Julius Caesar — Act 5, Scene 5

original text and modern English, side by side

Another part of the field · Brutus, Clitus, Dardanius, Volumnius, Strato, Octavius, Messala, Lucilius, Antony

With the battle lost, Brutus asks Clitus, then Dardanius, then Volumnius to help him die, and each refuses. Telling Volumnius that Caesar's ghost has now appeared to him twice, he says his hour has come, sends his friends away, and finally persuades Strato to hold the sword while he runs onto it, with his last words addressed to Caesar. Antony and Octavius arrive and Antony delivers the play's verdict — Brutus alone acted for the common good, "this was the noblest Roman of them all" — and Octavius orders him buried with a soldier's honours.

Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato and Volumnius.

Brutus

Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock.

Come on, what's left of my friends — rest here on this rock.

Clitus

Statilius show’d the torch-light; but, my lord,

He came not back:

Statilius signalled with his torch, my lord, but he never came back.

he is or ta’en or slain.

He's either been captured or killed.

Brutus

Sit thee down, Clitus.

Sit down, Clitus.

Slaying is the word;

It is a deed in fashion.

Killing is the word of the day — it's the fashion now.

Hark thee, Clitus.

Listen, Clitus.

Whispering.

Clitus

What, I, my lord?

What, me, my lord?

No, not for all the world.

Not for anything in the world.

Brutus

Peace then, no words.

Say nothing about it, then.

Clitus

I’ll rather kill myself.

I'd sooner kill myself.

Brutus

Hark thee, Dardanius.

Listen, Dardanius.

Whispers him.

Dardanius

Shall I do such a deed?

You want me to do a thing like that?

Clitus

O Dardanius!

Dardanius!

Dardanius

O Clitus!

Clitus!

Clitus

What ill request did Brutus make to thee?

What terrible thing did Brutus ask you to do?

Dardanius

To kill him, Clitus.

Look, he meditates.

Look at him, deep in thought.

Clitus

Now is that noble vessel full of grief,

That it runs over even at his eyes.

That noble vessel is so full of grief now that it's spilling over at his eyes.

Brutus

Come hither, good Volumnius;

Come here, good Volumnius.

list a word.

A word with you.

Volumnius

What says my lord?

What is it, my lord?

Brutus

Why, this, Volumnius:

This, Volumnius.

The ghost of Caesar hath appear’d to me

Two several times by night; at Sardis once,

And this last night here in Philippi fields.

Caesar's ghost has appeared to me twice at night — once at Sardis, and again last night here on the fields of Philippi.

I know my hour is come.

I know my time has come.

Volumnius

Not so, my lord.

It hasn't, my lord.

Brutus

Nay I am sure it is, Volumnius.

I'm certain it has, Volumnius.

Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes;

You can see how things stand.

Our enemies have beat us to the pit.

Our enemies have driven us to the edge of the pit.

Low alarums.

Brutus

It is more worthy to leap in ourselves

Than tarry till they push us.

There's more dignity in jumping in ourselves than in waiting for them to push us.

Good Volumnius,

Thou know’st that we two went to school together;

Good Volumnius, you know we two went to school together

Even for that our love of old, I pr’ythee

Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it.

— for the sake of that old friendship, please hold the hilt of my sword while I run onto it.

Volumnius

That’s not an office for a friend, my lord.

That's not a job for a friend, my lord.

Alarums still.

Clitus

Fly, fly, my lord!

Run, my lord, run!

there is no tarrying here.

There's no staying here.

Brutus

Farewell to you; and you; and you, Volumnius.

Goodbye to you, and you, and you, Volumnius.

Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep;

Farewell to thee too, Strato.

Strato, you've been asleep this whole time — goodbye to you too, Strato.

—Countrymen,

My heart doth joy, that yet in all my life

I found no man but he was true to me.

Countrymen, it gives me joy that in my whole life I never found a single man who wasn't loyal to me.

I shall have glory by this losing day

More than Octavius and Mark Antony

By this vile conquest shall attain unto.

I'll get more glory out of losing today than Octavius and Mark Antony will ever get from this squalid victory.

So fare you well at once; for Brutus’ tongue

Hath almost ended his life’s history.

So goodbye, all of you at once, because Brutus's tongue has nearly finished telling the story of his life.

Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest,

That have but labour’d to attain this hour.

Night is closing over my eyes, and my bones want their rest — all they've ever done is work towards this hour.

Alarums. Cry within, “Fly, fly, fly!”.

Clitus

Fly, my lord, fly!

Run, my lord, run!

Brutus

Hence! I will follow.

Go — I'll follow.

Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius and Volumnius.

Brutus

I pr’ythee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord.

Strato, please stay here with your master.

Thou art a fellow of a good respect;

Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it.

You're a man who's well thought of, and there's been a trace of honour in your life.

Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,

While I do run upon it.

So hold my sword and turn your face away while I run onto it.

Wilt thou, Strato?

Will you, Strato?

Strato

Give me your hand first.

Fare you well, my lord.

Goodbye, my lord.

Brutus

Farewell, good Strato.

Goodbye, good Strato.

—Caesar, now be still:

I kill’d not thee with half so good a will.

Caesar, rest now — I never killed you with half as much willingness as this.

He runs on his sword, and dies.

Alarum. Retreat. Enter Antony, Octavius, Messala, Lucilius and the Army.

Octavius

What man is that?

Who is that man?

Messala

My master’s man.

My master's servant.

Strato, where is thy master?

Strato, where is your master?

Strato

Free from the bondage you are in, Messala.

Free from the captivity you're in, Messala.

The conquerors can but make a fire of him;

For Brutus only overcame himself,

And no man else hath honour by his death.

The winners can do nothing to him but burn his body, because Brutus is the only one who defeated Brutus, and no other man gets any credit from his death.

Lucilius

So Brutus should be found.

That's how Brutus would have to be found.

I thank thee, Brutus,

That thou hast prov’d Lucilius’ saying true.

Thank you, Brutus, for proving what Lucilius said about you was true.

Octavius

All that serv’d Brutus, I will entertain them.

I'll take everyone who served Brutus into my own household.

Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me?

Will you spend your time with me, man?

Strato

Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you.

Yes, if Messala recommends me to you.

Octavius

Do so, good Messala.

Do that, good Messala.

Messala

How died my master, Strato?

How did my master die, Strato?

Strato

I held the sword, and he did run on it.

I held the sword and he ran onto it.

Messala

Octavius, then take him to follow thee,

That did the latest service to my master.

Then take him into your service, Octavius — the man who did my master his last service.

Antony

This was the noblest Roman of them all.

This was the noblest Roman of all of them.

All the conspirators save only he,

Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;

Every conspirator except him did what he did out of envy of great Caesar.

He only, in a general honest thought

And common good to all, made one of them.

He alone joined them out of an honest concern for the general good of everyone.

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix’d in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world, “This was a man!”

His life was balanced, and the elements were so evenly mixed in him that Nature herself could stand up and say to the whole world, "This was a man."

Octavius

According to his virtue let us use him

With all respect and rites of burial.

Let's treat him as his virtue deserves, with full respect and proper funeral rites.

Within my tent his bones tonight shall lie,

Most like a soldier, order’d honourably.

Tonight his body will lie in my own tent, laid out with honour, like a soldier's.

So call the field to rest, and let’s away,

To part the glories of this happy day.

Now call the army to rest, and let's go and divide up the glory of this fortunate day.

Exeunt.

Julius Caesar Act 5, Scene 5 summary

Who appears in this scene

Brutus, Clitus, Dardanius, Volumnius, Strato, Octavius, Messala, Lucilius, Antony — Another part of the field.

Famous lines in Julius Caesar Act 5, Scene 5, explained

“Farewell, good Strato.—Caesar, now be still: / I kill’d not thee with half so good a will.” (line 55): Brutus's last words are spoken not to his friends but to the man he assassinated: rest now, I want my own death far more than I ever wanted yours. It admits how reluctantly he struck in Act 3 and how completely the guilt has worn him down since. It also closes the pattern the play has been building — Caesar's ghost has claimed both conspirators, and each died on his own blade rather than an enemy's.
“This was the noblest Roman of them all.” (line 73): Antony separates Brutus from the other conspirators: they killed Caesar out of envy, while Brutus alone acted from an honest belief in the public good. Coming from the man who destroyed him with a funeral speech, it is a genuine tribute rather than another manoeuvre, and it settles the question the whole play has been asking about Brutus's motives. Shakespeare gives the final judgement of his hero to his enemy, which makes it credible in a way self-praise never could.
“His life was gentle, and the elements / So mix’d in him that Nature might stand up / And say to all the world, “This was a man!”” (line 78): Renaissance medicine held that a personality was a mixture of four elements or humours, and that almost everyone was unbalanced in some direction. Antony's claim is that Brutus was the rare exception — perfectly proportioned, so that Nature herself could hold him up as the example of what a human being should be. It is the highest compliment available in the language of the period, and it ends the play on the man rather than on the victory.

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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 5, Scene 5. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/julius-caesar/act-5-scene-5.”

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