[To] keep the turn of tippling with a slave … and stand the buffet
With knaves that smells of sweat.
(I.iv.10b-11, 16b-17, 19, 20b-21a)
Caesar again complaints that both Antony and Cleopatra are committing adultery, and then says that Antony has been drinking too much, and fighting with “knaves,” which means that he is not focusing on running the Empire, as he should be, and also that it gives a bad impression of the triumvirate and Caesar especially – something that Caesar himself is very worried about, as is seen later.
However, Caesar changes tack later on, after his messengers bring word that Pompey is growing in strength, and also that two famous pirates, Menecrates and Menas, are also acting on Pompey’s behalf. Caesar apostrophises Antony, in a scene that is thought by many to be highly significant, as it one of the very few times that Caesar is seen, in the play, to pay a genuine complement to someone. Caesar remembers a time when Antony “slew’st Hirtius and Pansa, consuls [of Rome.]” Although the imagery that Caesar uses is not particularly pleasant, (“stale of horses” and “eat strange flesh,”) it is the fact that Caesar praises someone, especially a person that he does not particularly like, which is important. At the end of scene four, Lepidus and Caesar are talking about getting more information about what is going on in the world, giving the current problems that t they are having:
Lepidus: What you shall know meantime
Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir,
To let me be partaker.
Caesar: Doubt not, sir, I knew it for my bond.
(I.iv.83b-86)
This short dialogue, containing some quite harsh–sounding phrases for people are that are meant to be friends, shows that there might be a small rift growing between these two men, in addition to the disagreements between Antony and Caesar. Lepidus asking for information about what is going on, from Caesar shows that there might be an issue of a lack of trust developing, whilst Caesar’s rebuttal of “doubt not, sir, I knew it for my bond,” shows that Caesar could be losing patience with Lepidus, who is always portrayed as being quite a weak and unimportant character anyway.
The meeting between Antony and Caesar in act two becomes very tense, even though Lepidus does his best to keep it peaceful: “what’s amiss, may it be gently heard. I earnestly beseech [you to] touch your sourest points with sweetest terms.”
Caesar does not heed his fellow triumvir’s advice, and starts accusing Antony that:
if you there
Did practice on my state, your being in Egypt
Might be in question
(II.ii.44b-46)
Obviously, accusing someone who is meant to be an ally of trying to usurp your position is bound to cause a big effect, and, within the space of a few dozen lines, friendly exchanges have turned into fierce accusations, like: “with taunts, [you] did gibe my missive out of audience,” from Caesar. Despite Caesar’s bluntness and rudeness, it seems that he really does want his alliance with Antony to work out as, when Agrippa proposes that Antony and Octavia marry, he is all for it:
Antony: What power is in Agrippa
If I would say, “Agrippa, be it so,”
To make this good?
Caesar: The power of Caesar, and
His power unto Octavia.
(II.ii.150-152a)
The two then agree that Antony and Octavia should marry, to keep them friends forever, as per Agrippa’s proposal. This scene brings up some interesting points, namely that it is highly unlikely that Agrippa would just have announced this to Antony and Caesar without having spoken to the latter about the idea before. Indeed, Agrippa says that his idea is “a studied, not a present thought,” indicating that they might have spoken about the possibility before; it is also unlikely that Caesar would have ordered his sister to marry someone that she did not like, or want to marry, especially as Caesar says:
A sister I bequeath you whom no brother
Did ever love so dearly
(II.ii.159-160b)
The next important scene that we see in is when the triumvirate and Pompey meet to discuss their treaty. Caesar, as the audience would expect, appears to be in full control of the situation, trying to avoid the bloodshed that none of the parties really wants. Abnormally, Caesar takes a secondary role in the dialogue during the important sections, letting Antony and Pompey talk, only really talking when Pompey accepts the triumvirate’s offer of peace, and saying that they should all feast to celebrate their treaty.
As mentioned earlier, Caesar is not one to enjoy a party, as again seen at the feast on Pompey’s galley. He is amazed and bemused at Antony’s description of a crocodile to Lepidus, the latter of which is extremely drunk, accepting things like: “it’s shaped like its self,” and “it moves with its own organs” as being good descriptions of the crocodile.
We next see a suspicious Caesar warning Antony not to mistreat Octavia; Antony assures Caesar that “you shall not find… the least cause for what you seem to fear.” Caesar also asks that Octavia would be as good a wife as he hopes she will be. Octavia then becomes teary, and, in a rare moment of compassion, Caesar consoles his sister, before wishing her and Antony well and leaving. In contrast to the previous scene, when we next see Octavia, Caesar acts quite callously, after he learns that his sister has left her husband, being more concerned about what she looks like at how others will view her, rather than her emotional state:
You come not
Like Caesar’s sister. The wife of Antony
Should have an army for an usher.
(III.vi.43b-45)
All of the above shows, I believe, that Caesar, despite being a powerful and gifted leader, is quite a cold, calculating and callous character.
