V. 3. 72, 73. Mr Collier mentions that the correction 'Lest' for 'Let' was also made by Southerne in his copy of the fourth Folio. The further correction, which is due to Capell, was claimed by Steevens, and is frequently given to him by modern editors. The corruption was perhaps due to a copyist or printer, who, not seeing that 'Let' was miswritten for 'Lest,' yet felt that the words 'Let Rome, &c.' were not suitable to Marcus, and gave them to a Roman lord, at a guess. The Editor of the first Folio, or some corrector of the Quarto from which he printed, thinking the words not suitable to a Roman, gave them to a Goth.
It may be however that the four lines 'Let Rome ... herself' were intended to be spoken by a Roman lord after Marcus had stabbed the Emperor. Perhaps they were an after-thought of the author and written at the foot of the page, and the printer of the first Quarto, thus misled, inserted them in the middle of Marcus's speech.
In so doubtful a case we have acquiesced in what may be considered the received text.
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Transcriber's Notes:
Added p. [xiii] Erratum corrections to text.
Retained line wrapping in plays to retain prose numbering.
Converted linenotes to footnotes with anchors at line ends.
Retained incorrect line numbers, e.g. there are often more than 5 lines (or occasionally less than 5) between increments of 5.