Was Shakespeare's Caesar the same man the Romans saw and the same man we see today? Or are there different historical versions of the legend of Caesar?
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears/I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him..."
We may have remembered Caesar without Shakespeare, but he would have been a more historically distant and unknowable figure otherwise. Shakespeare showed us both his arrogance ("I am as constant as the northern star!)" and his humility in a way that helped us understand the Romans as human beings and not stick figures.
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears/I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him..."
We may have remembered Caesar without Shakespeare, but he would have been a more historically distant and unknowable figure otherwise. Shakespeare showed us both his arrogance ("I am as constant as the northern star!)" and his humility in a way that helped us understand the Romans as human beings and not stick figures.
This was superlative. Really opened my eyes, and would have made JC roll over in his grave if he'd been able to.
That's very kind of you, thank you! He was cremated, of course, so perhaps he would have blown about in his urn a bit?