This is no big surprise, since Shakespeare and his contemporaries were completely obsessed with Roman culture and politics. Shakespeare' s main source for the play is Plutarch's famous biography The Life of Julius Caesar, written in Greek in the 1st century and translated into English in 1579 by Sir Thomas North. Would chaos ensue when Elizabeth died? Who would take the queen's place? Would the next monarch be a fit ruler or a tyrant? In other words, Julius Caesar asks its audience to think about the parallels between ancient Roman history and contemporary politics. When Shakespeare wrote Caesar, it was pretty obvious that the 66-year-old Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) wasn't going to produce an heir to the throne, and her subjects were stressed out about what would happen upon the monarch's death. Like the history plays, Julius Caesar gives voice to some late-16th-century English political concerns. Shakespeare wrote the play around 1599, just after he had completed a series of English political histories. Julius Caesar was most likely the first play performed at the Globe Theater. Shakespeare portrays Caesar's assassination on the Ides of March (March 15) by a group of conspirators who feared the ambitious leader would turn the Roman Republic into a tyrannical monarchy. Fun times-guess they should have thought their plans through a little more. As movie posters and book covers like to say, the play is 'based on a true story': the historical events surrounding the conspiracy against the ancient Roman leader Julius Caesar (c.100-44B.C.) and the civil war that followed his death. Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, written sometime around 1599. Julius Caesar found this lesson out the hard way-to the tune of 33 stab wounds and a betrayal so scandalous, we're still talking about it two thousand years later. Have your parents ever warned you about hanging out with the wrong crowd? You might be like, 'Pssht, whatever Mom, my friends are awesome.' And sure, your friends may seem awesome enough, but when push comes to shove, will they have your back, or will they turn around and throw you under the bus?

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare