Eve of Ides

by David Blixt

  Not for five years, at least. But some things are best left unsaid.

  CAESAR stands, pours BRUTUS a drink.

  CAESAR

  Are you happy with your wife?

  BRUTUS

  (taking the offered drink, sips) She’s - passionate.

  CAESAR

  I didn’t mind, you know.

  BRUTUS

  What?

  CAESAR

  You marrying her.

  BRUTUS

  Why should you?

  CAESAR

  (archly) Now who’s pretending an ignorance he doesn’t own? A man I pardon for fighting against me marries the daughter of my most implacable foe? Hmmm. A lesser man might see that as an insult. Even a challenge.

  BRUTUS

  Thank the gods you’re not a lesser man. (drinks) When did it begin? You and mother. When did it start? Exactly.

  CAESAR

  Just after I met her. She fascinated me. Reminded me of my mother. Another woman who should have been a man.

  BRUTUS

  When?

  CAESAR

  Some years after your father died. She came to me to propose that you marry Julia. Why?

  BRUTUS

  (holding the cup in two hands) Oh.

  CAESAR

  Oh! Oh, no, Brutus! Jupiter! I’d heard the rumors too, but I never never thought you would believe them!

  BRUTUS

  But my little sister, Cassius’ wife, she’s..?

  CAESAR

  My daughter, yes. Though I’ve never met her, and do not know her.

  BRUTUS

  Cassius - I think that’s part of the reason he married her. To be your unofficial son-in-law. And since she’s so clearly your daughter, I thought perhaps…

  CAESAR

  No, Brutus, no. If you had a glass, you would see there’s not a drop of Caesar in you. You are a true Junius Brutus, the son of your father, descended from the first Brutus, the man who overthrew the last king of Rome and founded the Republic.

  BRUTUS

  While you are descended from those kings.

  CAESAR

  I prefer to think of Aeneas and Romulus - and Venus. But not you. No. Poor Brutus. How long have you--?

  BRUTUS

  Ever since I found out. About you and mother.

  CAESAR

  You know I never intended that to come out.

  BRUTUS

  I know. That was mother’s fault. One of her rare mistakes.

  CAESAR

  Yes, sending love letters during a heated Senate debate is hardly discrete.

  BRUTUS

  I wonder if she did it to force you to marry her.

  CAESAR

  If so, she misjudged me. I would never marry a woman who had been unfaithful to her husband.

  BRUTUS

  Even if it was you she was unfaithful with?

  CAESAR

  Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion. I refuse to have any flawed thing in my life.

  BRUTUS

  Again - perfection. (smiles wanly) But the fact that she has flaws will be news to her.

  CAESAR

  A remarkable woman, your mother.

  BRUTUS

  Neither of her husbands were your political enemies.

  CAESAR

  Servilia is a case apart.

  BRUTUS

  Do you love her? Did you ever?

  CAESAR

  (laughing sharply) That harpy? No. (beat) I apologize. You deserve a real answer. No, I did not love your mother. But she interested me. She has a mind. Like your wife, she is passionate. She is also scrupulous about her status. Her affair with me notwithstanding, do these gossips actually think she would have given her honor to a fourteen year-old, no matter how august his birth?

  BRUTUS

  She did give her honor to you.

  CAESAR

  Not until I was man enough for her. But even if they believe--

  BRUTUS

  Go ahead, say it. Even if I believe.

  CAESAR

  Very well. Even if you believe that she would have given herself to a pubescent boy, do you honestly think I would have let you espouse my daughter if you were my son?

  BRUTUS

  Incest doesn’t seem to bother you.

  CAESAR

  That’s changing horses in the middle of the race.

  BRUTUS

  I think it’s spot on topic.

  CAESAR

  There is no question of incest. Cleopatra will have no more children by me.

  BRUTUS

  How can you be sure?

  CAESAR

  I am sure. That is enough.

  BRUTUS

  As I understand their ways, your son can only be Pharaoh if he marries his full sister.

