FROM THE COVER:
Shakespeare may have written Julius Caesar to be the first of his plays to take the stage at his acting company's new Globe theater in 1599. At this important point in his career as a playwright, Shakespeare turned to a key event in Roman history. Many people in the Renaissance were passionately interested in the story of Caesar's death at the hands of his friends and fellow politicians. . . .

Shakespeare's dramatization of Caesar's assassination and its aftermath has kept this debate alive among generations of readers and playgoers. Is Brutus the true hero of this tragedy. . . Or is Caesar the tragic hero. . . ? By continuing to address these questions, our civilization engages not only in the enjoyment of a great play but also in an examination of the ways it chooses to govern itself. . . .

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