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Shakespeare's main source for Julius Caesar was Sir Thomas North's translation of Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans by the Greek historian Plutarch, which appeared in English in 1579. This was an Elizabethan bestseller along with the Bible and Holinshed's Chronicles.

Shakespeare, who had a financial stake in his acting company and their playhouse had a good nose for box office success and almost certainly opened the new Globe theatre in 1599 with the popular story of Julius Caesar.

Plutarch's history books were filled with information on key historical personalities and made excellent source material for dramatic scripts.

Click on the images below to read what Plutarch says about the following characters in Julius Caesar.