The ordinary spectator in the theatre is not much
concerned about the fine points of structural analysis
so beloved by critics. The Elizabethan playgoer cared
little whether Shakespeare remembered the rules for
classical tragedy, provided that he wrote a vivid drama
about some episode that interested him, and the life
of Cæsar was clearly of interest, almost as pertinent as
that of an English king.

Roman history was widely read in Shakespeare's
age. Every boy who went through the grammar school
gained an acquaintance with the history of Rome along
with other training in Latin literature. The Elizabethans
believed that history, particularly classical history, was
useful for the lessons that a reader might glean from
it. Political wisdom especially was to be found in the
Roman historians. Since only those learned enough
to read Latin could unlock these stores of wisdom in
the original language, translators early began to make
Roman history available in English versions. In 1579,
Sir Thomas North published his translation (made
from Jacques Amyot's French text) of Plutarch Lives
of the Noble Grecians and Romans, which had at least
eight editions and issues by 1631. This was a large folio
volume, heavy and ponderous to handle, but eminently
readable, and Shakespeare and his contemporaries got
much of their classical information from it. Plutarch was
Shakespeare's main source for Julius Cæsar.

In addition to North's translation of Plutarch, Shake-
speare's contemporaries had available translations of
Livy, Tacitus, Polybius, Appian, Cæsar, Suetonius, and
others. Compilations of the facts of Roman history were
prepared for ready reference and handbooks of history
contained many scraps of information about the Ro-

-viii-