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Cleopatra
Rufio is one of Caesar’s lead officers. He’s a burly, middle-aged man with a rough, unsentimental personality. Although Rufio is loyal to Caesar, he is also critical of Caesar’s lenient treatment of their rivals. Rufio believes it is naive of Caesar to grant clemency indiscriminately and isn’t opposed to unnecessary bloodshed if it allows the Roman army to conquer their enemies. In Act IV, Rufio discovers that Ftatateeta is responsible for Pothinus’s murder, so he slashes her throat in retaliation. While Rufio (unlike Caesar) doesn’t necessarily disagree with Ftatateeta’s actions, he views her loyalty to Cleopatra as a threat to Caesar’s control of Egypt and uses this to justify the act of vengeance. Before Caesar leaves for Rome at the end of Act V, he appoints Rufio the governor of Egypt. Caesar’s decision surprises Rufio, who has no noble blood, but Caesar assures him that he considers Rufio his son. While Caesar condemns unnecessary bloodshed, he supports Rufio’s decision to kill Ftatateeta, agreeing with Rufio’s assessment of Ftatateeta as a viable threat to Roman rule.
Rufio Quotes in Caesar and Cleopatra
The Caesar and Cleopatra quotes below are all either spoken by Rufio or refer to Rufio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 4
Quotes
CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it. […] These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader: it is right that they shall slay you. […] then in the name of that right (He emphasizes the word with great scorn.) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of their fatherland? Can Rome do less than slay these slayers too, to show the world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand. […]
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Act 5
Quotes
CAESAR (energetically). On my head be it, then; for it was well done. Rufio: had you set yourself in the seat of the judge, and with hateful ceremonies and appeals to the gods handed that woman over to some hired executioner to be slain before the people in the name of justice, never again would I have touched your hand without a shudder. But this was natural slaying: I feel no horror at it.
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Rufio Quotes in Caesar and Cleopatra
The Caesar and Cleopatra quotes below are all either spoken by Rufio or refer to Rufio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 4
Quotes
CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it. […] These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader: it is right that they shall slay you. […] then in the name of that right (He emphasizes the word with great scorn.) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of their fatherland? Can Rome do less than slay these slayers too, to show the world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand. […]
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Act 5
Quotes
CAESAR (energetically). On my head be it, then; for it was well done. Rufio: had you set yourself in the seat of the judge, and with hateful ceremonies and appeals to the gods handed that woman over to some hired executioner to be slain before the people in the name of justice, never again would I have touched your hand without a shudder. But this was natural slaying: I feel no horror at it.
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