Eve of Ides

by David Blixt

  BRUTUS

  Is that how you see the Senate?

  CAESAR

  (laughing) I’ve been a member too long to see it as anything other than what it is - a collection of privileged fools who do nothing and obstruct everything. They’ll fight even the most basic, clearheaded notion because it was suggested by their political enemy. As if we were not all Romans! Picking absurd fights to protect some petty private interests, backing so deep into a political corner that my only viable solution is military. Lawmakers with a profound disdain for the law. That is how I see the Senate. Whereas you see it as you wish it to be - a just and wise body of men.

  BRUTUS

  The dreamer.

  CAESAR

  And the pragmatist.

  BRUTUS

  Like Sulla. Who waged war on Roma.

  CAESAR

  Not Roma. Sulla never warred against the people of Rome, only the Senate. And after the war he had himself made dictator to ensure there could never again be such strife.

  BRUTUS

  See how well that went.

  CAESAR

  A hit. Is this what’s on your mind? After five years, you choose tonight to speak of the Rubicon?

  BRUTUS

  Perhaps I finally see that a river can’t be uncrossed.

  The SERVANT enters.

  SERVANT

  Forgive me, Caius Julius, Marcus Junius. The rain…

  He gestures to the windows. CAESAR waves a hand, and the SERVANT begins closing the window shutters. The rain is still audible. BRUTUS is silent. CAESAR returns to his pile of papers and picks up a sealed letter.

  CAESAR

  I have a note here from Pompey’s son Sextus. Any interest?

  BRUTUS

  A keen interest. He’s due a session in my court.

  CAESAR tosses the letter to BRUTUS, along with a golden letter-opener.

  CAESAR

  No need to tell me what it says. He’s refusing my offer of a pardon.

  BRUTUS

  A rare exception. Caesar’s clemency is famous. I should know - you pardoned me.

  CAESAR

  Nothing to pardon.

  BRUTUS

  (opening the letter and scanning it) He uses some very salty language - well, he’s a natural sailor - but the gist is you can stick your pardon in, ah, a fundamental orifice.

  CAESAR

  Quite. His father’s son.

  SERVANT

  Oh, Marcus Junius? Your brother Caius Cassius asked me to give you this note.

  BRUTUS lays down the letter and hastily takes the note, tucking it away.

  BRUTUS

  Tell him I know what he wants, and he’ll have my answer tonight.

  The SERVANT bows and exits.

  CAESAR

  You do well not to talk in front of slaves. Pitchers have ears. So - the Rubicon. What’s set that gnat whirring tonight of all nights?

  BRUTUS

  (turning the golden letter-opener over in his hands) It’s a gnat that pesters every patriotic man.

  CAESAR

  Painting me as unpatriotic. (BRUTUS opens his mouth) No, for Jupiter’s sake, don’t soften it! I’ve been called far worse.

  BRUTUS

  It’s on my mind because - I’ve been approached…

  CAESAR

  A petition?

  BRUTUS

  (seizing on the idea) Yes. In my court.

  CAESAR

  A good one, I hope. It’s been too long since we had a sensational murder trial. Who is the accused?

  BRUTUS

  A group of men, businessmen, but honorable, who’ve had their company usurped by one of the older shareholders.

  CAESAR

  And doubtless the dead man is the usurper. What business are they in?

  BRUTUS

  Armaments.

  CAESAR

  Hmph. I probably know them. No, no names, please. Don’t want to be accused of tampering with the courts. There are enough complaints against me already. Who brings the suit?

  BRUTUS

  The company’s workers. They were devoted to him.

  CAESAR

  Do they have standing?

  BRUTUS

  None better.

  CAESAR

  I see. Have the accused offered any defense?

  BRUTUS

  They were trying to save the company from ruin.

  CAESAR

  By murder? They couldn’t vote the man out?

  BRUTUS

  The workers wouldn’t allow it. But the company was failing.

  CAESAR

  A defense of justification, to cover their own weakness. But the case does raise an interesting question: was the company more important than the man’s life?

  BRUTUS

  And your answer is?

