Coriolanus - a historical figure of Ancient Rome who lived four centuries before Julius Caesar, has a play on his life written by the Bard. Despite it being one of his lesser-known works, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it. In a nutshell, Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is a killing machine, who after winning many a … Continue reading Coriolanus
Cleopatra was not the exotic, scheming, and lustful queen of legend who ensnared Rome’s greatest men. Her affairs with Pompey, Caesar, and Antony were historic realities, but these were driven by realpolitik. As Adrian Goldsworthy writes: Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. … Continue reading Antony and Cleopatra
Even as a child, when I knew nothing of Roman history, Caesar’s assassination and his famous ‘Et tu Brute’ dialogue were familiar to me. Looking back, I wonder if Caesar’s enduring influence in popular culture is all thanks to Shakespeare. What if the play was never written and the assassination never dramatized? Would he have … Continue reading Julius Caesar
