Act 5, Scene 6

Antium. A public place.

[Enter TULLUS AUFIDIUS, with attendants.]
Tullus Aufidius
3461 Go tell the lords o' the city I am here:
3462 Deliver them this paper; having read it,
3463 Bid them repair to the market-place: where I,
3464 Even in theirs and in the commons' ears,
3465 Will vouch the truth of it. Him I accuse
3466 The city ports by this hath enter'd and
3467 Intends t' appear before the people, hoping
3468 To purge himself with words: despatch.
[Exeunt attendants.]
[Enter three or four CONSPIRATORS of AUFIDIUS' faction.]
Tullus Aufidius
3469 Most welcome!
First Conspirator
3470 How is it with our general?
Tullus Aufidius
3471 Even so
3472 As with a man by his own alms empoison'd,
3473 And with his charity slain.
Second Conspirator
3474 Most noble sir,
3475 If you do hold the same intent wherein
3476 You wish'd us parties, we'll deliver you
3477 Of your great danger.
Tullus Aufidius
3478 Sir, I cannot tell:
3479 We must proceed as we do find the people.
Third Conspirator
3480 The people will remain uncertain whilst
3481 'Twixt you there's difference: but the fall of either
3482 Makes the survivor heir of all.
Tullus Aufidius
3483 I know it;
3484 And my pretext to strike at him admits
3485 A good construction. I rais'd him, and I pawn'd
3486 Mine honour for his truth: who being so heighten'd,
3487 He water'd his new plants with dews of flattery,
3488 Seducing so my friends; and to this end
3489 He bow'd his nature, never known before
3490 But to be rough, unswayable, and free.
Third Conspirator
3491 Sir, his stoutness
3492 When he did stand for consul, which he lost
3493 By lack of stooping,—
Tullus Aufidius
3494 That I would have spoken of:
3495 Being banish'd for't, he came unto my hearth;
3496 Presented to my knife his throat: I took him;
3497 Made him joint-servant with me; gave him way
3498 In all his own desires; nay, let him choose
3499 Out of my files, his projects to accomplish,
3500 My best and freshest men; serv'd his designments
3501 In mine own person; holp to reap the fame
3502 Which he made all his; and took some pride
3503 To do myself this wrong: till, at the last,
3504 I seem'd his follower, not partner; and
3505 He wag'd me with his countenance as if
3506 I had been mercenary.
First Conspirator
3507 So he did, my lord:
3508 The army marvell'd at it; and, in the last,
3509 When he had carried Rome, and that we look'd
3510 For no less spoil than glory,—
Tullus Aufidius
3511 There was it;—
3512 For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him.
3513 At a few drops of women's rheum, which are
3514 As cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour
3515 Of our great action: therefore shall he die,
3516 And I'll renew me in his fall. But, hark!
[Drums and trumpets sound, with great shouts of the people.]
First Conspirator
3517 Your native town you enter'd like a post,
3518 And had no welcomes home; but he returns
3519 Splitting the air with noise.
Second Conspirator
3520 And patient fools,
3521 Whose children he hath slain, their base throats tear
3522 With giving him glory.
Third Conspirator
3523 Therefore, at your vantage,
3524 Ere he express himself or move the people
3525 With what he would say, let him feel your sword,
3526 Which we will second. When he lies along,
3527 After your way his tale pronounc'd shall bury
3528 His reasons with his body.
Tullus Aufidius
3529 Say no more:
3530 Here come the lords.
[Enter the LORDS of the city.]
Lords
3531 You are most welcome home.
Tullus Aufidius
3532 I have not deserv'd it.
3533 But, worthy lords, have you with heed perus'd
3534 What I have written to you?
Lords
3535 We have.
First Lord
3536 And grieve to hear't.
3537 What faults he made before the last, I think
3538 Might have found easy fines: but there to end
3539 Where he was to begin, and give away
3540 The benefit of our levies, answering us
3541 With our own charge: making a treaty where
3542 There was a yielding.—This admits no excuse.
Tullus Aufidius
3543 He approaches: you shall hear him.
[Enter CORIOLANUS, with drum and colours; a crowd of Citizens with him.]
