Julius Caesar Original Text: Act 2, Scene 3

This page contains the original text of Act 2, Scene 3 of Julius Caesar. Shakespeare’s original Julius Caesar text is extremely long, so we’ve split the text into one Scene per page. All Acts and Scenes are listed and linked to from the bottom of this page, along with a simple, modern English translation of Julius Caesar.

ACT 2. SCENE 3. A street near the Capitol.

Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a paper

ARTEMIDORUS

‘Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius;
come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna, trust not
Trebonius: mark well Metellus Cimber: Decius Brutus
loves thee not: thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius.
There is but one mind in all these men, and it is
bent against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal,
look about you: security gives way to conspiracy.
The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover,
‘ARTEMIDORUS.’
Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,
And as a suitor will I give him this.
My heart laments that virtue cannot live
Out of the teeth of emulation.
If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live;
If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.

Exit

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Read more scenes from Julius Caesar:

A guide to Shakespeare’s stage directions
Read all of Shakespeare’s plays translated to modern English >>