Julius Caesar — Act 4, Scene 1

original text and modern English, side by side

Rome. A room in Antony’s house · Antony, Octavius, Lepidus

Antony, Octavius and Lepidus sit over a list, marking off which Romans are to be executed — Lepidus agrees to his own brother's death, Antony to his nephew Publius's. Once Lepidus is sent away on an errand, Antony dismisses him as a pack animal to be used and turned loose, and Octavius pushes back. They then turn to the real business: Brutus and Cassius are raising armies, and the new rulers must prepare for war.

Enter Antony, Octavius and Lepidus, seated at a table.

Antony

These many then shall die;

So all of these will die.

their names are prick’d.

Their names are marked.

Octavius

Your brother too must die;

Your brother has to die too.

consent you, Lepidus?

Do you agree, Lepidus?

Lepidus

I do consent,—

I agree —

Octavius

Prick him down, Antony.

Mark him down, Antony.

Lepidus

Upon condition Publius shall not live,

Who is your sister’s son, Mark Antony.

— on condition that Publius doesn't survive either, your sister's son, Mark Antony.

Antony

He shall not live;

He won't survive.

look, with a spot I damn him.

There — one mark and he's finished.

But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar’s house;

Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine

How to cut off some charge in legacies.

Now, Lepidus, go to Caesar's house and bring the will back here, and we'll work out how to cut down some of the payouts in it.

Lepidus

What, shall I find you here?

Will I find you here?

Octavius

Or here, or at the Capitol.

Here or at the Capitol.

Exit Lepidus.

Antony

This is a slight unmeritable man,

Meet to be sent on errands.

The man is a lightweight who deserves nothing — fit for running errands.

Is it fit,

The three-fold world divided, he should stand

One of the three to share it?

Is it right, with the world split three ways, that he should be one of the three who share it?

Octavius

So you thought him,

And took his voice who should be prick’d to die

In our black sentence and proscription.

You thought highly enough of him to ask his opinion on who should be marked for death in our list of executions.

Antony

Octavius, I have seen more days than you;

Octavius, I've lived longer than you.

And though we lay these honours on this man,

To ease ourselves of divers sland’rous loads,

He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,

To groan and sweat under the business,

Either led or driven, as we point the way;

We're loading these honours onto him to take some of the blame off ourselves, but he'll carry them the way a donkey carries gold — groaning and sweating under the weight, led or driven wherever we choose.

And having brought our treasure where we will,

Then take we down his load, and turn him off,

Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears,

And graze in commons.

And once he's hauled our treasure where we want it, we take the load off and let him go, like an unloaded donkey, to shake his ears and graze in the common field.

Octavius

You may do your will;

Do as you like.

But he’s a tried and valiant soldier.

But he's a proven, brave soldier.

Antony

So is my horse, Octavius; and for that

I do appoint him store of provender.

So is my horse, Octavius, and that's why I make sure he's well fed.

It is a creature that I teach to fight,

To wind, to stop, to run directly on,

His corporal motion govern’d by my spirit.

He's an animal I train to fight, to turn, to halt, to charge straight ahead — his body moving on my instructions.

And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so:

Lepidus is much the same.

He must be taught, and train’d, and bid go forth:

He has to be taught, drilled and told when to go.

A barren-spirited fellow; one that feeds

On objects, arts, and imitations,

Which, out of use and stal’d by other men,

Begin his fashion.

He's a man with no ideas of his own, who lives on other people's tastes, techniques and habits, and only takes them up as fashion once everyone else is bored with them.

Do not talk of him

But as a property.

Don't talk about him as anything but a tool.

And now, Octavius,

Listen great things.

Now, Octavius, listen — this is important.

Brutus and Cassius

Are levying powers; we must straight make head.

Brutus and Cassius are raising troops, and we have to move at once.

Therefore let our alliance be combin’d,

Our best friends made, our means stretch’d;

So let's tighten our alliance, secure our best allies, and use every resource we have.

And let us presently go sit in council,

How covert matters may be best disclos’d,

And open perils surest answered.

Let's go into council right now and work out how best to uncover what's hidden and meet the dangers already in the open.

Octavius

Let us do so:

Let's do that.

for we are at the stake,

And bay’d about with many enemies;

We're tied to the stake with the dogs closing in on all sides

And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear,

Millions of mischiefs.

— and some of the ones who smile at us are, I suspect, planning endless harm.

Exeunt.

Julius Caesar Act 4, Scene 1 summary

Who appears in this scene

Antony, Octavius, Lepidus — Rome. A room in Antony’s house.

Famous lines in Julius Caesar Act 4, Scene 1, explained

“He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.” (line 7): Antony condemns his own nephew with a single pen stroke, trading the boy's life for Lepidus's brother. The horror is in how casual it is — a mark on a page, made mid-conversation — and it shows what the new regime does with power the moment it has it. Antony, who wept over Caesar's body two scenes ago, is now running a purge from a table.

Keep reading

About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 1. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/julius-caesar/act-4-scene-1.”

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