THINKER'S ALMANAC - March 15

How can Julius Caesar’s dying words help you keep your audience engaged?

Subject:  Rhetorical Questions - Et tu Brute?

Event:  The assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man? 

- Bob Dylan, “Blowing in the Wind”

On this day in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated by the Roman Senate.  

After defeating his rival Pompey, Caesar returned victoriously to Rome in 46 B.C.  The Roman Senate made him dictator for life, but some senators feared Caesar had grown too powerful.  These conspirators planned a public assassination.

                                            Julius Caesar - Image by Dorothe from Pixabay 

Days before March 15th, the augur Spurinna had warned Caesar to “Beware the Ides of March.”  (The Ides were simply a way to designate the middle of each month. In March, May, July, and October, the Ides fell on the 15th day; in the other months, the Ides fell on the 13th day of the month.)

As Caesar approached the Senate meeting on the morning of the 15th, a friend handed him a note, warning him of the assassination plot.  Caesar, however, did not read the letter. As he entered the theatre where the Senate was meeting, Caesar saw the augur Spurinna. He addressed him mockingly, saying “The Ides 

of March has come.”  Spurinna replied, “Yes, but they have not yet gone.”

As Caesar took his seat, conspiring senators surrounded him, pretending to be paying their respects.  A frenzied attack ensued in which Caesar was stabbed 23 times before falling dead to the floor (1).

For Caesar’s assassins, the Ides of March was an important date.  The first month of the Roman year was March, and the Ides marked the first full moon of the new year.  On this date each year, the Romans celebrated the festival of Anna Perenna, the goddess of the cycle of the year.  To her faithful worshipers, Anna Perenna awarded a long life. By eliminating the dictator Julius Caesar, the assassins no doubt believed they were ensuring the long life of Rome (2).

In Shakespeare’s theatrical account of Caesar’s assassination, Julius’ dying words are “Et tu, Brute?” (You too, Brutus?), a rhetorical question uttered by Caesar as he looks at Brutus, a man who he thought was his friend.  Although there is no record that Caesar actually said this, we can see why Shakespeare added it: it heightens the emotion of the scene and heightens the drama of Brutus’ betrayal.

Shakespeare used rhetorical questions.  Should you use them too?

More than a day of just warnings, we should embrace March 15 as a day to remember the power of the rhetorical question.  As we see from Shakespeare’s example, rhetorical questions have the power to engage an audience.  Whether you're presenting a speech or communicating in writing, consider crafting questions that spark your audience's interest and that get them thinking.  The audience is not expected to actually respond to these questions out loud, but you want to frame your questions in a way that will encourage your audience to personally connect to your topic. 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  Why should writers and speakers use rhetorical questions? What is the "Ides"?

Challenge:  Diverting Doom and Disaster:  Julius Caesar would have been smart to have listened more carefully to the warnings of Spurinna, who made his determination of the future by examining the entrails of animal sacrifices.  Today we receive our warnings from Public Service Announcements (PSAs).  PSAs began during World War II when radio broadcasters teamed up with advertising agencies to create the Advertising Council.  This partnership produced numerous messages to promote the war effort, such as advertisements promoting war bonds and famous messages like, “Loose Lips Sink Ships” — a warning against careless talk that might provide state secrets to the enemy.

Both Smokey the Bear and his famous slogan — “Remember… Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires” were created by the Ad Council.  

What are some possible dangers that people face on a daily basis?  What do people need to know to avoid these dangers? Write a PSA that identifies a specific danger and that includes some rhetorical questions to engage your audience. The purpose of a PSA is to equip the listener/reader with a specific strategy for avoiding the danger. Do some research on your topic to gather some facts and statistics; then, consider the target audience for your PSA.  Begin by doing something that grabs the audience’s attention, and do the best you can to show, not just tell, the danger along with explaining how to avoid it (4). 

Sources:

1-March, W.B. and Bruce Carrick. 365:  Your Date With History. Icon Books, 2005:  124-5.

2-Selwood, Dominic. ”The Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar and How It Changed the World.” The Telegraph 15 March 2018.

3-Ad Council. “Our Story.” 4-Bell, Jaclyn. “How to Create the Perfect Public Service Announcement.” Government Technology 12 March 2021.