It is noteworthy that Calpurnia, after the play on the name, proceeds to emphasize the brutality of the murder, not only by referring to the closeness of the relation between Brutus and Caesar, but also by comparing the insensate cruelty of his assassin to that of the most savage beasts. There is no warrant for this touch in the histories. Again, note the parallel:
“For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel;
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.”
—III., II, 180.
Another individual touch of Pescetti’s reappears in Antony’s oration. Thus the Chorus in “Cesare,” on hearing that Caesar’s body is being borne to his house by a few slaves, exclaims,
“E quegli, a cui comandamenti presti
Erano i Regi, e le provincie intiere,
Or appena hà trè servi,
Che ’l portin sù le spalle.”[[18]]—Ces., p. 127.
The Messenger at the sight of the corpse laments,