The story of Julius Caesar goes back for centuries and centuries. Julius Caesar was well on his way to becoming Emperor of Rome when a group of Conspirators selfishly ruined those plans. Led by the Noble Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius the conspirators plotted the demise of Julius Caesar. They thought that they would easily get away with the conspiracy because they were backed by Brutus who was one of the most noble and respected Romans that there was. And when they committed the heinous act of taking Caesars life things sure looked like they were going to go the way of the conspirators. Yet Brutus made the fatal mistake of allowing Caesars best friend, Marc Antony, to speak at the funeral of Caesar. There, Antony turned the crowd against the conspirators and together they were run out of Rome. Outside of Rome the armies of Brutus and Cassius faced off against the armies of Octavius and Marc Antony. Through all of the turmoil of the battle, Cassius and Brutus ended up taking their own lives. With no more conspirators the death of Caesar had been avenged and the power of Rome was now in the hands of Octavius, Marc Antony and Lepidus.
The death of Marat and the death of Julius Caesar are very very similar. In both cases the victims were portrayed as being innocent and killed for unjust reasons by people who were their to witness the reality, but with bias opinions. In both cases great action was taken upon their behalf. In Julius Caesar's case, Antony gave a funeral oration that swayed the angry mob in his favor which allowed them to run the conspirators out of Rome all together, not to mention for his own good. And in Marat’s case a painting was made about his death which made him seem as a completely innocent victim who was brutally murdered in his bath which eventually made Jaques-Louis David famous and rich.
During Marc Antony’s funeral oration he portrayed Julius Caesar as completely innocent in the whole situation. He recites,
"I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/ Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?" (Shakespeare III.II.). However, this was not the real case at all. Julius Caesar was very power hungry. And some people may say that he refused the crown when it was presented to him. Yet he was just playing with the crowd and trying to prove himself not ambitious, while the whole time his motives were to have the crown at all costs. Antony's reason for this is to persuade the common people to run the leaders out of town only so he could then come to power with the help of Octavius. He created a whole mask over the real Caesar for his own selfish ways.
Then, Antony continues to say, "Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal./ To every Roman citizen he gives,/ To every several man, seventy-five drachmas" (Shakespeare III.II. 10). This quote was used to portray Julius Caesar as being a sort of savior. As even though he is no longer living he is still attempting to better the lives of the Roman citizens; on the other hand, Antony could have provided false information only to get the people to support Caesar's revenge on Brutus and Cassius. This is also able to be vaguely connected to Jesus Christ. As when Jesus Christ was murdered he still did everything he could to help aid his followers up to his moment of death. Which brings up the issue of not being able to repeat the past. No one is able to accurately describe the real occurrence, historians are only able to create a combination of recordings.
Both of these examples show how Marc Antony completely manipulated the crowd when he gave his funeral oration. Antony attempted to put out all of the positives that Caesar did and was going to do while he was still alive. Yet it seems as if it somehow slipped his mind when it came to the negatives and the power hungry mindset that Julius Caesar possessed. Essentially, the most prominent comparison between the works is the manipulation of peoples' opinions on those who are not able to be there at the time. The lack of proof made this tactic easy for David in the sense of who Marat was and Antony to persuade the common people to support him after all.
The death of Marat and the death of Julius Caesar are very very similar. In both cases the victims were portrayed as being innocent and killed for unjust reasons by people who were their to witness the reality, but with bias opinions. In both cases great action was taken upon their behalf. In Julius Caesar's case, Antony gave a funeral oration that swayed the angry mob in his favor which allowed them to run the conspirators out of Rome all together, not to mention for his own good. And in Marat’s case a painting was made about his death which made him seem as a completely innocent victim who was brutally murdered in his bath which eventually made Jaques-Louis David famous and rich.
During Marc Antony’s funeral oration he portrayed Julius Caesar as completely innocent in the whole situation. He recites,
"I thrice presented him a kingly crown,/ Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?" (Shakespeare III.II.). However, this was not the real case at all. Julius Caesar was very power hungry. And some people may say that he refused the crown when it was presented to him. Yet he was just playing with the crowd and trying to prove himself not ambitious, while the whole time his motives were to have the crown at all costs. Antony's reason for this is to persuade the common people to run the leaders out of town only so he could then come to power with the help of Octavius. He created a whole mask over the real Caesar for his own selfish ways.
Then, Antony continues to say, "Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal./ To every Roman citizen he gives,/ To every several man, seventy-five drachmas" (Shakespeare III.II. 10). This quote was used to portray Julius Caesar as being a sort of savior. As even though he is no longer living he is still attempting to better the lives of the Roman citizens; on the other hand, Antony could have provided false information only to get the people to support Caesar's revenge on Brutus and Cassius. This is also able to be vaguely connected to Jesus Christ. As when Jesus Christ was murdered he still did everything he could to help aid his followers up to his moment of death. Which brings up the issue of not being able to repeat the past. No one is able to accurately describe the real occurrence, historians are only able to create a combination of recordings.
Both of these examples show how Marc Antony completely manipulated the crowd when he gave his funeral oration. Antony attempted to put out all of the positives that Caesar did and was going to do while he was still alive. Yet it seems as if it somehow slipped his mind when it came to the negatives and the power hungry mindset that Julius Caesar possessed. Essentially, the most prominent comparison between the works is the manipulation of peoples' opinions on those who are not able to be there at the time. The lack of proof made this tactic easy for David in the sense of who Marat was and Antony to persuade the common people to support him after all.