This image of nobility disappears rather abruptly as the conspirators return to the details of the plan. What about Cicero? Should they try to get him on their side? He carries a lot of weight. Perhaps he'd be useful. Maybe they could claim him as the author of what they do and spread some of the responsibility around. Brutus points out that Cicero is too much his own man and will not follow anyone, and so he is excluded. Next, they must decide what to do about Mark Antony. He is a powerful and dangerous foe, but Brutus is doubtful, not wanting to murder for the sake of killing and even regretting that Caesar's blood must be shed.
Blood imagery begins to replace the lightening and flame that dominated the earlier part of the scene. It is as though a bloody rain follows the rumbling warnings of thunder. By means of this fluid image, Shakespeare moves easily between all the connotations that blood offers. The conspirators are up to no good, yet they attempt to lend credibility to what they do by calling on their noble Roman ancestry — their blood — in order to spill Caesar's blood. By this bloodletting, they believe they will regain the masculinity and strength that the state has lost. By penetrating Caesar's body, by exposing his weakness and effeminacy, Romans will be men again.
