Concept of Loyalty in Julius Caesar

Caesar’s loyalty is shown in many ways. It states “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once” (Julius Caesar, Shakespeare). Julius Caesar was a great noble man, that was killed from the loyalty of the people in Rome. Caesar’s companions were loyal just not to himself. His friends were devoted to Rome and would do anything for Rome to succeed. For instance it states, “Brutus and Cassius, truly believe if Caesar were to become the king he was acting like, it would mean the end of the Republican system of government in Rome. If Caesar became king. The Senators, who assassinated him believe they would no longer be equal free men.” (Shakespeare). Caesars friends Brutus and Cassius believed that it was necessary for Caesar to be taken out for the good of Rome even though in the end it caused negative results. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, one of Shakespeare's messages is loyalty. Throughout the play loyalty differentiates in characters actions and language. It is important to notice the differences of loyalty between characters Cassius, Brutus, Antony, Calpurnia, and Portia.

Brutus was one of Caesar’s good friends but betrayed him. Brutus was only thinking for the good of Rome. Even when Brutus was convinced that having Caesar in power would cause a negative impact throughout Rome. It states that “Brutus very weak. He was noble towards his country, but disloyal towards Caesar” (Shakespeare). This explains that Brutus was close friends with Caesar but his loyalty for Rome was more important.

Mark Antony was another one of Caesar's friends who was loyal. Something that differs between Brutus and Antony is that Antony was not blinded by his loyalty of his country. Which shows that killing Caesar would not have a good impact on Rome. Once Caesar was killed instead of reasoning how Caesar was too ambitious to lead Rome. Antony chose to speak the truth about Caesar. He told the people of Rome that Caesar will not be blamed for the problems in Rome. However that Caesar was a great leader for the people of Rome. Although the Romans won’t forget what Brutus and Cassius did.

Loyalty tore Rome apart in many ways. The death of Caesar caused the outbreak of war between the people in Rome. The war symbolizes the conspirators fighting to see who shows more loyalty to Rome. It states that “If loyalty didn't play a part in the play, maybe Caesar would have lived on to become a great noble roman, and no war would have taken place, with Rome staying as a happy country.” (Shakespeare). This quote signifies whether things would be different in Rome if loyalty wasn’t involved. This emphasizes how loyalty made a huge impact on the play.

Overall loyalty had a negative impact on Rome. Shakespeare said that Loyalty can make or break men, In Julius Caesar many men were ruined because of their loyalty. Again causing Rome to fall apart because of people's selfish needs.

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