Julius CaesarSubject: Write an explanatory essay on the role of persuasion in the play. Julius Caesar is a tragic drama written by William Shakespeare in 1599. This tragedy takes place in ancient Rome around 44 BC, when Rome was a great empire. Julius Caesar was a very important figure during this time as he was a very successful general who contributed to the expansion of the Roman Empire and after his defeat by his political rival Pompey, he assumed the role of dictator of Rome. But many citizens "feared that Caesar's power would lead to the enslavement of Roman citizens by one of their own." Therefore, a group of conspirators came together and assassinated Caesar. The assassination, however, failed to end the power struggles that divided the empire, and civil war broke out soon after. in which the deaths of the main conspirators constituted a sort of revenge for the assassination”1 and how the characters use persuasion to emphasize a specific point. Different characters throughout the story use rhetorical appeals to persuade others. Persuasion is used very effectively when Antony makes a speech to the citizens of Rome. He manipulates the crowd and uses persuasion effectively and he uses irony to turn the crowd against Brutus and the conspirators. Antony declares: “He was my friend, faithful and just towards me (III.ii.82-96)”. Through this statement, he had captured the public's attention because this statement states Antony's close relationship with Caesar. Antony later states: "But Brutus said he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man... When the poor cried, Caesar ...... middle of paper ...... although the characters help to describe the true nature and intentions of the characters. The author does this to signify the importance of the event in the play as it occurred in the "real" life of Julius Caesar.Bibliography:1. “Julius Caesar.” SparkNotes. SparkNotes and Web. April 8, 2014. .2. “Falling off the page: Rhetorical analysis of Julius Caesar.” Falling off the page: rhetorical analysis of Julius Caesar. Np, and Web. April 8, 2014. .3. SparkNotes. SparkNotes and Web. April 8, 2014. .4. SparkNotes. SparkNotes and Web. April 9. 2014. .