Gossip Ragazza
By Zoë Corner
Overheard: During the festival Lupercalia, on February 15th, Julius Caesar was heard to say:
“Forget not your speed, Antonius,
To touch Calphurnia, for our elders say
The barren touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their sterile curse.”
As we all know, Lupercalia is a Festival to honor Lupercus, the God of Fertility. Are the Caesars having trouble conceiving a little prince?
Antonius had had quite the day as well. He had his forehead cut with a sword; however it was treated quickly with milk-sodden wool. Then he, and the other youth of noble blood cut and wore the skin of sacrificed goats. They ran down the street, touching every person they passed.
A lot of the women ran out to get brushed by, since it was said to increase fertility. However, Calphurnia had her fate cut out for her, didn’t she?
Seen: Cassius with Cinna and Casca, discussing the conspiracy. What will their plan be? Cassius overheard to say:
“Be you content. Good Cinna, take this paper,
And look you lay it in the Praetor’s chair,
Where Brutus may find it; and throw this
In at his window; set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus’ statue. All this done,
Repair to Pompey’s Porch, where you shall find us.
It is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?”
Cinna was later spotted dropping said papers on Brutus’s windowsill. They were retrieved by his servant, Lucius, and then read by an unsuspecting Brutus. It read:
“Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake, and see thyself!
Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress!”
How will Brutus respond? Will he act on the issues that the forged letters communicated? Or will he simply let them pass? Only time will tell…
Spotted: In the dead of night, on March 15th, Decius, Cinna, Metellus, and Trebonious were seen lurking around Brutus’s home. They were lead by Cassius and Cinna. Brutus was warned by his servant, Lucius:
“Sir, ‘tis your brother Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.”
Prior to this, while Lucius was at the gate, Brutus thought audibly;
“Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar,
I have not slept.”
Could the men dressed in their black cloaks be there to discuss the conspiracy? Brutus sure does seem uneasy about the whole situation regarding Caesar’s possible assassination. Does anyone else wonder if Brutus knew that he would be having visitors, in the dead of night? I wonder if Brutus will go along with the conspirators and kill off his best friend. Oh, gentle Brutus…
**Note to the Men in Black: If you want to look less conspicuous, I’d try wearing your normal togas, and hold your meetings in daylight. We all noticed you in your dark drab.
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Act 1 Scene 2 lines 8-11
Act 1 Scene 3 lines 147-153
Act 2 Scene 1 lines 73-74
Act 2 Scene 1 lines 64-65