t not into scenes, though the first act is headed _Actus Primus, Scaena
Prima_. The first systematic division into scenes was made by Nicholas
Rowe, poet laureate to George I, in the edition which he issued in six
octavo volumes in 1709. In this edition Rowe, an experienced playwright,
marked the entrances and exits of the characters and introduced many
stage directions and the list of dramatis personae which has been the
basis for all later lists. A second edition in eight volumes was
published in 1714. Rowe followed very closely the text of the Fourth
Folio, but modernized spelling, punctuation, and occasionally grammar.
These are the first critical editions of Shakespeare's plays.

IV. THE TITLE

It has been justly observed that Shakespeare shows much judgment in the
naming of his plays. From this observation several critics have excepted
_Julius Caesar_, pronouncing the title a misnomer, on the ground that
Brutus, and not Caesar, is the hero of it. It is indeed true that Brutus
is the hero, but the play is rightly named, for Caesar is not only the
subject but also the governing power of it throughout. He is the center
and springhead of the entire action, giving law and shape to everything
that is said and done. This is manifestly true in what occurs before his
death; and it is true in a still deeper sense afterwards, since his
genius then becomes the Nemesis or retributive Providence.

V. DRAMATIC CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

_Julius Caesar_ is a tragedy of a normal Shakespearian type, in which is
represented a conflict between an individual, or group of individuals,
and certain forces which environ, antagonize, and overwhelm. The unity
of action and of interest is the personality of Julius Caesar. In
dramatic technique the play is simple and effective. Out of masses of
detail and historical incident the dramatist has shaped a symmetrical
and well-defined plot marked by (1) the exposition, or introduction, (2)
the complication, or rising action, (3) the climax, or turning point,
(4) the resolution, or falling action, and (5) the catastrophe, or
conclusion. It is almost a commonplace of criticism that the opening
scene of a Shakespeare play strikes the keynote of the action. It
certainly does in a remarkable way in _Julius Caesar_, introducing, on
the one side, a group of excited citizens friendly to Caesar, and, on
the other, two tribunes hostile to him. It foreshadows the
character-contrasts in the play and