Why does the shakespearean play claim that Julius Caesar was stabbed 33 times?

Question

The consensus is that he was stabbed 23 times, but the play (The Tradedy of Julius Caesar) says it was 33, and i'm rather confused. I've found nothing on google to clear this up, so yeah i'm asking ya'll =]

Answer 1

Actually it was 23, this is not just theory.

Ceasers autopsy was recorded and the doctor not only said 23 stab wounds, of which only one was fatal, but also drew diagrams of the positions of the wounds which still exist.

Recently and Italian Caribanari (police) officer conducted an investigation onto the murder and Discovery channel did a program on it. It was very interesting

Answer 2

Read Plutarch's Biography of Julius Caesar, it was the source that Shakespeare use for all his classical plots. I personally don't remember if Plutarch mentions 33 but I don't remember it in the play either, which may prove that I missed the details. Nevertheless, that is where I would look.

Answer 3

There are several allusions to Jesus Christ in the play Julius Caesar (including the initials), so perhaps the number 33 refers to the age of Jesus at the time of his crucifixion.

Answer 4

According to one account Caesar was stabbed 35 times:

The Attack:

"The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those who were to have part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Tillius Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble request on behalf of this brother, Cimber approached and grasped the mantle of his toga, seeming to want to make a more positive move with his hands upon Caesar. Caesar wanted to get up and use his hands, but was prevented by Cimber and became exceedingly annoyed.

That was the moment for the men to set to work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. First Servilius Casca struck him with the point of the blade on the left shoulder a little above the collar-bone. He had been aiming for that, but in the excitement he missed. Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted out in Greek to his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Decimus Brutus pierced him in the side. While Cassius Longinus was trying to give him another blow he missed and struck Marcus Brutus on the hand. Minucius also hit out at Caesar and hit Rubrius in the thigh. They were just like men doing battle against him.

Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last. "

References:
Nicolaus of Damascus' account appears in Workman, B.K. They Saw it Happen in Classical Times (1964); Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics), translated by Robert Graves (1957).

How To Cite This Article:
"The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).

Answer 5

wow, so you think that 23 is a fact? and 33 is not? just because 23 is the consenus does not make it true. who knows how many times he was really stabbed? and Shakespeare is certainly inclined to be fanciful at times; call it artistic liberty.

Answer 6

The play is not what really happened. The play was many years later. Suffice it to say, ignoring the numbers, he was killed by being stabbed multiple times.

Answer 7

i think it has somthing to do with Masonic maybe.