ANAMORPHOSIS – Revista Internacional de Direito e Literatura v. 3, n. 2, julho-dezembro 2017 © 2017 by RDL – doi: 10.21119/anamps.32.387-409 387 THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR: POWER, IDEAL AND TREASON 1 LUÍS ROBERTO BARROSO 2 TRANSLATED BY FELIPE ZOBARAN ABSTRACT: This paper briefly revisits the plot of William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and seeks to reflect on power and human behavior at the dusk of the Roman Republic. The play, in fact, portrays the tragedy of Brutus, who, moved by idealism and the impetus to protect the Republic, betrayed Caesar and participated in the conspiracy to kill him. The article ends with considerations about love, ideal and treason. KEYWORDS: Shakespeare; Julius Caesar; Republic; power; ideal; treason. 1 INTRODUCTION Even you, Brutus! (“Et tu, Brute!”). There is a phrase that has crossed times as a symbol of perplexity and betrayal. And not of the detachment and idealism that were behind the gesture of Brutus. Even those who have never read the tragedy of Julius Caesar or even heard of William Shakespeare know the meaning of this outburst. The play is actually, as many suggest 3 , the tragedy of Brutus, whose moral integrity and republican values led him to sacrifice personal feelings of affection for Caesar in order to kill him in the name of a greater good. And thus, to avoid the risk of 1 I am grateful to Felipe Meneses Graça for the valuable help researching and developing this paper. 2 Professor of Constitutional Law at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Justice of the Supreme Court of Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. CV Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/2430424576721113. E-mail: gabmlrb@stf.jus.br . 3 About that, it seems worthy of remembering and interesting to read the works by José Roberto Castro Neves (2014), Barbara Heliodora (2005), Harold Bloom (1998), Emma Smith (2012).