Cassius: That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this:
You have condemn'd an notes Lucius Pella
For taking bribes here of the Sardians;
Wherein my letters, praying on his side,
Because I knew the man was slighted off.
Brutus: You have wrong'd yourself to write in such a case.
Cassius: In such a time as this it is not meet
That every nice offence should bear his comment.
Brutus: Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm,
To sell and mart your officers for gold
To undeservers.
To sell and mart your officers for gold
To undeservers.
Cassius: I an itching palm!
You know that you are Brutus that speaks this,
Or, by the gods, this speech will be your last.
Brutus: The name of Cassius honours this corruption,
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.
Cassius: Chastisement!
Brutus: Remember March, the ides of March remember.
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake?
What villian touch'd his body, that did stab,
And not for justice? What, shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honours
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman
Cassius: Brutus, bait not me;
I'll not endure it. You forget yourself,
To hedge me in. I am a soldier, I,
Older in practice, abler than yourself
To make conditions.
Brutus: Go to! you are not, Cassius.
Cassius: I am
Brutus: I say you are not.
Cassius: Urge me no more, I shall forget myself;
Have mind upon your health; tempt me no farther.
Brutus: Away, slight man!
Cassius: Is't possible?
Brutus and Cassius are in Brutus' tent, discussing during the war against Antony and his followers. Cassius sold his soldiers to get money, and Brutus believed that this was a dishonorable act. The two get into an argument, Brutus trying to stay calm, and Cassius yelling at him with anger. This passage shows how they struggled in the war, and how a conflict was starting to form between them.
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