Brutus speaks in prose and asks to be believed on the strength of his honor; Antony speaks in verse and trades argument for things the people see and gain. Before the same crowd, in Act III, scene 2, the first wins applause and the second wins action.
Brutus says he loved Caesar, but loved Rome more: "not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome even more." He asks who would be so base as to want to be a slave, concludes that he has offended no one, and says he has the same dagger for himself, should Rome need his death. The crowd acclaims him, and a citizen shouts that he be made Caesar. As he leaves, Brutus asks everyone to stay to hear Antony.
Antony begins by saying he has come to bury Caesar, not to praise him, and repeats that Brutus is an honorable man, while recalling the ransoms of prisoners Caesar brought and the crown refused three times. The citizens begin calling the conspirators traitors and assassins. Antony comes down, shows the torn cloak and the wounds, says he is no orator, and only then reads the will: seventy-five drachmas for each citizen and Caesar's gardens to the people.
The crowd that had just acclaimed Brutus goes off to burn the conspirators' houses. The next scene shows the mob dragging the poet Cinna only because he bears the same name as one of the conspirators.