'I come to fetch you to the Senate House' Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2
The Morning Salutatio: Caesar's Fatal Errors
CAESAR
How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
Enter CASSIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA, TREBONIUS, and CINNA
And look where Cassius is come to fetch me.
CASSIUS
Good morrow, Caesar.
CAESAR
Welcome, Cassius.
What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?
Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,
Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy
As that same ague which hath made you lean.
What is 't o'clock?
BRUTUS
Caesar, 'tis strucken eight.
CAESAR
I thank you for your pains and courtesy.
Enter ANTONY
See! Antony, that revels long o' nights,
Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.
ANTONY
So to most noble Caesar.
CAESAR
Bid them prepare within:
I am to blame to be thus waited for.
Now, Cinna: now, Metellus: what, Trebonius!
I have an hour's talk in store for you;
Remember that you call on me to-day:
Be near me, that I may remember you.
[...]
Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me
And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
For this week's feature, I'm going to discuss the above extract from Julius Caesar, considering the Roman tradition of the 'salutatio' that Shakespeare (knowingly or otherwise) draws upon in this scene, and questioning whether this tradition might have added further motive for Caesar's assassins.
I'll begin with a definition of the 'salutatio'. Ancient Roman society was defined by ritual and hierarchy: in order for one's needs to be met, the observation of certain traditions and the association with wealthy patrons was of paramount importance. Clientes, or followers of a wealthy benefactor, would gather outside their patron's house in the morning to salute him. They would then move inside the atrium (hallway) of the house, and offer news, favours and services to their patron, in return for gifts, food doles (sportula) and favours in return. Clientes varied from poor workmen hoping for a gift of food, to aspiring politicians trying to rub shoulders with the elite.
The salutatio was as beneficial to the patron as it was to the clients. Clientes could offer all sorts of services and support, and could help manage the patron's businesses and civic duties (such as organising gladitorial games). They would also sometimes accompany their patron on his morning commute to the forum or basilicas - a large following would demonstrate a patron's popularity, as well as his wealth (in that he could afford to give gifts so many clients).
Scenes across Acts 2 and 3, beginning with the extract above and continuing right up to Caesar's assassination, are reminiscent of a morning salutatio. At the top of Act 2, Scene 2, Caesar enters 'in his nightgown', is tended on by a servant, and is soon joined by Calpurnia, his wife - from these textual clues, we can deduce that Caesar is at his home. As planned by the conspirators, Decius arrives to accompany Caesar to the Senate House (which is where they plan to strike him down). When Cassius, Brutus, Casca and the others all arrive in quick succession, Caesar takes this as a sign of friendship, and resolves to go with them.
Immediately, one question arises - have the conspirators ever attended a salutatio at Caesar's house before this time, or do they only do so now as a part of their plan to assassinate him? If this is the first time they have gathered like this at Caesar's doorstep, we might argue that this is merely in aid of their mission, rather than as conformance to any social tradition. Indeed, Caesar does seem surprised by this: 'now, Cinna: now Metellus: what, Trebonius!' he exclaims as yet more of his followers arrive, asking Brutus dubiously 'are you stirr'd so early too?' His surprise, and apparent embarrassment at being 'to blame to be thus waited for', could suggest that the conspirators have not paid such homage until now, and only do so to shepherd Caesar, not to salute him.
Yet, one factor suggests the contrary. Mark Antony, who is not involved in the conspirators' plan, also arrives to accompany Caesar to the Senate House. Unless it is by coincidence that he too decides to visit Caesar that morning, this proves that the gathering is not a ploy designed by Brutus and his followers, but an instance of several clients visiting their patron (whatever their later intentions may be). As for Caesar's surprise (for he is also surprised to see Antony 'notwithstanding up') - perhaps this is the first salutatio to be paid to him since he has returned home, and settled down as a wealthy nobleman. He is surprised by the tradition, but not adverse to it - at the end of the extract above, he happily welcomes his clients to his home.
Despite this, Caesar does not conform to the role of patron. In the extract above and in later scenes, he makes a number of errors which paint him as fickle and unreliable, arguably spurring the conspirators in their act.
All photos from the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2017 production of Julius Caesar are by Helen Maybanks, copyright of RSC, found here.
The artist's representation of a salutatio scene found here.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's model taken from his book, 'Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum', found here.
The following web addresses also provided useful infomation on the 'salutatio' tradition:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890)
Salutatio at the House of Pansa
I am to blame to be thus waited for.
Now, Cinna: now, Metellus: what, Trebonius!
I have an hour's talk in store for you;
Remember that you call on me to-day:
Be near me, that I may remember you.
[...]
Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me
And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
For this week's feature, I'm going to discuss the above extract from Julius Caesar, considering the Roman tradition of the 'salutatio' that Shakespeare (knowingly or otherwise) draws upon in this scene, and questioning whether this tradition might have added further motive for Caesar's assassins.
I'll begin with a definition of the 'salutatio'. Ancient Roman society was defined by ritual and hierarchy: in order for one's needs to be met, the observation of certain traditions and the association with wealthy patrons was of paramount importance. Clientes, or followers of a wealthy benefactor, would gather outside their patron's house in the morning to salute him. They would then move inside the atrium (hallway) of the house, and offer news, favours and services to their patron, in return for gifts, food doles (sportula) and favours in return. Clientes varied from poor workmen hoping for a gift of food, to aspiring politicians trying to rub shoulders with the elite.
