Mark Antony Statue (1)
Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony (January 14, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC), was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian and Lepidus (the same characters in the play), known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate (2).
Charlton Heston as Mark Antony (3)
For Mark Antony, the pain of Caesar's loss seems deeply personal, as he spends 20 lines after the conspirators leave Caesar's corpse in Act III, Scene i cursing in his grief. "Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!" (III.i.258) For this, the speech he is about to give is arguably his most climactic moment in the play. Maybe because Brutus did not take the speech so personally, he was less invested in the outcome.