Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

The assassination lands mid-play — what follows is the real subject: how the killers lose the argument over what the killing meant. Antony’s funeral oration is the greatest demonstration of political rhetoric ever staged.

Lean, quotable, and endlessly restaged in modern dress, it is among the most accessible tragedies. Read Brutus closely: a good man reasoning his way into catastrophe, one careful step at a time.

Which edition?

1Arden Shakespeare, Third Series

Ed. David Daniell · Bloomsbury, 1998

Daniell’s political reading is the fullest case for the play’s greatness.

Amazon

2Oxford World’s Classics

Ed. Arthur Humphreys · Oxford University Press, 1984

A classic edition, lucid on the play’s balance of sympathy.

Amazon

3The New Cambridge Shakespeare

Ed. Marvin Spevack · Cambridge University Press

Compact and dependable, with good attention to Plutarch.

Amazon

4Folger Shakespeare LibraryFirst read? Start here

Ed. Barbara Mowat & Paul Werstine · Simon & Schuster

The funeral orations, unencumbered — the speeches carry you.

Amazon

Cover images from Open Library.

Julius Caesar on stage

• First Encounters: Julius Caesar

  Royal Shakespeare Company · Stratford-upon-Avon, England

  21 Sep – 23 Oct 2026Stratford-upon-Avon

  Abridged First Encounters staging; tours various venues. Autumn leg.

  Tickets

• First Encounters: Julius Caesar

  Royal Shakespeare Company · Stratford-upon-Avon, England

  5 Nov – 28 Nov 2026Stratford-upon-Avon

  Abridged First Encounters staging; tours various venues. Winter leg.

  Tickets

• Julius Caesar

  Shakespeare's Globe · London, England

  6 Nov 2026 – 14 Feb 2027Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London

  Year inferred from season context; the Globe's listing omits years.

  Tickets

Julius Caesar on screen

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