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ACT I. - The Works of Voltaire, Vol. X The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Zaire, Caesar, The Prodigal, Prefaces) and Part II (The Lisbon Earthquake and Other Poems).

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ACT I. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. X The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Zaire, Caesar, The Prodigal, Prefaces) and Part II (The Lisbon Earthquake and Other Poems). [1901]

Edition used:

From The Works of Voltaire, A Contemporary Version, (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901), A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming. Vol. X The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Zaire, Caesar, The Prodigal, Prefaces) and Part II (The Lisbon Earthquake and Other Poems).

Author: Voltaire
Translator: William F. Fleming
Notes: Tobias Smollett

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

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ACT I.

SCENE I.

cæsar, antony.

antony.

Yes, Cæsar, thou shalt reign; the day is come,
Propitious to thy vows, when haughty Rome
At length shall know, and shall reward thy virtues,
Long time unjust to thee and to herself,
Shall hail thee on the throne her great avenger,
Her conqueror, and her king: on Antony
Thou mayest depend, who never felt the sting
Of envy, but still held thy honor dear,
Even as his own: thou knowest I formed the chain
Which for the neck of Rome thou hast prepared,
Content to be the second of mankind;
Fonder to bind the wreath on Cæsar’s brows
Than rule myself: thou answerest me with sighs,
And the fair prospect that elates my soul
Depresses thine; the master of the world,
The king of Rome complains: can Cæsar mourn?
Can Cæsar fear? what can inspire a soul
Like thine with terror?

cÆsar.

Friendship, Antony:
But I must open all my heart to thee.
Thou knowest that I must leave thee, fate decrees
We must transport our arms to Babylon,
To wash out, in the savage Parthian’s blood,
The shame of Crassus, and the Roman people:
My touring eagle to the Bosphorus
Shall wing his way, my faithful legions wait
But for the royal wreath around my brows,
The wished-for signal: wherefore should not Cæsar
Subdue a kingdom Alexander conquered?
The Rhine submitted, why should not Euphrates
To Cæsar’s arms? that hope shall animate
The bosom of thy friend, yet blind him not;
Fortune perhaps, grown weary of her favors,
At length may leave me; Pompey she betrayed,
And may quit Cæsar too; the deepest wisdom
Is oft deceived: where faction reigns, our fate
Suspended hangs, as on the battle’s edge,
’Tis but a step from triumph to disgrace.
Cæsar, thou knowest, these forty years hath served,
Commanded, conquered, seen the fate of empires
Lodged in my hands, and trust me, Antony,
In every action the decisive stroke
Depended on a moment: but whate’er
Chance may bring forth, my heart has nought to fear,
Cæsar shall conquer without pride, or die
Without complaint: but from thy tender friendship
One precious boon I must demand of thee;
My children, Antony, will find a friend,
I hope, in thee: I hope that Rome, by me
Defended, and by me subdued, will own
Thy power; thou shalt, with my sons, enjoy
The name of king, and rule o’er all mankind;
Remember, ’tis the last request I make,
That thou wilt be a father to my children;
I ask not for thy oaths, those idle sureties
Of human faith; thy promise is sufficient;
For purer is thy word than sacred altars,
Oft stained with human perjury and falsehood.

antony.

It was enough to leave thy Antony,
And seek for death in foreign climes without him;
To Asia’s plains when glory calls my friend,
That I must stay in Italy to plead
My Cæsar’s cause, but it afflicts me more
To see thy noble heart dejected thus,
Distrusting fortune, and presaging ills
That ne’er may happen: wherefore talkest thou thus,
Of Antony’s dividing with thy sons,
Thy fortunes, and thy fame? thou hast no son
But thy Octavius, no adopted heir.

cÆsar.

I can no longer hide from thee, my friend,
The griefs that prey upon a father’s heart;
Octavius, by the laws, is made the son
Of Cæsar’s choice, I have appointed him
My successor; but fate (or shall I call it
Propitious, or unkind I know not which)
Hath made me father to a real son,
One whom I love with tenderness, alas!
But ill repaid by him.

antony.

Can there be one
So base and so ungrateful, so unworthy
The noble blood from whence he sprang?

cÆsar.

