Chapter: ACT IV. SCENE I.

Rome. A room in Antony's house.

[Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table.]

ANTONY.
These many then shall die; their names are prick'd.

OCTAVIUS.
Your brother too must die: consent you, Lepidus?

LEPIDUS.
I do consent,--

OCTAVIUS.
Prick him down, Antony.

LEPIDUS.
--Upon condition Publius shall not live,
Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.

ANTONY.
He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.
But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house;
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.

LEPIDUS.
What, shall I find you here?

OCTAVIUS.
Or here, or at the Capitol.

[Exit Lepidus.]

ANTONY.
This is a slight unmeritable man,
Meet to be sent on errands: is it fit,
The three-fold world divided, he should stand
One of the three to share it?

OCTAVIUS.
So you thought him;
And took his voice who should be prick'd to die,
In our black sentence and proscription.

ANTONY.
Octavius, I have seen more days than you:
And, though we lay these honors on this man,
To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads,
He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,
To groan and sweat under the business,
Either led or driven, as we point the way;
And having brought our treasure where we will,
Then take we down his load and turn him off,
Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears
And graze in commons.

OCTAVIUS.
You may do your will;
But he's a tried and valiant soldier.

ANTONY.
So is my horse, Octavius;and for that
I do appoint him store of provender:
It is a creature that I teach to fight,
To wind, to stop, to run directly on,
His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit.
And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so;
He must be taught, and train'd, and bid go forth:
A barren-spirited fellow; one that feeds
On objects, arts, and imitations,
Which, out of use and staled by other men,
Begin his fashion: do not talk of him
But as a property. And now, Octavius,
Listen great things. Brutus and Cassius
Are levying powers: we must straight make head;
Therefore let our alliance be combined,
Our best friends made, our means stretch'd;
And let us presently go sit in council,
How covert matters may be best disclosed,
And open perils surest answered.

OCTAVIUS.
Let us do so: for we are at the stake,
And bay'd about with many enemies;
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear,
Millions of mischiefs.

[Exeunt.]

 Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus are gathered with a checklist of the men they plan to murder for conspiracy. Lepidus agrees that his brother can be killed as long as Antony agrees for his nephew to be killed. Lepidus is sent to collect Caesar's will, to see if they can divert some of his money their way. As soon as Lepidus has gone, Antony begins to talk trash about him. Antony thinks Lepidus is weak, so it's a shame that he'll be sharing power with Antony and Octavius in the triumvirate. Antony says he only took Lepidus' word about who should die because he's more experienced than Octavius. The plan is to let Lepidus bear the burden of ruling while doing as he's told by the other two. Octavius is more in the pro-Lepidus camp and insists that he's a good solider. Antony replies that his horse is a good soldier too - good at being led and ordered. To them, Lepidus should only be a puppet. They then discuss the fact that Brutus and Cassius are raising an army, which they have to fight by allying their friends and funds. They go off to sit in council and discuss how they'll fight their enemies and weed out the traitors.

