BRUTUS. Are yet two Romans living such as these?
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe more tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay.—
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.—
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body.
His funerals shall not be in our camp,
Lest it discomfort us. Lucillius, come;
And come, young Cato. Let us to the field.
Labio and Flavio, set our battles on.
'Tis three o’clock, and, Romans, yet ere night
We shall try fortune in a second fight.
–The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,
William Shakespeare
What is the moral dilemma affecting Brutus in this passage?
He is blaming himself for Cassius’s death.
He is trying to decide whether, upon his victory, he should kill Antony or let him live.
He has to choose between honoring his friend’s death and winning a battle.
He has to choose between giving Cassius’s position to Labio and giving it to Flavio.