  CAESAR

  No man is indispensable. On the other hand, murder is still murder.

  BRUTUS

  If you were hearing the case, what would you do?

  CAESAR

  Let them off, but make them sell their shares in the company. Even if their cause was just, they can’t be allowed to profit from their deed.

  BRUTUS

  So they were justified?

  CAESAR

  Did I say that? Still, when the pot is broken, all that’s left is picking up the pieces. (arching an eyebrow) Do I sense a parallel? A parable, even?

  BRUTUS

  You wouldn’t have them killed?

  CAESAR

  Executing citizens is un-Roman. Freedmen and slaves, yes, if necessary. But I have never advocated death for anyone. You know that.

  BRUTUS

  I do. You should add another name. Caius Julius Caesar Clemens. That what makes it all more… The chief defendant is the man’s son.

  CAESAR

  Patricide?

  BRUTUS

  Adopted son. But still, he loved his father.

  CAESAR

  Yet, for the good of the whole, he slew him. Admirable.

  BRUTUS

  Abominable! Mouthing words of love, then raising a hand…

  CAESAR

  Why not? A man may simultaneously love his country and attack it. Case in point - the Rubicon.

  BRUTUS

  What? No, that doesn’t answer. Caesar, you can’t declare war on your own country and simultaneously cloak yourself in patriotism.

  CAESAR

  (grinning) Who says I can’t?

  BRUTUS

  Caesar, it is impossible to simultaneously love your country and attack it. It’s like those wretched men who beat their wives and claim they do it out of love.

  CAESAR

  Not only unpatriotic, but on the level of a wife-beater. You’re sweating, Brutus. Is it too warm?

  BRUTUS

  (setting aside the letter-opener) You’re telling me it’s possible to love a thing and fight against it?

  CAESAR

  Not only is it possible, it’s likely. A poetent emotion, love - it leads to violent upheavals. But I think you’re misstating the situation. Like Sulla, I never declared war against Rome. Only the Senate. The Senate is not Rome.

  BRUTUS

  Senatus Populesque Romanus.

  CAESAR

  Yes. The Senate and People of Rome. The people greeted me with flowers. (beat. Then, with mocking formality) Marcus Junius Brutus, as Urban Praetor I appeal to you--

  BRUTUS

  Please, don’t.

  CAESAR

  I’m quite serious. You’re thinking about petitions. Hear mine, and as Rome’s Chief Justice, you can decide - patriot, or villain?

  BRUTUS

  This is neither the time, nor the place…

  CAESAR

  I’m the dictator. Humor me.

  With a frown, BRUTUS subsides.

  CAESAR

  Learned Urban Praetor, my case is thus: as governor of Italian Gaul, I signed treaties with the German and Gallic tribes across our border, making them Friends and Allies of the Roman people. Pe
rfectly legal and correct. One of these allies was attacked by a neighbor, and I went to mediate their dispute--

  BRUTUS

  With your army.

  CAESAR

  With Rome’s army. Then, having settled them down, I decided it was high time the Gallic people to the West should have treaties as well. So I crossed the border into Gallia Comata.

  BRUTUS

  Again, with your army. Only this time without any legal pretext.

  CAESAR

  But a great deal of precedent. Many Roman governors have taken their armies when meeting new people. We were peaceful - paid for everything, shed no blood. How was I to know that the Gauls would rise up? And that, when beaten, they would urge other Gallic nations to unite against Rome?

  BRUTUS

  So a one-year governorship became a ten-year war.

  CAESAR

  Which Caesar won.

  BRUTUS

  Which Rome won.

  CAESAR

  No. Caesar. (beat) But when the war was over, was I welcomed by the Senate? Was I allowed to enter the city of my birth and receive the acclaim due me? No. Rather your uncle Cato and his unlikely ally Pompey, along with a handful of petty, backward-looking self-immolating fanatics decided to bring me up on charges - treaty-breaking, launching illegal wars, creating new citizens among the Gauls.

  BRUTUS

  All of which charges you could have answered in court.

