If you're interested, here's a summary of the parts we're skipping:
Julius
Caesar
Summary
of Act IV
1.
After
they formed the 2nd Triumvirate, Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus meet
in Rome to decide which Romans will live and which will die.
2.
After
some disagreements, the 3 leaders organize and agree that they must make
immediate plans to combat the armies being organized by Brutus and Cassius.
3.
Brutus
and Cassius meet up. Cassius is offended that Brutus has brushed him off. They
have misunderstood each other. The two men then order their subordinates to
lead off the armies and guard them as they all exit.
4.
Brutus
and Cassius still misunderstand each other (it’s about pride and loyalty).
Cassius accused Brutus of wronging him by taking bribes from the Sardians.
Brutus accuses Cassius of a similar wrong. Finally, the two men agree to
forgive one another and shake hands.
5.
The
two men learn that Antony and Octavius are marching toward Philippi and that
they have “put to death a hundred senators,” including Cicero. The messenger
reports the death of Portia, but Brutus accepts this news stoically. Brutus
proposes the army marches toward Philippi.
6.
That
night, Brutus is quietly reading a book in his tent when he is interrupted by
Caesar’s ghost. The ghost says it has appeared only to say that they will meet
again at Philippi. The ghost then disappears.
Summary
of Act V
1.
Octavius
and Antony await Brutus and Cassius’s army. Octavius awaits on one side, Antony
on the other. When they all meet up, the two sides hurl insults and accusations
to one another.
2.
Octavius
challenges Brutus and Cassius to fight now or whenever they muster the courage.
Octavius, Antony, and their armies exit.
3.
Cassius
has a feeling that he will never see Brutus again because the outcome of the
battle is so dubious. They bid each other farewell.
4.
During
the early course of the battle of Philippi, Brutus sends a message to Cassius
to attack, the enemy is vulnerable.
5.
Cassius
sees men retreating – Brutus’s forces, having driven back those of Octavius,
are foraging about the battlefield for spoils, leaving Antony’s army free to
encircle Cassius’ troops. Cassius sends Titinius to ride toward the soldiers
that he sees in the distance and determine who they are. When a watch reports
that he saw Titinius alight from his horse among soldiers who were shouting
with joy, Cassius mistakenly concludes that Titinius has been taken prisoner by
the enemy. He asks the watch to keep his oath of obedience and stab him, which
he does. As he dies, Cassius says, “Caesar, thou art revenged, even with the
sword that killed the.”
6.
There
was no need for Cassius to die, because Titinius was getting off his horse
among Brutus’s troops. When Titinius returns, he finds Cassius dead. Titinius
then kills himself with Cassius’s sword.
7.
Brutus
comes on stage and, seeing the dead Cassius, bids farewell to “the last of all
the Romans.”
8.
During
battle, Young Cato is killed, and Lucilius is captured by Antony’s soldiers,
who think he is Brutus. Lucilius is kept under guard and when they realize he
isn’t Brutus, Antony sends his solders to search for Brutus.
9.
The
battle goes on – Brutus and his men are weary. Brutus asks Clitus and then
Dardanius to kill him. They both refuse. Brutus tells Volumnius that Caesar’s
ghost appeared to him again; he knows that it is time for him to die. Volumnius
disagrees, but Brutus argues that the enemy has them cornered. Volumnius agrees
to hold his sword steady while Brutus runs onto it, thus killing himself.
10.
When
Antony’s forces arrive, he discovers Brutus. Antony delivers a brief and
now-famous oration over the body of Brutus beginning, “This was the noblest
Roman of them all.” Antony believes that all the other conspirators attacked
Caesar because of personal envy; Brutus alone did it because he believed that
it would be for the general good of Rome.
