Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?

1. What is the tone of the speaker here? (Analysis)

2. Who is ‘he’ referred to in the first line of the extract? What does the speaker want to convey to the listeners? (Recalling & Understanding)

3. What is the conquest referred to in the extract? Why has the conqueror not brought any territories to Rome by his conquest? (Understanding & Analysis)

4. How does the speaker show his anger towards the listeners after the extract? (Analysis)

5. Explain:

1. What tributaries follow him to Rome? (Understanding)
2. To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels. (Understanding)

Answer 1

1. The tone of the speaker is angry, critical and sarcastic. Marullus questions why the citizens are celebrating Caesar when his victory has come at the cost of fellow Romans.

2. ‘He’ refers to Caesar. The speaker wants the citizens to realise that Caesar has not returned after defeating a foreign enemy, so their joyful celebration is misplaced.

3. The conquest refers to Caesar’s victory over Pompey’s sons. He has not brought new territories to Rome because the battle was part of a civil conflict between Romans, not a conquest of a foreign land.

4. After the extract, Marullus angrily rebukes the citizens by calling them ‘blocks’, ‘stones’ and ‘worse than senseless things’. He accuses them of forgetting Pompey and showing ingratitude by celebrating Caesar.

5. 

1. ‘What tributaries follow him to Rome?’ means: What conquered rulers or people are following Caesar to Rome to pay tribute to him? Marullus implies that there are none.
2. ‘To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels’ means: to be brought as prisoners, bound in chains, beside Caesar’s chariot in a triumphal procession. Marullus points out that Caesar has no such foreign captives to display.