‘They that have power’: the Ethics of the Roman Plays

In the present chapter I propose to approach the question of Shakespeare’s changing attitude to the relationship between the hero and the people. Although I shall deal essentially with three emblematic scenes, one for each of the plays, I must approach them in a very roundabout way, taking as a starting point one of the few certainties we can rely upon: the date of composition and performance of the earliest of the Roman plays, Julius Caesar, first presented at the newly built Globe theatre in September 1599.