The Italian’s work contains no funeral oration by Antony, but the entire fifth act is dramatically parallel to the third act of “Julius Caesar.” In it we find Brutus’ speech to the people, the account of the assassination, the various laments for Caesar, a chorus singing Brutus’ praises and another singing those of Caesar. The entire act is founded upon Appian, and despite its comparative inferiority in dramatic treatment, is rich in suggestions which a better dramatist could use to great advantage. Caesar’s victories, his magnanimity to his enemies, their base treachery and Antony’s readiness to avenge his friend’s murder; in short, all the hints[[15]] presumably derived by Shakespeare from the English translation of Appian are brought before us. Shakespeare could have found his material in Pescetti’s drama, and the supposition that he actually did do so is greatly strengthened by the fact that not only does the material under discussion reappear in “Julius Caesar”, but it reappears accompanied by certain individual touches peculiar alone to Pescetti’s treatment.
Calpurnia’s speeches, the recitals of the Messengers, and the comments of the Chorus are the dramatic counterpart in “Cesare” of the speeches of Antony in “Julius Caesar.” Thus Calpurnia exclaims at the news of Caesar’s death:
“O dolce, ò caro, ò mio fedel consorte,
O di quanti mai Roma
Produsse figli, più possente, e forte,
O della nostra età sovrano pregio,
O domator de’ ribellanti Galli,
Del feroce German, del fier Britanno;
O altrettanto dolce
Al perdonar, quanto al combatter pronto,