  CAESAR

  Then he will not be Pharaoh. Aegypt’s Queen will bear me no more children. But you’re mistaken. These things have happened quite often in the past - a child is born with no full sibling. So the mother takes a lover who bears some of the father’s blood. A brother, a cousin. Perhaps I should introduce her to Octavius. They’re almost of an age.

  BRUTUS

  You’re not serious.

  CAESAR

  Of course not. I just own a perverse sense of humor. Octavius is horrified by her. Though I think he’s really just jealous of the time I spend with her.

  BRUTUS

  He’s not alone. Half of the Senate goes to that woman’s house hoping to find you there. I imagine Calphurnia wonders where you are at night.

  CAESAR

  Calphurnia is the most excellent of women, and Caesar’s true and faithful wife. I’m leaving her everything I legally can. Even if, as seems likely, Calphurnia has no child, she will be well-provided for. One-eighth of my fortune to her, another eighth to various relations - not Antonius. There are bequests for those public works I mentioned. The rest goes to Octavius.

  BRUTUS

  (hearing very little of this) You’re not my father.

  CAESAR

  Dear dear boy. No. Would I could claim such an honor. If I had a Roman son--

  BRUTUS

  Please, no.

  CAESAR

  You don’t seem pleased. You thought - you thought I broke off your engagement to Julia because of a blood tie between you two. Oh Brutus, no. I needed Pompey, so I bound him to me with the strongest tie I had - my daughter. Which meant breaking her engagement to you. I regretted it then, and now. But needs must. (smiling ruefully) Pompey was never my ideal son-in-law.

  BRUTUS

  Is that why you killed him?

  CAESAR

  (stung) I did not kill him.

  BRUTUS

  Had him killed. The Greeks say that’s as good as doing the deed yourself.

  CAESAR

  Greeks say a lot of things. Brutus, I had nothing at all to do with Pompey’s death. That was Cleopatra’s brother. It’s what made me side with her in the first place. I wanted nothing more than Pompey alive and well and living in Rome again, battling me in the Senate instead of the field of Mars.

  BRUTUS

  Your Rome. Your Senate.

  CAESAR

  A Rome where a man may get his due.

  BRUTUS

  Who’s to say what is his due? Today that right belongs solely to the Dictator.

  CAESAR

  Are we talking about the Senate, or Julia?

  BRUTUS

  We’re talking about Caesar the King, Caesar Rex! Caesar the undisputed genius, the great man, conqueror, lover, politician, poet. Alexander, Theseus, Socrates, and Homer all rolled into one. The first among equals, primus inter pares! Caesar the god!

  CAESAR

  I am none of those things. I am a man. And your friend.

  BRUTUS

  My friend, yes! That’s the part I can’t - I want to hate you, Caesar! For my mother, my uncle, my wife, for my self - for Roma! But you are my friend. The only person who ever understood me.

  CAESAR

 
Except Julia.

  BRUTUS

  Don’t! I - don’t! (stands and moves away from CAESAR)

  CAESAR

  I told you. Some things are best left unsaid. (beat) Beware the Ides of March.

  BRUTUS

  The Ides are tomorrow.

  CAESAR

  I’m well aware of it.

  Thunder.

  BRUTUS

  It’s funny, isn’t it. You can see everyone else so clearly. But you can’t see yourself through our eyes. Do you know how much you’ve changed our world? Do you have an inkling what your existence has done to Roman life?

  CAESAR

  Do I know? Half a million people made homeless, by Caesar. Four hundred thousand women and children dead, on Caesar’s orders. A hundred thousand men with severed hands, at Caesar’s command. A million enemy soldiers slain, by Caesar’s armies. A million more men, women, and children sold into slavery, to line Caesar’s pockets. The sacred boundary of Roma crossed by Caesar’s army. By Caesar. All done in Caesar’s name, for Caesar’s honor - for Roma. (beat) My only consolation is knowing I always tried the path of law before the path of blood. And when I have destroyed, what I have left behind shall benefit future generations in far greater measure than what I was forced to destroy. Do you imagine, Brutus, I don’t see the sum total of the devastation and upheaval I’ve caused? Do you think I don’t grieve? Do you think that I don’t look back on it - and forward to more of it - without sorrow? Without pain? Without regret? You mistake me, Brutus. Thank the gods, I won’t live to be an old man. I don’t think I could bear it.

