These many then shall die; their names are prick’d.
So all these many people will die; their names are marked on the list.
All these people are going to die. We've got their names written down.
these ppl gonna die names marked
Octavius has been mentioned since Act 3 but now speaks for the first time. He arrives as the youngest, least experienced, and apparently least powerful member of the triumvirate — and immediately demonstrates that he will not be managed. His very first independent action in the play is to override Antony's battlefield positioning ('Upon the right hand I; keep thou the left'), which we'll see in 5-1. Here, he only mildly disagrees with Antony's dismissal of Lepidus, but the disagreement is real. Octavius speaks in short, precise sentences. He concedes gracefully. He remembers everything. He will outlast everyone in this play by decades.
Your brother too must die; consent you, Lepidus?
Your brother must also die. Do you agree, Lepidus?
Your brother's gotta die too. You okay with that, Lepidus?
ur brother dies too thats ok w u
Lepidus gets four lines and then is sent to fetch a document. His function in the scene is to be dismissed. He agrees to kill his own brother if Antony will kill his nephew — a bargain Antony immediately accepts and immediately begins undermining. Lepidus is not given enough stage presence to defend himself. Shakespeare's whole point is that he doesn't know he needs to.
I do consent,—
I do consent,—
I do consent,—
i do consent,—
The historical triumvirate proscriptions of 43 BC were one of the most notorious events in Roman history. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus drew up lists of political enemies to be killed, and the scale was vast: ancient sources suggest 300 senators and 2,000 equestrians were condemned. The most famous victim was Cicero, who had been Antony's most vocal enemy and whose head and hands were displayed on the rostra in the Forum. Shakespeare compresses this history to its essential moral ugliness: three men trading family members like chess pieces. What the scene captures, that historical summary can't, is the tone. There is no grief, no ceremony, no apparent conflict. The proscriptions happen in prose, in what sounds like a business meeting, with the efficient finality of someone closing a spreadsheet.
Prick him down, Antony.
Write him down on the list, Antony.
Add him to the list, Antony.
mark him down
Upon condition Publius shall not live,
Who is your sister’s son, Mark Antony.
On one condition: Publius will not live, who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.
Only if Publius dies. He's your sister's son, Mark Antony.
only if publius dies hes ur sisters son
He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.
But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar’s house;
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.
He will not live; see, with a mark I condemn him. But, Lepidus, go to Caesar's house and bring the will here, and we'll figure out how to reduce some of the money from his bequests.
He's dead, I'm marking him down. Lepidus, go get Caesar's will from his house. We need to see how we can cut down on what he's leaving to people.
he dies marking him lepidus get caesars will reduce whats being left to ppl
What, shall I find you here?
Will I find you here?
I can find you here then?
u gonna be here
The shift from Antony in Act 3 to Antony in Act 4 is one of the sharpest character turns in the play, and Shakespeare makes it deliberately abrupt. In 3-1 and 3-2, Antony was performing grief while engineering a political outcome — but the grief appeared real, the relationship with Caesar seemed genuine, the emotion was palpable even if also tactical. Now, in 4-1, we see a different Antony entirely: the man who marked his own nephew for death without visible hesitation, who dismisses Lepidus as a donkey the moment the door closes, who talks about 'cutting off some charge in legacies' from the very will he read as a monument to Caesar's generosity. This is not hypocrisy in the dramatic sense — it's efficiency. Antony is showing us the operating system beneath the emotional performance. The performance was real; so is this. They coexist.
Or here, or at the Capitol.
You'll find us in this place or at the Capitol.
Try here or over at the Capitol.
here or capitol
This is a slight unmeritable man,
Meet to be sent on errands. Is it fit,
The three-fold world divided, he should stand
One of the three to share it?
This is a worthless, undeserving man, fit only for running errands. Is it right that with the world divided three ways, he should be one of the three to share it?
This guy's a loser, good for nothing but errands. How does he get to be one of the three ruling the whole world?
hes worthless just for errands how does he rule like us
So you thought him,
And took his voice who should be prick’d to die
In our black sentence and proscription.
That's how you judged him, and yet you asked his opinion on who should be marked for death in our grim list of the condemned.
Funny, that's what you thought of him, but you still let him have a say in who goes on our hit list.
u think he's useless?? but u let him help pick who dies make it make sense
Lepidus is the play's clearest example of someone who has real power and no real authority. He sits at the table of the most powerful men in the world. He has an army, he has a title, he has a vote. And he is dismissed as a pack animal within sixty seconds of leaving the room. The historical Lepidus had a similar trajectory: he was triumvir from 43 to 36 BC, then stripped of his power by Octavius and lived out his life in comfortable obscurity for another twenty years. In the play, he is barely a character — and that is Shakespeare's point. Real power in this world runs through Antony and Octavius. Lepidus is filling a structural role that history required but personality can't sustain. The fact that Octavius defends him — briefly, pragmatically — suggests that Octavius already sees the long game more clearly than Antony.
