The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar

by William Shakespeare

[I.152] it was F₁ | it were F₂F₃F₄.

[I.153] hooted Johnson | howted F₁F₂F₃ | houted F₄.

[I.154] chopp'd | chopt Ff.

[I.155] swounded | swoonded Ff | swooned Rowe.

[I.156] soft! This is an elliptical use of the adverb 'soft' and was much used as an exclamation for arresting or retarding the speed of a person or thing; meaning about the same as 'hold!' 'stay!' or 'not too fast!' So in Othello, V, ii, 338: "Soft you; a word or two before you go"; and The Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 320: "Soft! The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste."

[I.157] swound Ff | swoon Rowe.

[I.158] like; he Theobald | like he Ff.

[I.159] falling-sickness. An old English name for epilepsy (Lat. morbus caducus, German fallende Sucht) used by North in translating Plutarch. Another form of the word is 'falling-evil,' also used by North (see [quotation, p. 26, l. 268]). It is an interesting fact that the best authorities allow that Napoleon suffered from epileptic seizures towards the close of his life.

[I.160] tag-rag people: Cf. 'the tag' in Coriolanus, III, i, 248.

[I.161] true: honest. Shakespeare frequently uses 'true' in this sense, especially as opposed to 'thief.' Cf. Cymbeline, II, iii, 76; Venus and Adonis, 724: "Rich preys make true men thieves."