CAESAR                      You have broken

The article of your oath, which you shall never

Have tongue to charge me with.

LEPIDUS                     Soft, Caesar.

ANTONY         No, Lepidus, let him speak.

The honour is sacred which he talks on now,

Supposing that I lacked it. But on, Caesar:

The article of my oath—

CAESAR                      To lend me arms and aid when I required them,

The which you both denied.            (2.2.81-90)

Antony’s been playing this brilliantly, and he’s got what he wanted in the first instance, which was for Caesar to lose his temper and so the moral high ground. You have broken the article of your oath—so, Caesar’s charging Antony with dishonourable conduct, and in effect with treason—which you shall never have tongue to charge me with; you couldn’t ever have the bare-faced cheek to accuse me of the same; you’ll never be able to say the same of me. I’ve kept the faith, I’ve done my job, lived up to the sacred responsibilities of my office. But Caesar’s leading with ‘being rude to messengers’ has seriously diminished the effect, and, besides, he’s shouting. Soft, Caesar, warns Lepidus; cool it, calm down, watch what you’re saying. So Antony can now be magnanimous, the grown-up in the room: no, Lepidus, let him speak. The honour is sacred which he talks on now, supposing that I lacked it. He’s accusing me of something really serious—and my honour is still sacred, sacred to me, and to accuse me of having lost it, of having betrayed my oath, that’s a terrible accusation. So, you were saying, Caesar, go on—the article of my oath. What were you going to say? Which particular article of my oath are you accusing me of breaking? Speak up, man. Caesar can’t help sounding a bit petulant now: to lend me arms and aid when I required them, the which you both denied. You promised you’d help me if I asked you to lend me soldiers, weapons, money, come to my aid yourself—and you didn’t! You abandoned me!