Popilius is another Roman senator but is not a
conspirator. However, from this quote which he says to Brutus and Cassius before the
assassination, Shakespeare makes it obvious to the reader that more than just the
conspirators know about the plot. It is likely that many of the other senators know of
the plot for in real life there were many people in on the assassination than there was
in the play.
Also, this quote we can infer that Popilius
sides with Brutus and the rest. Therefore there is a divide in Tome: those for Caesar
and those against.
When Popilius says this, Cassius gets
very worked up thinking that Popilius is going to call them out, but of course he was
overreacting.
This come from Act III. Brutus has just given
his speech to the Roman citizens explaining why Caesar had to die. He leaves the pulpit
and Antony is left along with the Roman citizens to make his funeral speech. He uses
much verbal irony throughout his speech in order to warm up to the crown. In the quote
above he is referring to the conspirators as "honorable men." Although his sarcasm is
not evident at the beginning of his speech, it becomes much more evident as he continues
to call them honorable even though he shows how great and wonderful Caesar was (although
the "honorable" conspirators did not think so..)
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