  CAESAR seems more vulnerable in that moment than BRUTUS has ever seen him - slumped shoulders, head down. He looks, above all else, tired. BRUTUS reaches out a hand, pulls it back, then makes a decision.

  BRUTUS

  Caesar--

  Huge thunder - the storm has grown into a tempest. A window blows open. Papers on the desk scatter.

  CAESAR

  Cacat! Brutus - help!

  CAESAR closes the shutters again while BRUTUS gathers up the papers.

  CAESAR

  Thank you. Quite a tempest!

  BRUTUS

  There’s a fiercer one in my head. (notices the paper in his hand) What’s this map?

  CAESAR

  That? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m expanding Rome’s borders. Well past time, I think.

  BRUTUS

  Expanding Romulus’ realm. And that’s nothing. Regal benevolence. Godlike, even.

  CAESAR

  Do you truly not approve, or are you simply angry at me? Never let emotion cloud your sense, Brutus.

  BRUTUS

  (setting the map down) I’m sorry. I got sidetracked by - by personal issues. You’re right. Better left unspoken. Let’s be reasonable about this.

  CAESAR

  By all means. Do you have a suggestion?

  BRUTUS

  I’m not talking about the map. Caesar, you cannot remain Dictator. I see the sense in all your arguments. You want to build a new Rome - a reasonable, ordered Rome. But you don’t see that the foundations you’re laying are made of sand. (laughing bitterly) You know the real problem? We love you.

  CAESAR

  (amused) Yes, I can see how that--

  BRUTUS

  All of Rome admires and adores you, the man. You always have the right words, you have humor and gravitas in equal parts. You’re brave and sure and smart - and honest! You’re always honest! You’ve brought order, you’ve righted wrongs, you’ve passed fair and just laws for men of all classes. Rome loves you. And that’s more dangerous than anything. Because we love you, we turns a blind eye to all you represent. We’re the real problem here. We’re the ones willing to let you forge ahead. We’re the ones giving you power. If we simply refused to consent, your power would vanish. If you’re an adder, we’re the ones giving you the stinger.

  CAESAR

  An adder’s sting? Not even a lion’s tooth, or a leopard’s claw?

  BRUTUS

  You do have the luck of a giant cat.

  CAESAR

  Caesar’s luck will be proverbial.

  BRUTUS

  Caesar’s luck. Not my luck, Caesar’s. When you talk that way, it’s royalty speaking. The royal we. Caesar, tell me truly - and please, a straight answer - do you wish to be made king?

  CAESAR

  Never. Never, Brutus. Absolutely not. (BRUTUS is relieved until CAESAR goes on) After all, what is king? Rex is a word. Caesar is a word. Why would I want to be called King? To be Caesar is better than being king. I want no honors, no trappings, and certainly no crown. But-- You, Brutus. You.

  Thunder.

  CAESAR

  You of all men might understand. Seven civil wars in my lifetime. Seven. Add to that proscriptions, purges, and outright murder, and what do you have? Chaos. Rome is foundering. You must see that. Our customs and beliefs are dashing themselves against the facts of our times. The ideals of our founders are either ill-equipped for modern man, or else ill-served by him. The poor are frightened by the change, and they cling to the three staples of their lives - their gods, their games, and their bread. The Second and Third Classes want to join the First Class while the First Class wants to protect its exclusivity. We with the birth, the money, and the will to govern are expected - needed - to provide for the lesser among us. Else the Republic will fall.

  BRUTUS

  The Republic is eternal.

  CAESAR

  Nothing is eternal. Not even the gods. Without a firm hand, we will return to Pandora’s world - a world of chaos. It’s almost as though someone has defied the gods and shouted out Roma’s secret name into the open air, heralding our destruction.

  BRUTUS

  Is that the choice? Caesar, or chaos?

  CAESAR

  Not a palatable choice, I’ll confess. But you must see that a dictator is better than destruction.

