Run to your houses, fall on your knees, and pray to the gods to spare you the pain that you deserve for such ingratitude. Who speaks this line?

• A. Soothsayer
• B. Brutus
• C. Cassius
• D. Murellus

Answer: (D)

The line showcases a character who acts as a tribune policing public mood and defending the old order. It’s spoken by Murellus, one of the two tribunes in the opening of Julius Caesar. He and Flavius chide the commoners for celebrating Caesar’s victory instead of Pompey’s, using sharp, imperative language to remind the crowd of their supposed ingratitude and to urge them to disperse.

Think about the scene: the crowd has gathered to honor Caesar, and Murellus speaks directly to them with a forceful rebuke, telling them to run home and beg the gods to spare them the punishment they deserve for their change in loyalty. The line uses hyperbole and religious imagery to emphasize that civic gratitude and loyalty matter, and that turning away from Pompey’s legacy could invite divine disapproval. This fits Murellus’s role as a counterbalance to popular enthusiasm and as a defender of the Senate’s traditional authority.

The other figures don’t fit this moment. A soothsayer speaks in prophecy and warnings about future danger, not this direct public chastisement. Brutus and Cassius enter later as political actors shaping the plot against Caesar, not as the immediate public scolds at the celebration. So the speaker’s identity aligns best with Murellus.