war against the conspirators to avenge Caesar’s death. He has formed a triumvirate with Octavius Caesar, Caesar’s adopted son, and Marcus Lepidus, a close friend and ally of Caesar. The triumvirate is supposed to share power equally, but Antony is taking advantage of Lepidus’s stupidity to gain more power for himself, At the beginning of Scene 1, Antony is seen making a “hit list of people who should be killed because they pose a threat to the triumvirate’s power. The three are ruthless, brutal, and
heartless in killing, even willing to let their own family members be killed without blinking, as shown in lines 4-6 of Scene 1: “Lepidus: Upon condition Publius shall not live/ Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony/Antony: He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.” After Lepidus leaves to retrieve Caesar’s will from his house, Antony begins to speak badly of Lepidus, saying that although he is a good soldier, he is meant to do the labor intensive tasks. The triumvirate is shown in this scene to be very brutal, cold, and heartless, while the conspiracy is not as harsh. The conspiracy agrees with Brutus in Act 2 to kill only Caesar, and not Antony, which shows that they are not as brutal as the triumvirate, who agree to kill 100 senators just because they are a threat the the triumvirate’s power. The triumvirate and the conspiracy are similar in that they both are plotting to kill people, but the similarity ends there. Antony’s group is killing for two reasons:
1. revenge for Caesar’s death, and 2. Power for themselves. The conspiracy, however, is killing because they think that Caesar is a danger to the Roman Republic. This, in my opinion is a more honorable reason to kill, whereas the triumvirate is killing for their own interests.
heartless in killing, even willing to let their own family members be killed without blinking, as shown in lines 4-6 of Scene 1: “Lepidus: Upon condition Publius shall not live/ Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony/Antony: He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.” After Lepidus leaves to retrieve Caesar’s will from his house, Antony begins to speak badly of Lepidus, saying that although he is a good soldier, he is meant to do the labor intensive tasks. The triumvirate is shown in this scene to be very brutal, cold, and heartless, while the conspiracy is not as harsh. The conspiracy agrees with Brutus in Act 2 to kill only Caesar, and not Antony, which shows that they are not as brutal as the triumvirate, who agree to kill 100 senators just because they are a threat the the triumvirate’s power. The triumvirate and the conspiracy are similar in that they both are plotting to kill people, but the similarity ends there. Antony’s group is killing for two reasons:
1. revenge for Caesar’s death, and 2. Power for themselves. The conspiracy, however, is killing because they think that Caesar is a danger to the Roman Republic. This, in my opinion is a more honorable reason to kill, whereas the triumvirate is killing for their own interests.