Attend,
And mark me well: thou knowest the unhappy Brutus,
Instructed in the school of savage virtue
By the stern Cato, he whose furious zeal
Defends our ancient laws, the rigid foe
Of arbitrary power, who, still in arms
Against me, gives my enemies new hope
And new support, who in Thessalia’s plains
Was late my captive, whose life twice I saved
Spite of himself, was born amongst my foes,
And bred up far from me.

antony.

Could Brutus, could—

cÆsar.

Believe not me, but read this paper.

antony.

Gods!
The fierce Servilia! Cato’s haughty sister!

cÆsar.

The same; a private marriage made us one.
Cato, when first our public discord rose,
Indignant forced her to another’s arms,
But her new husband, on the very day
That he espoused her, died; and Cæsar’s son
Was brought up in the name of Brutus, still
Was he reserved, ye gods, to hate his father!
But read, this fatal scroll will tell thee all.

antony.

[Reads the paper.
Cæsar, I die; the wrath of heaven, that cuts
My thread of life, alone can end my love.
Farewell: remember, Brutus is thy son:
And may that tender friendship for his father,
Which at her latest hour Servilia felt,
Live in his mind, and make him worthy of thee.
Has cruel fate to Cæsar given a son
So much unlike him!

cÆsar.

Brutus hath his virtues:
His haughty courage, though it angers me,
Flatters my pride; I feel a secret pleasure,
Though it offends me: his undaunted heart
Rises superior, and even conquers mine;
I am astonished at him, and his firmness
So shakes my soul I know not how to blame him,
When he condemns the arbitrary power
I have assumed: his genius towers above me:
As man and father, some bewitching charm
Deceives me still, and pleads his cause within;
Or, born a Roman, still my country’s voice,
Spite of myself, breaks forth, and calls me tyrant:
Perhaps that liberty I mean to oppress,
Stronger than Cæsar, forces me to love him:
Nay, more: if Brutus owes to me his life,
The son of Cæsar must abhor a master;
For in my early years I thought like him,
Detested Sulla, and the name of tyrant:
Myself had been like him, a citizen,
The partisan of liberty and Rome,
Had not that proud usurper Pompey strove
To crush my fame beneath his growing power;
For I was born ambitious, fierce of soul,
Yet brave and virtuous; if I were not Cæsar,
I would be Brutus—but we all must yield
To our condition: Brutus soon will talk
Another language, when he knows his birth:
Trust me, the royal wreath that’s destined for him
Will bend the stubborn temper of his soul:
For manners change with fortune: nature, blood
My favors, thy advice, united all
With interest and with duty, must restore him.

antony.

I doubt it much; I know his savage firmness;
The sect he follows is a sect of fools,
Perverse and obstinate, whom nothing moves,
Intractable and bold; they make a merit
Of hardening minds against humanity,
Whilst angry nature falls subdued before them;
To these he listens, and to these alone.
The horrid tenets which these sons of pride
Call duty, hold dominion absolute,
And lord it o’er their adamantine hearts.
Cato himself, that wretched stoic, he
Who fell at Utica, that brain-sick hero,
Who spurned thy proffered pardon, and preferred
A shameful death to Cæsar’s tender friendship,
Even Cato was less stern, less proud, than he,
Less to be feared than this ungrateful son,
Whom thy good heart would thus endear to thee.

cÆsar.

What hast thou said, my friend? thy words alarm me.

antony.

I love thee, Cæsar, and must not deceive thee.

cÆsar.

Time softens all things.

antony.

I despair of it.

cÆsar.

What! will his hatred—

antony.

Trust me.

cÆsar.

Well, no matter:
I am a father still: I oft have served,
Nay saved, my bitterest foes: I would be loved
By Rome and by my son; my clemency
Shall conquer every heart; the world subdued,
Shall join with Brutus to adore my power.
Thou must assist me in the great design;
Thou, Antony, didst lend thy useful arm
To aid me in the conquest of mankind,
Thou too must conquer Brutus; try to soften
His spirit, and prepare his savage virtue
For the important secret which my heart
Dreads to reveal; yet he must know it soon.

antony.

I will do all, but cannot hope success.

SCENE II.

cæsar, antony, dolabella.

dolabella.

Cæsar, the senators attend your pleasure,
Wait your supreme command, and crave admittance.

cÆsar.

