The Political Gladiators In Shakespeare's Julies Caesar

The Political Gladiators of Rome Civilizations throughout the world’s existence have worshiped the idea of men fighting one another, each clinging desperately for the slight chance of the most intense desire, victory. Rome is no exception. While Rome is famous for its competition amongst gladiators, it is also known for its competition amongst its political leaders. In the play, Julies Caesar, Shakespeare creates an intense scene that depicts one of the most important competitions in Rome’s history, the fight between Brutus and Antony. With Rome’s glorified leader, Caesar, suddenly killed, the new power void draws Brutus and Antony into a clash for the ages. Their speeches given at Caesar’s funeral show how the two characters were fighting one another for power over Rome not with swords and spears, but with words and form. While Brutus creates an intellectual and logical speech to win over the minds of he crowd, Antony chooses to develop an emotional speech to win over the hearts of the crowd. The result of the competition is astonishing. In a war of …show more content…
Each character desperately fights to persuade and manipulate the audience and to do so, they each deploy their best tactics. Brutus utilizes his intellect and trust of the people to present a logical argument as to why he must be responsible for bringing structure back to Rome. Antony on the other hand uses his charisma and knowledge of what really motivates the people to form an emotionally charged discussion that places emphasis on the audience drawing their own conclusions. He does so by carefully guiding the crowd through the use of rhetoric questions and sarcastic tones so they unknowingly reach the very conclusion he wants them to make. This ultimately leads to Antony achieving victory over his competitor and leaving the overconfident Brutus fleeing for his life on the outskirts of