Julius Caesar, a tragedy in five acts by English playwright and national poet, William Shakespeare, was written between 1599 and 1600 and published in the First Folio of 1623. The celebrated play, one of several penned by Shakespeare such as Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Titus Andronicus, is based on actual events from Roman history. Julius Caesar, set in Rome, depicts the moral dilemma of Caesar’s friend, Brutus, as he considers joining a conspiracy led by Cassius. Brutus is conflicted between friendship and his deep love for the country, but eventually decides to become part of the plot and murder of Caesar, Rome’s prominent military leader and statesman, in order to prevent him from becoming a dictator of the republic. The assassination of Caesar goes on to ignite civil war in the Roman republic. Julius Caesar is an incisive study of the nature of ambition, power, and patriotism and their impact on the human psyche.