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3544 Hail, lords! I am return'd your soldier;
3545 No more infected with my country's love
3546 Than when I parted hence, but still subsisting
3547 Under your great command. You are to know
3548 That prosperously I have attempted, and
3549 With bloody passage led your wars even to
3550 The gates of Rome. Our spoils we have brought home
3551 Do more than counterpoise a full third part
3552 The charges of the action. We have made peace
3553 With no less honour to the Antiates
3554 Than shame to the Romans: and we here deliver,
3555 Subscribed by the consuls and patricians,
3556 Together with the seal o' the senate, what
3557 We have compounded on.
Tullus Aufidius
3558 Read it not, noble lords;
3559 But tell the traitor, in the highest degree
3560 He hath abus'd your powers.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3561 Traitor!—How now?
Tullus Aufidius
3562 Ay, traitor, Marcius.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3563 Marcius!
Tullus Aufidius
3564 Ay, Marcius, Caius Marcius! Dost thou think
3565 I'll grace thee with that robbery, thy stol'n name
3566 Coriolanus, in Corioli?—
3567 You lords and heads o' the state, perfidiously
3568 He has betray'd your business, and given up,
3569 For certain drops of salt, your city Rome,—
3570 I say your city,—to his wife and mother;
3571 Breaking his oath and resolution, like
3572 A twist of rotten silk; never admitting
3573 Counsel o' the war; but at his nurse's tears
3574 He whin'd and roar'd away your victory;
3575 That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart
3576 Look'd wondering each at others.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3577 Hear'st thou, Mars?
Tullus Aufidius
3578 Name not the god, thou boy of tears,—
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3579 Ha!
Tullus Aufidius
3580 No more.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3581 Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart
3582 Too great for what contains it. Boy! O slave!—
3583 Pardon me, lords, 'tis the first time that ever
3584 I was forc'd to scold. Your judgments, my grave lords,
3585 Must give this cur the lie: and his own notion,—
3586 Who wears my stripes impress'd upon him; that must bear
3587 My beating to his grave,—shall join to thrust
3588 The lie unto him.
First Lord
3589 Peace, both, and hear me speak.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3590 Cut me to pieces, Volsces; men and lads,
3591 Stain all your edges on me.—Boy! False hound!
3592 If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there,
3593 That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I
3594 Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli:
3595 Alone I did it.—Boy!
Tullus Aufidius
3596 Why, noble lords,
3597 Will you be put in mind of his blind fortune,
3598 Which was your shame, by this unholy braggart,
3599 'Fore your own eyes and ears?
Conspirators
3600 Let him die for't.
Citizens
3601 Tear him to pieces, do it presently:—he killed my son; my
3602 daughter; he killed my cousin Marcus; he killed my father,—
Second Lord
3603 Peace, ho!—no outrage;—peace!
3604 The man is noble, and his fame folds in
3605 This orb o' the earth. His last offences to us
3606 Shall have judicious hearing.—Stand, Aufidius,
3607 And trouble not the peace.
Caius Marcius Coriolanus
3608 O that I had him,
3609 With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe,
3610 To use my lawful sword!
Tullus Aufidius
3611 Insolent villain!
Conspirators
3612 Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him!
[AUFIDIUS and the CONSPIRATORS draw, and kill CORIOLANUS,who falls. AUFIDIUS stands on him.]
Lords
3613 Hold, hold, hold, hold!
Tullus Aufidius
3614 My noble masters, hear me speak.
First Lord
3615 O Tullus,—
Second Lord
3616 Thou hast done a deed whereat valour will weep.
Third Lord
3617 Tread not upon him.—Masters all, be quiet;
3618 Put up your swords.
Tullus Aufidius
3619 My lords, when you shall know,—as in this rage,
3620 Provok'd by him, you cannot,—the great danger
3621 Which this man's life did owe you, you'll rejoice
3622 That he is thus cut off. Please it your honours
3623 To call me to your senate, I'll deliver
3624 Myself your loyal servant, or endure
3625 Your heaviest censure.
First Lord
3626 Bear from hence his body,
3627 And mourn you for him. Let him be regarded
3628 As the most noble corse that ever herald
3629 Did follow to his um.
Second Lord
3630 His own impatience
3631 Takes from Aufidius a great part of blame.
3632 Let's make the best of it.
Tullus Aufidius
3633 My rage is gone;
3634 And I am struck with sorrow.—Take him up:—
3635 Help, three o' the chiefest soldiers; I'll be one.—
3636 Beat thou the drum, that it speak mournfully;
3637 Trail your steel pikes. Though in this city he
3638 Hath widow'd and unchilded many a one,
3639 Which to this hour bewail the injury,
3640 Yet he shall have a noble memory.—
3641 Assist.
[Exeunt, bearing the body of CORIOLANUS. A dead march sounded.]

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Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 3467historical topical
“hoping / To purge himself with words”
Aufidius charges that Coriolanus plans to address the Volscian assembly and clear his name through public speech -- the same tactic Coriolanus used, disastrously, before the Roman people in Acts 2-3. 'Purge' here means to clear oneself of an accusation, a legal term in Roman and Elizabethan usage.
historical The Volscians, Corioli, and Antium
TLN 3472rhetorical device
“a man by his own alms empoison'd, / And with his charity slain”
Aufidius uses a paradox: a man destroyed by his own act of generosity. 'Alms' are charitable gifts to the poor; to be poisoned by your own alms means the mercy you showed -- Coriolanus sparing Rome at his mother's plea -- is what has undone you. Aufidius frames the relenting not as virtue but as a fatal weakness.
historical The fall of princes (de casibus tragedy)
TLN 3485archaic vocab
“I pawn'd / Mine honour for his truth”
'Pawn'd mine honour' means Aufidius staked his personal reputation as a guarantee of Coriolanus's loyalty -- as one might pawn an object to secure a debt. 'Truth' here means faithfulness or trustworthiness, not factual accuracy. Aufidius is saying he vouched for Coriolanus to the Volscians and now feels that pledge was betrayed.
