Petto non meno ardir si chiude, e serra,
Ch’in quel di Giulio? e che cotesto braccio
Non è del suo men nerboruto, e forte?”[[95]]
Shakespeare has:
Cassius— “I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Caesar; so were you.
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter’s cold as well as he.”[[96]]
It is remarkable that in both dramas the authors found it necessary to convince one of their conspirators that Caesar was physically the same as other men.
The Brutus of Pescetti is accorded the same high estimate by his countrymen as the Brutus of Shakespeare. Cassius refers to him as “Il mio Bruto” and lauds him as
“Bruto sovrano pregio, e gloria della
Romana gioventù, Bruto, in cui splende
Ogni prisco valor, cui chiama il cielo