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In this episode, we bring together Michael Parenti's The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to explore the real historical event at the heart of the play. Parenti reframes the traditional "tyrannicide" narrative and argues that Caesar's murder was a calculated act by Rome's ruling oligarchs to stop a popular reformer who had become a threat to their wealth and power. Using this people's history perspective, we then discuss how this compares to Shakespeare's depiction of events and how this perspective can inform theatrical productions of Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com.

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Works referenced:

Attar, Rob, host and Barry Strauss, guest; "Caesar | 1. Beware the Ides of March." HistoryExtra Podcast, iTunes app, 15 December 2023.

Biemesderfer, Korina, host. "The Ides of March - March 15 2021 - Daily True Crime." Morning Cup of Murder, iTunes app, 15 March 2021

Duncan, Mike, host. "046- Sic Semper Tyrannis." The History of Rome, iTunes app, 27 February 2010

Parenti, Michael. The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome. The New Press, 2003.

Strauss, Barry, narrator. "The Real Assassination of Caesar." History This Week, iTunes app, 9 March 2020.

"TalkingStickTV - Michael Parenti - The Assassination of Julius Caesar." YouTube, uploaded by talkingsticktv, 10 August 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YNwxZnABzA.