The salutatio was as beneficial to the patron as it was to the clients. Clientes could offer all sorts of services and support, and could help manage the patron's businesses and civic duties (such as organising gladitorial games). They would also sometimes accompany their patron on his morning commute to the forum or basilicas - a large following would demonstrate a patron's popularity, as well as his wealth (in that he could afford to give gifts so many clients).
Scenes across Acts 2 and 3, beginning with the extract above and continuing right up to Caesar's assassination, are reminiscent of a morning salutatio. At the top of Act 2, Scene 2, Caesar enters 'in his nightgown', is tended on by a servant, and is soon joined by Calpurnia, his wife - from these textual clues, we can deduce that Caesar is at his home. As planned by the conspirators, Decius arrives to accompany Caesar to the Senate House (which is where they plan to strike him down). When Cassius, Brutus, Casca and the others all arrive in quick succession, Caesar takes this as a sign of friendship, and resolves to go with them.
Immediately, one question arises - have the conspirators ever attended a salutatio at Caesar's house before this time, or do they only do so now as a part of their plan to assassinate him? If this is the first time they have gathered like this at Caesar's doorstep, we might argue that this is merely in aid of their mission, rather than as conformance to any social tradition. Indeed, Caesar does seem surprised by this: 'now, Cinna: now Metellus: what, Trebonius!' he exclaims as yet more of his followers arrive, asking Brutus dubiously 'are you stirr'd so early too?' His surprise, and apparent embarrassment at being 'to blame to be thus waited for', could suggest that the conspirators have not paid such homage until now, and only do so to shepherd Caesar, not to salute him.
Yet, one factor suggests the contrary. Mark Antony, who is not involved in the conspirators' plan, also arrives to accompany Caesar to the Senate House. Unless it is by coincidence that he too decides to visit Caesar that morning, this proves that the gathering is not a ploy designed by Brutus and his followers, but an instance of several clients visiting their patron (whatever their later intentions may be). As for Caesar's surprise (for he is also surprised to see Antony 'notwithstanding up') - perhaps this is the first salutatio to be paid to him since he has returned home, and settled down as a wealthy nobleman. He is surprised by the tradition, but not adverse to it - at the end of the extract above, he happily welcomes his clients to his home.
Despite this, Caesar does not conform to the role of patron. In the extract above and in later scenes, he makes a number of errors which paint him as fickle and unreliable, arguably spurring the conspirators in their act.
- He is too friendly. He bids 'welcome' and 'good morrow' to each and every man, making small talk to some (to Caius Legarius, about his illness), teasing others (to Mark Antony, about his revelling), and promises to others (to Trebonius, to whom he promises an 'hour's talk'). These pleasantries might be expected of a patron to his followers, especially his more well-to-do clients. But Caesar goes a step further, and invites them to 'go in and taste some wine' before they go to the Senate House. Clientes were important to patrons, and some may even have been seen as amici (friends), but nevertheless, social tradition dictated that such relationships should stay in the 'public' sphere of a patron's life. Historian Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's model (below) depicts this public/private divide, and where each member of society stood. By inviting the conspirators and Antony inside his home, and offering them more than the standard sportula (wine, rather than bread), Caesar is crossing the boundaries of this social tradition. To create such social equality in private causes problems later, in the public street and the Senate House, when Caesar has to place his own authority over his friends.
- He is too harsh. At the Senate House, another salutatio takes place - citizens press to bring forward news, and to ask favours of 'Caesar and his senate'. But this is Caesar the politician, not Caesar the patron - in this role he is much more at home, conducting matters in a militaristic fashion. When Metellus Cimber kneels to ask for his brother to be pardoned, Caesar claims he is 'constant as the Northern Star', and refuses to grant this favour. A man who, only a moment ago, was his friend and equal, is now '[spurned] like a cur out of [his] way'. Caesar is proved to be tyrannical and unyielding, even uncaring - this only adds to the negative image the conspirators hope to draw from Caesar, thus validating their motives to assassinate him.
By being at once too friendly, and then too harsh, Caesar breaks the social tradition of the salutatio, seeming to play with the affections of his closest followers, and appearing a temperamental and unpredictable leader. The relationship between a patron and his clients was a contract - the patron could only expect to be supported and respected if he, in turn, supported and respected the wishes of his followers. Should any other wealthy benefactor be so fickle with his favours, his followers would simply turn their attentions to another man's fortune. But when it is Caesar, dictator of Rome, being so fickle - his fortune being the city itself, his favours making the difference between home and exile, peace and war, life and death - it is understandable that such drastic measures might need to be taken to quell him.
All photos from the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2017 production of Julius Caesar are by Helen Maybanks, copyright of RSC, found here.
The artist's representation of a salutatio scene found here.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's model taken from his book, 'Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum', found here.
The following web addresses also provided useful infomation on the 'salutatio' tradition:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890)
Salutatio at the House of Pansa
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