Octavius, I have seen more days than you;
And though we lay these honours on this man,
To ease ourselves of divers sland’rous loads,
He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,
To groan and sweat under the business,
Either led or driven, as we point the way;
And having brought our treasure where we will,
Then take we down his load, and turn him off,
Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears,
And graze in commons.
Octavius, I have lived longer than you; And though we load these responsibilities onto this man, To free ourselves from various slanderous burdens, He will only bear them the way a donkey carries gold, To groan and sweat under the work, Either led or driven, just as we direct him; And once he's brought our treasure where we want, Then we take down his load and cast him off, Like an empty donkey, to shake his ears, And graze in the common pasture.
Octavius, I'm older than you, and I know more; Even though we pile these jobs onto this man To get rid of our own dirty work, He's just like a donkey carrying gold— Sweating and groaning under the load, We push him around however we want; Once he's hauled our treasure to where we want it, We unload him and kick him out, Like an empty donkey, to go flap his ears And eat grass with the common herd.
octavius im older than u we give this guy all our hard jobs to get rid of our dirty work he's like a donkey carrying gold sweating groaning under the weight we just tell him where 2 go once he brings our treasure where we want we dump him off like an empty donkey go shake ur ears n eat grass w the herd
You may do your will;
But he’s a tried and valiant soldier.
You can do what you like, but he's a proven and courageous soldier.
Do what you want. But the guy's proven himself brave in battle.
k do what u want but hes tested & brave
So is my horse, Octavius; and for that
I do appoint him store of provender.
It is a creature that I teach to fight,
To wind, to stop, to run directly on,
His corporal motion govern’d by my spirit.
And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so:
He must be taught, and train’d, and bid go forth:
A barren-spirited fellow; one that feeds
On objects, arts, and imitations,
Which, out of use and stal’d by other men,
Begin his fashion. Do not talk of him
But as a property. And now, Octavius,
Listen great things. Brutus and Cassius
Are levying powers; we must straight make head.
Therefore let our alliance be combin’d,
Our best friends made, our means stretch’d;
And let us presently go sit in council,
How covert matters may be best disclos’d,
And open perils surest answered.
So is my horse, Octavius; and for that I give it plenty of food. It is an animal I teach to fight, to turn, to stop, to run straight ahead, its movements controlled entirely by my will. And in the same way, Lepidus is just the same. He must be taught and trained and told to go forth. An empty-minded fellow; one who feeds on things, arts, and copies that other men have used up and made stale, and then he adopts them as his fashion. Think of him only as a tool. And now, Octavius, listen to what matters. Brutus and Cassius are raising armies; we must immediately take action. Therefore let's strengthen our alliance, get our best allies together, and stretch all our resources. And let's sit down in council now to figure out how to best reveal secret matters and deal most certainly with open threats.
So is my horse, Octavius. I feed it well for that reason. It's an animal I've trained to fight, to turn, to stop, to charge straight ahead. I control everything it does with just my mind. And Lepidus is basically the same thing. You have to teach him, train him, order him around. He's completely empty upstairs—he just imitates what other people have already used and made old. Don't think of him as anything but a tool. Now listen to me, Octavius. Brutus and Cassius are raising armies. We need to organize right now. We need to make our partnership stronger, get all our best people on our side, and use everything we have. We need to sit down immediately and figure out how to expose their secret plans and be ready for the threats we can see.
my horse is brave i control it lepidus same way just a tool nothing more brutal & cassius raising armies we gotta act now strengthen us stop them
Let us do so: for we are at the stake,
And bay’d about with many enemies;
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear,
Millions of mischiefs.
Let's do that. We are at risk and surrounded by many enemies. And some of those who smile at us have, I fear, millions of evil schemes in their hearts.
Let's do it. We're on the line, surrounded by tons of enemies. And some of the people smiling at us probably have a million evil plans cooking.
lets do it were surrounded enemy smiling ppl = evil
The Reckoning
This scene is the play's cold shower. For three acts we have watched idealists wrestle with their consciences. Now we see what replaces them: three men at a table, trading brothers and nephews for political convenience, with the flat efficiency of accountants. Antony, who just swayed a city with grief and eloquence, now checks off names of senators to be killed with a mark. The contrast is not accidental. Shakespeare is showing us what the conspirators' idealism actually cleared the way for.
If this happened today…
Three senior partners at a consulting firm are restructuring the organization after a hostile acquisition. They're going through a list of names on a spreadsheet — deciding who stays and who goes, trading names across business units. 'Your VP goes.' 'Fine — then your sister's hire goes too.' Markers are made on a whiteboard. When one of the partners steps out to get coffee, the other two immediately discuss that he's useful but ultimately disposable — he'll manage the transition, absorb the resentment, and then be bought out quietly. They will use him while they need him.