Before the play opens, Julius Caesar facilitates the death of which old friend and political rival?

• A. Pompey
• B. Brutus
• C. Cassius
• D. Antony

Answer: (A)

The moment being tested is the setup of Rome’s power dynamics before the play begins. Pompey is the old friend who turns into a political rival as Crassus dies and Caesar rises in command. Their alliance fractures, and Caesar’s victory in the civil war leaves Pompey out of favor and ultimately dead—killed in Egypt as a result of the power shift Caesar’s ascent precipitated. So, Pompey’s death before the action of the play starts is what the question is pointing to, because it shows how Caesar’s rise to power removes his most dangerous former ally and rival, setting the stage for the events that follow.

Brutus and Cassius are tied to the play’s central conspiracy within its events, not to a pre-play death that clears the political field. Antony remains Caesar’s ally during the play’s start and continues to figure into the plot, not as a pre-existing casualty.