Who He Is
Octavius is the young man whom Julius Caesar summoned to Rome and whom Mark Antony treats as an ally to whom he gives advice. He appears on stage only in Act IV, and at Philippi it is he who closes the play: he imposes his position on his companion, swears that the sword will not return to its sheath until Caesar's wounds are avenged, and orders funeral honors for the defeated man. He lives little on stage and says little, but what he says shows the direction of power.
Trajectory
In Act III, Scene 1, still offstage, he is recalled by Antony, who says that Caesar had written for him to come to Rome, and sends Octavius's servant back to warn him that Rome is not yet safe. In Act III, Scene 2, after the funeral, he is already in Rome, in Caesar's house, with Lepidus, and Antony goes to meet him.
In Act IV, Scene 1, alongside Antony and Lepidus, he strikes out the names of those who must die. He is the one who asks Lepidus whether he consents to the death of his own brother. When Antony calls Lepidus an insignificant man, he reminds him that Antony found him good enough to decide with him who would die, and that he is a proven soldier. He agrees to strengthen the alliance, saying that they are surrounded by enemies and that some who smile carry millions of evils in their hearts.
In Act V, Scene 1, on the plains of Philippi, when Antony orders him to lead the left wing, he answers that he will stand on the right, and, when rebuked, says that he does not contradict him, but that he will do it. At the parley, he asks Antony whether they will give the signal for battle, orders the troops not to move until the signal, and answers Brutus that it is not because he loves words more than he does. He says that if arguing makes one sweat, the proof will turn into red drops, and draws his sword against the conspirators. He swears that it will not return to its sheath until Caesar's thirty-three wounds are avenged, or until another Caesar has added slaughter to the traitors' sword. He answers Brutus that he was not born to die by his sword, and Cassius calls him a whining schoolboy.
In Act V, Scene 5, he reaches Brutus's body with Antony and Messala and hears from Strato, who answers Messala, that Brutus conquered himself. He says that he accepts into his service all who served Brutus and invites Strato. After Antony's eulogy, he says that the dead man be treated according to his virtue, with funeral rites, that the bones spend that night in Octavius's own tent, and that the field be put to rest. He closes the play.
Themes Embodied
Octavius shows, in a few lines, the power of someone who already knows he will command. He does not argue, he imposes: the right wing, the order to withdraw from the field. At Philippi, when Antony, the older man, tries to guide him, he answers that he does not contradict him, but that he will do it.
The play ends with his order, not with Brutus's death or with Antony's eulogy. The conspirators wanted to free Rome from a single man in power, and what the play leaves at the end is a young man whom it calls Caesar and who does not accept being contradicted. The Power that the text leaves on stage after the tyrannicide is his. The Politics of the play close with the continuity of the name: Antony calls him Caesar, and the play gives him the last order.
Relationships
- Augustus: the future first emperor of Rome, whom history knows as Octavian at the time of Philippi. What is described here is the character of the play, the young man who appears alongside Antony, not the historical politician.
- Mark Antony: the older ally, with whom he disputes the position in battle and whose orders he does not accept.
- Julius Caesar: the one whom Antony says he wrote to, asking him to come to Rome, and whose wounds Octavius swears to avenge.
- Brutus: the enemy to whose sword he says he was not born to die, and to whom he grants funeral honors.
- Cassius: the general who calls him a whining schoolboy before the battle.