Do you think you would kill your best friend for any reason in the world? Caius Cassius gave his brother in law, Marcus Brutus a reason to do so, causing Brutus to kill his best friend, Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar, the famous play by The Bard ( William Shakespeare) is the heartbreaking story of war, death, and manipulation, with Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony, and Octavius in its midst. After the death of Caesar by the conspirators in the Senate, Brutus and Antony, Caesar’s closest friends, must give his eulogy speeches, and both convince the crowd using different approaches.

Brutus and Antony are both Caesar’s closest friends, but Brutus was manipulated into killing him by his brother in law, Cassius. The nobles were the ones that killed Caesar out of envy, while Brutus killed him out of good intentions, and thought it was for the good of Rome. The plebeians, however, had no part in the plot to commit regicide and were horrified at his death. Brutus gave the eulogy speech first, and it was crucial for him to convince the plebeians to see from his point of view- that Caesar was an ambitious man and Rome was better without him, though this was the reason Cassius gave him and thought untrue. Using the reasons the wily Cassius planted in his brain, Brutus gives a speech using reason, and logic. Brutus put forward the idea that Caesar was an ambitious man. He has no proof, though. His main idea was that Caesar, was his friend, but he killed him for the good of Rome; “ Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” By the end of Brutus’s speech, he has the crowd convinced, and the crowd is screaming for him to be king. With the crowd screaming his goodwill, Brutus leaves Antony to make his speech, feeling that the commoners will keep his point of view, and this was a crucial mistake for Brutus.

Antony is another one of Caesar’s closest friends, but he was not part of the conspiracy and wishes to avenge the death of Caesar. Antony cannot disclose this to the conspirators, or they will kill him. but with Brutus gone, he has a clear path. He wishes to get the crowd to find the conspirator’s actions wrong, and to side with him in a war against Brutus and Cassius.  While Brutus gave a logical speech, Antony gives an emotional speech. He uses rhetorical questions and repetition like Brutus, but unlike Brutus, he has an emotional connection to the crowd. Antony’s speech had proof, unlike Brutus’s speech. He proclaimed that when the poor wept, Caesar wept; that Caesar brought home money to fill Roman banks. He asserted that Caesar refused the crown thrice, then asked if these were the actions of an honorable man; He used Caesar’s will, as his main stepping stone into a war. The will disclosed that Caesar gave each Roman citizen 75 drachmas, and all his private walks and arbors for the public to enjoy. Even before reading the will, though, the crowd was screaming bloody murder. The will was the last straw. They immediately recruited into groups and started burning the houses of all conspirators. Antony, happy with his work, leaves.

Although both speeches gained the crowd’s trust, the approach Antony took was more powerful than that of Brutus’s. Comparing both speeches, emotional speeches show to be more powerful than those with a logical approach. Brutus made a good speech, but it was Antony’s that moved the people to civil war. Overall, Brutus will be known as the killer of his friend, and Antony the defender of his friend.