Those who surround Caesar are not all supporters. At Caesar's departure, Cassius and Brutus are left onstage. Cassius, whose political purpose is to gather people around him and overthrow Caesar, tests the waters with Brutus. He asks if he intends to watch the race and Brutus is less than enthusiastic. Brutus speaks disapprovingly of Antony's quickness. Cassius, who is a very good reader of other people, interprets this as Brutus' dislike of the new regime and goes on to probe a little further to find out if he will join his group of conspirators. Brutus resists the idea of speaking against Caesar, but Cassius flatters him, suggesting that no matter what Brutus says or does, he could never be anything but a good man.
Their speech is interrupted by a shout offstage and the abruptness of it causes Brutus to display more of his feeling than he may have otherwise. He says that he fears that the people have elected Caesar their king. Cassius has the green light now and presses his case. He speaks of how Caesar oversteps his bounds by calling himself a god when he is only a man and not a very strong one at that. He recounts saving Caesar from drowning. He describes the fever that left Caesar groaning and trembling. Another offstage shout adds urgency to what Cassius says. Brutus is swayed.
With Caesar's return to the stage — not crowned as Cassius and Brutus expect — he looking unhappy and is none too pleased that Cassius is lurking about with "a lean and hungry look." But Cassius is not truly tainted by this description because Caesar goes on to complain that he has not been able to corrupt Cassius and make him fat, luxurious, and distracted by orchestrated spectacles. So Caesar sees Cassius as a good Roman. On the other hand, Caesar worries that "Such men as he be never at heart's ease / Whiles they behold a greater than themselves," and he accuses Cassius of being too ambitious, which makes Cassius not a good Roman. Cassius thus cannot be categorized as good or bad — like all the other actors in this drama, he is complex and very human.
