Julius Caesar, written in 1599, is revered as one of the great Shakespearean tragedies. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination, and the defeat of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the role that the minor conspirators play has an immense impression on the overall scheme. While these characters do not play protagonistic and antagonistic roles, their function is just as important. The minor conspirators may seem insignificant; however, they have roles that significantly impact the outcome of the play.
One of the most important minor conspirators, who vastly influences the plot, is Decius. His entire purpose was to fetch Caesar and bring him to the capitol on the day of the murder. The whole conspiracy almost fails due to Calpurnia’s premonition of Caesar’s death. The night before the assassination, she wakes up and tells Caesar that she had a dream…show more content… Cinna’s significant contribution was persuading Brutus to join the conspiracy. In this act, Cassius gives the order to Cinna to leave counterfeit notes at Brutus’s window. He is to leave them at the chair where Brutus sits, and at the statue of Brutus’s ancestor, to ensure that Brutus would find them. Cinna obliges to the task and responds, “Well, I will hie, / And so bestow these papers as you bade me” (I.iii.155-156). Had Cinna been unsuccessful in delivering the forgeries to Brutus’s attention, the entire plot would have changed. Without Cinna’s successful delivery, Brutus would not have joined the side of the conspirators. Had Brutus not joined the conspiracy the status of the betrayal would have lowered, and quite possibly, the assassination would not have happened at all. Cinna played an important role in getting Brutus involved in the conspiracy, and the plot was greatly influenced by this minor characters