They’ve staid too long already; let them enter.

antony.

They come, with hatred and sour discontent
On every brow.

SCENE III.

cæsar, antony, brutus, cassius, cimber, decimus, cinna, casca, etc., lictors.

cÆsar.

[Seated.
Welcome, ye pillars of immortal Rome,
And friends to Cæsar: Cimber, Decimus,
Cassius, and Cinna, and thou, dearest Brutus,
Come near: at length behold the important hour
When Cæsar, if the gods shall smile upon me,
Goes to complete the conquest of the world,
To seize the throne of Cyrus, and appease
Our Crassus’ angry shade: the time is come
When what remains of universal empire,
Still unsubdued, shall yield to Rome and me:
Euphrates calls; to-morrow I depart.
Brutus and Cassius follow me to Asia;
Antony’s care is Gaul and Italy;
Cimber must rule o’er the subjected kings
Of Betis’ borders, and the Atlantic sea;
Lycia and Greece I give to Decimus;
Pontus to thee, Marcellus; and to Casca
All Syria’s wide domain. Our conquests thus
Protected, and Rome left in happiness
And union, naught remains but to determine
What title Cæsar, arbiter of Rome,
And of the world, shall wear: by your command
Sulla was called Dictator; Marius, Consul;
And Pompey, Emperor: I subdued the last,
Let that suffice; new empires will demand
New names; we must have one more great, more sacred,
Less liable to change; one long revered
In ancient Rome, and dear to all mankind.
’Tis rumored through the world, that Rome, in vain,
Wars on the Persian; that a king alone
Must conquer there, and only kings can rule:
Cæsar will go, but Cæsar is no king,
An humble citizen alone, but famed
For his past service, subject to the will
And fond caprice of an uncertain people,
Who yet may thwart—you understand me, Romans,
You know my hopes, my merit, and—my power.

cimber.

Cæsar, I’ll answer thee. Those crowns, and sceptres,
That world you give us, to the people’s eye,
And to the senate, jealous of their rights,
Appear an injury, not a favor done,
On such conditions: Marius, Pompey, Sulla,
Those proud usurpers of the people’s power,
Never pretended thus to canton out
Rome’s conquests, or to dictate thus, like kings:
We hoped from Cæsar’s clemency a gift
More precious, and a nobler treasure, far
Above the kingdoms which thy bounty gave.

cÆsar.

What wouldst thou ask of Cæsar?

cimber.

Liberty.

cassius.

It was thy promise; thou didst swear thyself
Forever to uproot despotic power.
I thought the happy moment now was come,
When the world’s conqueror should have made us happy:
Rome bathed in blood, deserted, and enslaved,
Found comfort in that hope: we were her children
Before we were thy slaves—I know thy power,
And know what thou hast sworn.

brutus.

Be Cæsar great,
But Rome still free: the mistress of the world
Abroad, shall she be manacled at home!
Rule o’er the universe, be called a queen,
And yet be fettered! What will it avail
My wretched country, and her sons, to know
That Cæsar has new slaves to trample on?
Perhaps the Persians are not our worst foes,
We may have greater. I’ve no more to offer.

cÆsar.

And thou, too, Brutus!

antony.

[Aside to Cæsar.
Mark their insolence;
And see if they are worthy of thy favor.

cÆsar.

And dare ye thus, ungrateful as ye are,
Abuse my patience, and exhaust my love?
My subjects all, by right of conquest mine,
I bought you with my sword; ye spurned indeed
At Marius, but ye were the slaves of Pompey,
And only breathed till Cæsar’s wrath, too long
Restrained already, bursts with fury on you.
Ye vile republicans, by mercy taught
But to rebel, ye dared not thus have talked
To Sulla; but my clemency provokes
Your base ungrateful spirit to insult me:
Cæsar, you think, will never condescend
To take revenge, this makes you talk so bravely
Of Rome and of your country, and affect
This patriot pride, this grandeur of the soul,
Before your conqueror: to Pharsalia’s plains
You should have brought them; fortune now has placed us
At distance from each other: henceforth learn,
Who knows not how to conquer, must obey.

brutus.