  CAESAR

  With juries composed of senators. I stood no chance. What would you have had me do, Urban Praetor? Submit to trumped up charges? Given up my name, my property? Sacrificed that thing I prize above all else?

  BRUTUS

  You could have kept your citizenship.

  CAESAR

  At the price of my dignity.

  BRUTUS

  That’s where you lose the argument, Caesar. You hold your dignity above the honor of being a Roman.

  CAESAR

  Being a Roman, I hold my dignity at the exact level of Rome’s. Brutus, I am Rome. You are Rome. Cassius, Antony, Lepidus - they’re all Rome. Pompey, Cato, Bibulus - they were Rome. Not just Romans. They were Roma herself . It isn’t-it isn’t enough to strive and achieve for personal gain or for family. You must add something to the ever-rising monument to Roma’s greatness. If , after conquering all of Gaul, I had allowed myself to be sent into exile, it would not only have diminished me. It would have diminished Rome.

  BRUTUS

  You are a wonderful advocate, Caesar. But there is a flaw in your argument. You pretend an ignorance that’s beyond you.

  CAESAR

  I beg your--

  BRUTUS

  ‘How was I to know the Gauls would rise?’ You’re the greatest military and political mind in the world. Do you expect anyone to believe you didn’t know exactly what you were doing?

  CAESAR

  You admit I stayed within the law.

  BRUTUS

  If you admit you knew the consequences of your actions.

  CAESAR

  (smiling slightly) Suspected, perhaps. But, Brutus, I was scrupulously proper, within the letter of the law--

  BRUTUS

  Pardon me, Caesar--

  CAESAR

  Anything.

  BRUTUS

  Legal semantics cannot undo your deeds.

  CAESAR

  If they could, Brutus, I would surround myself with lawyers. In all my life, I’ve wanted nothing more than to be legal.

  BRUTUS

  Perfect, you mean.

  CAESAR

  I do not regard myself as perfect.

  BRUTUS

  I didn’t say you thought you were perfect. I said you want to be. And you won’t tolerate anyone around you to be less than perfect themselves. You’d cast aside your own son, if you had one. (quickly) Forgive me, Caesar.

  CAESAR

  Don’t shy off! One of the problems with being dictator is that no one speaks his mind. Licker-fish and ass-spongers all. They say only what they think I want to hear. What man wants that?

  BRUTUS

  Now who’s dreaming? That’s the desire of men throughout history - to be perpetually correct in everything they say and do.

  CAESAR

  Well, I’ve lost that race, haven’t I?

  BRUTUS looks at CAESAR curiously, then crosses to the map.

  BRUTUS

  Once you’ve beaten the Parthians, Caesar, will you weep?

  CAESAR

  What?

  BRUTUS

  ‘When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.’

  CAESAR

  There is more in me than the conqueror, Brutus.

  BRUTUS

  Then show it. Step down, and be virtuous.

  CAESAR

  Virtuous?

  BRUTUS

  Virtue alone is sufficient for a happy life. A virtuous man cannot be harmed by poverty, illness, war, or exile. Endurance is a virtue.

  CAESAR

  But passivity is not. To passively endure things is a woman’s lot, not a man’s. A man must fight injustice, don’t you agree?

  BRUTUS

  But how far must a man go? That’s what I’m struggling with. And how to go about it? Is it right to battle injustice with injustice?

  CAESAR

  You have my answer.

  BRUTUS

  Yes. To you, injustice justifies any act. Even treason. Even murder.

  CAESAR

  I regret it, but yes.

  BRUTUS

  You have regrets? I thought you were impervious to them.

  CAESAR

  Hardly. (beat) You know, in a way the Rubicon was my greatest defeat. In that moment, I lost something. I felt it go, like a broken thing inside me.

  BRUTUS

  What was it?

  CAESAR

  A dream. My dream. Of being the greatest Roman of all time.

  BRUTUS

  You think you’re not?

  CAESAR

  Not the way I wanted. Until that moment, I had done everything properly. Served in the right number of campaigns, held every office in the proper year. I wanted to be consul a second time, then censor, then become an elder statesman, possibly even Leader of the Senate. ‘Primus inter pares.’ The first among equals.

