Persuasive Essay On Caesar's Death

Caesar’s death divided the Roman Republic. Some citizens, like Brutus and Cassius, believed that Caesar had to die if the Roman Republic was to remain. Other citizens, like Mark Antony, believed that Caesar had been murdered before he had accomplished his greatest contributions to society. This difference in opinion, first expressed during the funeral orations for Caesar, spread throughout Roman society, leading to civil wars and the eventual fall of the Republic. Hundreds of years later, Shakespeare dramatized the events around Caesar’s death. From his version of the funeral orations given by Brutus and Antony, and the response of the crowd to each, valuable lessons can be learned about persuading people. The first funeral oration for Caesar was given by Brutus. As one of Caesar’s murderers, he needed to accomplish a lot in his speech if he wanted to persuade the crowd. Brutus needed to re-establish his credibility, which had been tarnished by his actions, prove that Caesar was guilty of a crime worthy of death, and show that the actions of the murderers were just.To accomplish this, Brutus relied on appeals to ethos. He started by claiming that he was Caesar’s greatest friend (3.2.19-21). If this was true, it would mean that Brutus had not killed Caesar out of jealousy, like many would assume, but instead had a good reason to do such a terrible thing to a friend. Brutus went on to say “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved / Rome more (3.2.23-24).” This use of