1 Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist who lived between 45 and 120 CE. He is best known for his work Lives , which deta
ils the lives of notable Roman and Greek rulers, soldiers, and speakers.
2 It appears that destiny is not something that comes without warning but rather something that cannot be avoided, for they say that wondrous signs and appearances presented themselves. Now, as to lights in the skies and sounds by night moving in various directions and single birds descending into the Forum, it is perhaps not worthwhile connecting these to so important an event. But Strabo the Philosopher recounts that men on fire were seen battling against one another, and that a soldier's slave emitted a great flame from his hand that appeared to the spectators to be burning. But when the flame went out, the man had sustained no harm. While Caesar himself was sacrificing an animal, the heart of the victim could not be found. This was considered a bad omen, for naturally an animal without a heart cannot exist.
3 Many also said that a certain seer warned him to be on his guard against great danger on that day in March the Romans call the Ides. And when the day had arrived, as Caesar was going to the Senate-house, he saluted the seer and jeered him saying, "Well, the Ides of March are come." The seer mildly replied, "Yes, they are come, but they are not yet over." The day before, when Marcus Lepidus was entertaining him, Caesar happened to be signing letters. The conversation turned to what kind of death was the best. Before anyone could give an opinion Caesar called out, "That which is unexpected!" After this, while he was sleeping by his wife's side, all the doors and windows in the house flew open at once. Being startled by the noise and the brightness of the moon which was shining down upon him, he observed that Calpurnia was in a deep sleep but was uttering indistinct words and inarticulate groans. Indeed, she was dreaming that she held her murdered husband in her arms and was weeping over him.
4 Others say this was not the vision that Calpurnia had. In Caesar's house was a statue of Caesar which the Senate had voted to erect. Calpurnia, in her dream, saw this tumbling down, and she lamented and wept. When day came, she begged Caesar, if it were possible, not to go out. She asked him to put off the meeting of the Senate. If he decided not to acknowledge her dreams, she urged him to inquire by other means of divination and by sacrifices about the future. Caesar also, as it seems, had some suspicion and fear, for he had never before detected in Calpurnia any superstition. Now he saw that she was much disturbed. When the seers also, after sacrificing many victims, reported to him that the omens were unfavorable, he determined to send Antonius to dismiss the Senate.
Rewrite the ending of the passage to show the interaction between Caesar and Calpurnia in more detail. Write your new ending from Calpurnia's point of view. Be sure to use narrative techniques in your essay
