Famous Quotations from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

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Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a treasure trove of quotations that have become a part of present-day culture. Here are the ten most famous of them all.

1.
Beware the ides of March.
(1.2.23), Soothsayer

2.
Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!
(3.1.77), Cæsar

Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 1. I was born free as Caesar; so were you: We both have fed as well, and we can both Endure the winter’s cold as well as he. Julius Caesar Quotes In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes. Julius Caesar Quotes A collection of memorable quotes and sayings by Julius Caesar on power, principles, pride, men, friendship, war, and revenge. 66 Memorable Quotes By Julius Caesar Famous As: Former Roman dictator. Julius Caesar’s reign was controversial. However, you can’t deny that he is one of most successful and influential people in history. He was a wise man so Julius Caesar quotes truly unforgettable. Also check out our list of insightful Hamlet quotes that are full of wisdom and life lessons. Julius Caesar Quotes.

3.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
(3.2.79-83), Antony

4.
It was Greek to me.
(1.2.289), Casca

5.
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
(2.2.34), Cæsar

6.
This was the noblest Roman of them all.
(5.5.75), Antony

7.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
(1.2.146-8), Cassius

8.
This was the most unkindest cut of all.
(3.2.193), Antony

9.
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods.
(2.1.173), Brutus

10.
Not that I loved Cæsar less, but that I loved Rome more.
(3.2.23), Brutus

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Veni, vidi, vici.

Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: GAIVS IVLIVS CÆSAR) (12 July100 BC – 15 March44 BC) was a Roman religious, military, and political leader. He played an important part in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of Gaul extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, with the first Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest military geniuses of all time, as well as a brilliant politician and one of the ancient world's strongest leaders.

For the famous play by William Shakespeare, see Julius Caesar (play).

Quotes[edit]

Men willingly believe what they wish.

The die is cast.

Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.

Veni, vidi, vici.
- 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. Written in a report to Rome 47 B.C., after conquering Pharnaces at Zela in Asia Minor in just five days, as quoted by Plutarch in Life of Caesar, a work written in Greek (ἦλθον, εἶδον, ἐνίκησα). This is also reported to have been inscribed on one of the decorated wagons in the Pontic triumph in Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Julius, by Suetonius in Latin (veni, vidi, vici).
- Variant translation: Came, Saw, Conquered
  - Inscription on the triumphal wagon reported in The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, as translated by Robert Graves (1957).

Alea iacta est.
- The die is cast.
  - As quoted in Vita Divi Iuli [The Life of the deified Julius] (121 CE) by Suetonius, paragraph 33 (Caesar: … 'Iacta alea est', inquit. – Caesar said … 'the die is cast'.)
- Said when crossing the river Rubicon with his legions on 10 January, 49 BC, thus beginning the civil war with the forces of Pompey. The Rubicon river was the boundary of Gaul, the province Caesar had the authority to keep his army in. By crossing the river, he had committed an invasion of Italy.
- A contrasting account from Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 60.2.9:

Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, «Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος», [anerrhíphtho kúbos] διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν.

He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present ‘Let the die be cast’ and led the army across.

He was reportedly quoting the playwright Menander, specifically “Ἀρρηφόρῳ” (Arrephoria, or “The Flute-Girl”), according to Deipnosophistae,Book 13, paragraph 8, saying «Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος» (anerrhíphtho kúbos). The Greek translates rather as “let the die be cast!”, or “Let the game be ventured!”, which would instead translate in Latin as iacta ālea estō. According to Lewis and Short (Online Dictionary: alea, Lewis and Short at the Perseus Project. See bottom of section I.).

Gallia est pacata.
- Gaul is subdued.
  - Written in a letter with which Caesar informed the Roman Senate of his victory over Vercingetorix in 52 BC

Sed fortuna, quae plurimum potest cum in reliquis rebus tum praecipue in bello, parvis momentis magnas rerum commutationes efficit; ut tum accidit.
- Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.
  - The Civil War, Book III, 68; variant translation: 'In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.'

I assure you I had rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome.
- On passing through a village in the Alps, as attributed in Parallel Lives , by Plutarch, as translated by John Langhorne and William Langhorne (1836), p. 499
- Variant: First in a village rather than second in Rome.

I will not … that my wife be so much as suspected.
- His declaration as to why he had divorced his wife Pompeia, when questioned in the trial against Publius Clodius Pulcher for sacrilege against Bona Dea festivities (from which men were excluded), in entering Caesar's home disguised as a lute-girl apparently with intentions of a seducing Caesar's wife; as reported in Plutarch's Lives of Coriolanus, Caesar, Brutus, and Antonius by Plutarch, as translated by Thomas North, p. 53
- Variant translations:
- Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.

It is not the well-fed long-haired man I fear, but the pale and the hungry looking.
- As reported in Plutarch's Anthony'; William Shakespeare adapted this in having Caesar declare Cassius as having 'a lean and hungry look.'

Καὶ σύ, τέκνον;
- And you, son?
- Reported as Caesar's last words, spoken to Marcus Junius Brutus, as recorded in Divus Iulius by Suetonius, paragraph 82; this gave rise to William Shakespeare's famous adaptation in Julius Caesar: 'Et tu, Brute? — Then fall, Caesar!'

De Bello Gallico[edit]

He seated himself at the head of the lines in front of the camp, the Gallic chieftains are brought before him. They surrender Vercingetorix, and lay down their arms.

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