  BRUTUS

  I’m not so sure. We cannot have a king - or a Caesar - and still be the people our forefathers envisioned.

  CAESAR

  But they couldn’t envision the state in which we find ourselves today! We’re no longer that tiny colony on the seven hills, desperate to survive the wolves. We have interests in foreign lands, far- flung peoples and places. Our wealth is great, our prestige greater, our enemies greater still. The sign-posts our ancestors planted should guide us to who we will become, not bind us to who we were. An example - from the time of our founding until a generation ago, the poor had no stake in the society. The army was filled with men of means - men with property have property to defend. But that changed when Marius saw Rome’s need for soldiers - an honest need, with the Germans coming for us like an avalanche. Lacking men, he drafted the poor. Practical. But fifty years on, what do we have? Professional soldiers coming home to find themselves rejoining the poor, wondering why they were called to fight for their country. Was it to join the Head Count and starve once discharged? Military training married to starvation births revolution. And not one of our civil civil wars, with Senators battling Senators. This will be a genuine uprising, with the people overthrowing the lot of us. As a consequence, Rome today needs wars, constant wars, foreign wars, until we are prosperous and equitable here at home. Without wars abroad, we sow the seeds of our own destruction here at home.

  BRUTUS

  Perpetual warfare? That’s a terrible solution!

  CAESAR

  Offer an alternative. Should we tax businesses? The poor? Women? That is the choice - wars of conquest, or taxation. War is both popular and profitable. We can try to replace it with arena games, but nothing matches the patriotic fervor of war, nor its ability to produce funds.

  BRUTUS

  We should just return to the old ways. Leave the rest of the world to fight each other. Remain above it.

  CAESAR

  We tried! We tried, but they came for us anyway! Carthage, Pontus, the Germans - we fought them and fought them until we saw the only way to keep them at bay w
as to conquer them. I am not saying I approve, Brutus. I’m saying this is where we are.

  BRUTUS

  Are we a nation of brigands, then? Foreign wars are theft writ large.

  CAESAR

  Whereas civil wars are not about wealth or land. They’re about our idea of ourselves. Most men are sadly incapable of defining themselves by what they are, so they rely on what they are not. Being Roman has to mean more than merely not being Greek or Aegyptian. If we cannot have a foreign foe to define us, we will create one within our own ranks. And the sides will forever line up between youth and learning on the one hand and tradition and dogged ignorance on the other. One side sees the need for change, while the other sees the passing of the old ways and resists.

  BRUTUS

  No illusion to which side you favor in that struggle.

  CAESAR

  There is value to our history, but it cannot dictate our future.

  BRUTUS

  Says the Dictator.

  CAESAR

  Says Caesar. I never wanted any of this. It’s terrible to look around and realize one has no equal. The men who might have given me a run for my money - Clodius, Cato, Crassus, Pompey - they’re all dead. I’m like the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Nothing stands half so tall. It’s not the way I wanted it, but Caesar had no choice.

  BRUTUS

  No choice!

  CAESAR

  Roma needs a strong hand. A man with vision enough, foresight enough, to create a framework for the future. You of all people should understand that. It was the first Brutus who created the frame that serves us to this day.

  BRUTUS

  By killing a king.

  CAESAR

  Any man can murder. No, your namesake did something far grander. After he deposed the Tarquin, the people offered Brutus a crown. And he refused. He refused. Do you realize how astonishing that is? Such a bold act of self-denial, of patriotism! It leaves me breathless. The greatest deed in our history, the founding of the Republic, the bedrock upon which we have built our world - the notion that we can rule ourselves.

  BRUTUS

  Yes! Exactly! We can rule ourselves!

  CAESAR

  But now it’s five hundred years later and his Republic is gasping, tired and old. We need another Brutus, another man of sense to reset Rome’s foundations for another five hundred years.

  BRUTUS

  You.

  Thunder.

  CAESAR

  Who else? Honestly, Brutus, who else? I don’t relish the job. But I love my country. What was I supposed to do? Sit and watch while fools like your uncle and his friends cling to tradition so tightly that they squeeze away our future?