  BRUTUS

  Instead you are a god in Ephasus, a king in Aegypt, and Dictator of Rome. Undisputed ruler of the world. It’s not enough?

  CAESAR

  Far too much… (shaking off his grim thoughts). I should thank Lepidus. This is the best dinner conversation I’ve had in years.

  BRUTUS

  Something you said-- It reminds me of the story of Caius Popillius Laenas.

  CAESAR

  Because he faced down the King of Syria alone, with no more than a stick in the sand? Whereas I brought my army with me.

  BRUTUS

  I didn’t mean it as a slight. I was thinking of what Laenas told the king. (BRUTUS begins acting out the story, placing CAESAR in the role of the king) Using a stick, he drew a circle around the king, then said, ‘Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.’

  ‘Where is your army?’ demanded the king.

  ‘I don’t need an army,’ answered Laenas. ‘Everything that Rome is, ever has been, and ever will be, is standing before you now. I am Rome’s army. I am Rome’s might. I am Rome.’

  CAESAR

  And the king turned around and headed back to Syria. Yes, Brutus, exactly. Laenas had a sense of himself in Rome’s pageant. So do I.

  BRUTUS

  Is that the lesson you take?

  CAESAR

  What else?

  BRUTUS

  It astonishes me.

  CAESAR

  What?

  BRUTUS

  Your act as if you know how history will judge you. But what seems right in the moment often turns out to be wrong. How do you make the irrevocable choice? How - how do you cross
that river?

  CAESAR

  I think of what a true Roman would do. Laenas. The two Scipios, Marius. Yes, even Sulla. What Brutus would do. What Romulus would do. In the case of the Rubicon, the answer was plain. Remus mocked the humble walls Romulus had built, so Romulus slew him. His own brother.

  BRUTUS

  How does that answer? Remus died for doing precisely what you did - he broke the sacred boundary of Rome.

  CAESAR

  No. Remus died for diminishing Roma.

  BRUTUS

  Remus broke Rome’s law. So did you. What is Rome without law?

  CAESAR

  Whose law? I ask you, Brutus, whose law? Under the law, all Roman citizens are equal, from the noblest to the meanest, from Brutus to the poorest of the Head Count. But I was not to be afforded that inalienable right. Inalienable, Brutus. What they gave to Pompey, they refused to me. Your uncle Cato and the rest held one set of laws for those in their good graces, and another for the men they disdained. And why did I earn their disdain? What was my real crime? Excellence. Great men are no longer allowed to exist, they must be torn down. In their Rome there is no room for superior men. Mediocrity rules. Anyone who dares show himself brilliant, ambitious, and able is not to be tolerated. If they cannot beat him within the rules, well, it must be time to change the rules! That is injustice, plain and simple.

  BRUTUS

  What you say is true, and rational - and wrong! You broke the law. Damn the circumstances, you broke the law!

  CAESAR

  It was already broken by other men.

  BRUTUS

  ‘They made me do it?’ Another fallacy, Caesar. Two wrongs do not make a right. Besides, who has ever made you do anything you didn’t want to?

  CAESAR

  Are you saying I wanted to cross the Rubicon?

  BRUTUS

  I’m saying a man is not defined by his enemies, but his actions. Caesar is far too much his own man to allow himself to be defined any other way.

  CAESAR

  I take responsibility for my actions. But I also acknowledge the circumstance. Morality in a vacuum is hollow philosophy.

  BRUTUS

  Being a dreamer, I have to disagree. Morality is like the law - if it changes in different circumstances, it’s not worth having.

  CAESAR

  My point exactly. If the law-makers break their own laws, what’s an honorable citizen to do?

  BRUTUS

  Wage civil war, obviously.

  CAESAR

  A very civil civil war. What blood did I shed on Italian soil? None. No, Brutus, what I did was a Right Act. Zeno would see that, even if Cato did not. I chose to honor the idea of Roma when her laws had gone astray.