TLN 3491historical topical
“his stoutness / When he did stand for consul, which he lost / By lack of stooping”
The Roman consulship required a candidate to stand in the Forum in a plain white gown ('gown of humility') and personally beg citizens for their 'voices' (votes). Coriolanus's refusal to humble himself -- his 'stoutness' (proud obstinacy) and unwillingness to 'stoop' -- caused the citizens to withdraw their votes and led directly to his banishment. This is the play's central political catastrophe, recounted here as evidence against him.
historical The Consulship and the Gown of Humility
TLN 3497historical topical
“Made him joint-servant with me; gave him way / In all his own desires; nay, let him choose / Out of my files”
'Joint-servant' means co-general or equal partner in command; Aufidius gave Coriolanus equal authority. 'Files' are the ranked soldiers -- letting Coriolanus 'choose out of my files' means he could pick Aufidius's own best troops for his campaigns. This catalogue of concessions is Aufidius's legal brief: he gave everything, and Coriolanus took it and eclipsed him.
TLN 3505archaic vocab
“He wag'd me with his countenance as if / I had been mercenary”
'Wag'd' means paid wages to; 'countenance' here means favor, patronizing approval, or a look of superiority. Aufidius is saying Coriolanus treated him as if his mere nod of approval were payment -- as if Aufidius were a hired soldier (a mercenary) rather than an equal commander. The insult to Aufidius's honor is the deepest kind: he was turned from a peer into a dependent.
TLN 3513rhetorical device
“At a few drops of women's rheum, which are / As cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour / Of our great action”
'Rheum' is watery discharge from the eyes or nose -- here, tears. Aufidius is contemptuous: Coriolanus traded an entire military campaign (the blood and labor of the Volscian army) for his mother's and wife's weeping, which Aufidius equates with something 'as cheap as lies.' The arithmetic is meant to shock -- infinite military cost against worthless feminine sentiment.
TLN 3565historical topical
“grace thee with that robbery, thy stol'n name / Coriolanus, in Corioli”
Coriolanus's surname was awarded by the Roman general Cominius after he single-handedly stormed the Volscian city of Corioli (Act 1). Aufidius calls it 'stolen' because he insists the name was taken from the Volscians in an act of conquest -- using it in their own city of Antium is an affront. By stripping Coriolanus back to 'Marcius,' Aufidius publicly unmakes the honor that defines him.
historical The Volscians, Corioli, and Antiumclassical Plutarch's Lives (North's Translation)
TLN 3571rhetorical device
“like / A twist of rotten silk”
Aufidius compares Coriolanus's broken oath to a rotted silk thread -- something that looks strong but snaps instantly under pressure. 'Twist' is a strand of twisted thread or silk cord. The simile is cutting because Coriolanus prided himself on iron constancy; Aufidius reduces his vow to cheap, already-decayed fabric.
TLN 3604rhetorical device
“his fame folds in / This orb o' the earth”
'Folds in' means encompasses or contains, as a cloak wraps around something. 'Orb o' the earth' is the globe itself. The Second Lord is saying that Coriolanus's fame encircles the whole world -- an extreme eulogy delivered at the moment of his murder. 'Orb' could also suggest the celestial sphere of the great-chain cosmology, placing Coriolanus among the highest ranks of earthly beings.
TLN 3627historical topical
“Let him be regarded / As the most noble corse that ever herald / Did follow to his um”
'Corse' is an archaic form of 'corpse.' A herald in Roman and Elizabethan ceremonial was the officer who organized and led solemn processions, including funeral ones. 'Um' (urn) is where ashes of the cremated dead were kept after the Roman funeral rite. The First Lord is ordering that Coriolanus receive the highest military funeral honors the Volscians can give -- the same rite a Roman general would have had.
historical The Roman Triumph
TLN 3636cultural context
“Beat thou the drum, that it speak mournfully; / Trail your steel pikes”
Trailing (dragging) pikes along the ground was a recognized military funeral gesture in Elizabethan and Roman practice: soldiers lowered their weapons to show grief and submission rather than readiness for battle. A muffled or 'mournful' drum beat a slow pace for a funeral procession. Aufidius's commands signal that the exit will be a formal military cortege despite the chaotic murder that just occurred.