No: Cæsar we shall only learn to die.
Who begged his life in Thessaly? Thou gavest
What was not asked indeed, but to debase us,
And we abhor the gift on such conditions.
Obey thee? No: pour forth thy wrath upon us;
Begin with me; strike here, if thou wouldst reign.

cÆsar.

Brutus attend—you may retire.
[To the senators, who go out.
What words
Are these? away! They pierce my very soul;
Cæsar is far from wishing for thy death:
Leave this rash senate, I entreat thee—stay,
Thou only canst disarm me; thee alone
Cæsar would wish to love: stay with me, Brutus.

brutus.

But keep thy promise, and I’m thine forever:
If thou art a tyrant, I detest thy love;
I will not stay with Antony or thee:
He is no Roman, for he wants a king.

SCENE IV.

cæsar, antony.

antony.

What says my friend? Did Antony deceive him?
Thinkest thou that nature e’er can move a soul
So fierce, and so inflexible? No: leave,
I beg thee, unrevealed the fatal secret
That weighs upon thy heart: let him deplore
The fall of Rome, but never let him know
Whose blood he persecutes: he merits not
His noble birth, ungrateful to thy goodness,
Ungrateful to thy love; henceforth renounce him.

cÆsar.

I cannot, for I love him still.

antony.

Then cease
To love thy power, renounce the diadem,
Descend from the high rank which thou hast borne;
Mercy ill suits with thy authority:
It checks thy growing power, and mars thy purpose.
What! Rome beneath thy laws, and suffer Cassius
To thwart thee thus; and Cimber, too, and Cinna;
Shall senators like these, obscure and low,
Talk thus before the sovereign of mankind?
The vanquished wretches breathe, and brave their master?

cÆsar.

My equals born, they yielded to my arms;
Too much above to fear them, I forgive
Their trembling at the yoke which they must bear.

antony.

Marius had been less sparing of their blood,
And Sulla would have punished them.

cÆsar.

That Sulla
Was a barbarian, born but to oppress:
Murder and rage were all his policy,
And all his grandeur: amidst sighs and groans,
And punishments and death, he governed Rome:
He was its terror, I would be its joy,
And its delight: I know the people well;
A day will change them; lavish of their love
And of their hatred; both are gained with ease:
My grandeur galls them, but my clemency
Attracts them still: ’tis policy to pardon
The foe that cannot hurt us, and an air
Of liberty will reconcile their minds,
And make their chains fit easy: I must cover
The pit with flowers, if I would draw them to it,
And soothe the tiger ere I bind him fast.
Yes, I will please them, even whilst I oppress,
Charm, and enslave them, and revenge myself
On every foe by forcing him to love me.

antony.

You must be feared, or you will never reign.

cÆsar.

In battle only Cæsar would be feared.

antony.

The people will abuse thy easy nature.

cÆsar.

I tell thee, no; the people worship me.
Behold that temple there, which Rome hath raised
To Cæsar’s clemency.

antony.

They’ll raise another
Perhaps to vengeance: thou hast cause to dread
Their rancorous hearts, still cherished by despair,
Cruel by duty, and the slaves of Rome.
Cassius alarmed foresees that Antony
This day shall place the crown on Cæsar’s head,
And even before thy face they murmured at it.
’Twere best to gain the most impetuous of them,
And win them to our interest: to prevent
All danger, Cæsar must constrain himself.

cÆsar.

Could I have feared, I would have punished them;
Advise me not to make myself detested:
Cæsar has learned to fight, has learned to conquer,
But knows not how to punish: let us hence,
And, strangers to suspicion and revenge,
Rule without violence o’er the conquered world.

End of the First Act.

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Return to Title Page for The Works of Voltaire, Vol. X The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Zaire, Caesar, The Prodigal, Prefaces) and Part II (The Lisbon Earthquake and Other Poems).

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ACT I. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. X The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Zaire, Caesar, The Prodigal, Prefaces) and Part II (The Lisbon Earthquake and Other Poems). [1901]

Edition used:

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Copyright information:

Fair use statement:

ACT I.

SCENE I.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

SCENE II.

dolabella.

cÆsar.

antony.

SCENE III.

cÆsar.

cimber.

cÆsar.

cimber.

cassius.

brutus.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

brutus.

cÆsar.

brutus.

SCENE IV.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.

antony.

cÆsar.