Enter a Messenger

LEPIDUS         Here’s more news.

MESSENGER  Thy biddings have been done, and every hour,

Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report

How ’tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea,

And it appears he is beloved of those

That only have feared Caesar. To the ports

The discontents repair, and men’s reports

Give him much wronged.     (1.4.33-40)

Another messenger, and perhaps Lepidus is relieved to have the opportunity to interrupt Caesar’s biting, censorious indictment of Antony. It’s notable, though, that the messenger is not reporting to Lepidus—perhaps doesn’t even acknowledge him—but rather delivers his message to Caesar. While thy biddings have been done does at least leave open, momentarily, the possibility that Lepidus and Caesar have issued joint orders, it quickly becomes clear that Caesar’s the one in charge: every hour, most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report, how ’tis abroad. Under Caesar, the news service will run like clockwork, with regular updates. Antony’s not the subject of this message, though—it’s Pompey, whose rise and advances have already been related by Antony, to Cleopatra. Pompey is strong at sea, and it appears he is beloved of those that only have feared Caesar. Pompey, like Antony before him (and like Julius Caesar himself) is popular; Caesar rules by fear, and by implication his supporters are therefore more fickle, their support less strong. And so to the ports the discontents repair, those who feel they’ve been overlooked or poorly treated under the current regime, to join with Pompey. Men’s reports give him much wronged: Pompey is setting the agenda, convincing the people that he’s been hard done by and that right is on his side. He’s got a lot of popular support and sympathy. Dangerous times in Rome.