Brutus's loyal officer who impersonates him to protect his commander in battle.

Who they are

Lucilius serves Brutus as a trusted subordinate and messenger. His key function is in the field of Philippi: when Brutus is endangered, Lucilius impersonates him to draw enemy forces, sacrificing himself so Brutus might escape. His loyalty is confirmed when Antony recognizes his ruse as an act of honor, not deceit.

Playing them

Play Lucilius with crisp, military precision — his short commands ("Give the word, ho, and stand!") demand authority. In Act 5, Scene 4, shift from assertive impersonator to defiant prisoner: deliver his feigned identity with boldness, then switch to solemn submission when captured. Vocal quality should be clear and steady, with a physicality that suggests composed readiness.

Appearance

Likely dressed in Roman military gear similar to Brutus's officers — armor, tunic, and a sword. No distinctive costume trait, but clean and soldierly.

Worth knowing

Lucilius appears in Plutarch’s Life of Brutus as a faithful friend who saved Brutus by claiming to be him. Shakespeare adapts the episode closely, preserving Lucilius’s noble self-sacrifice.

Where they appear

Act 4, Scene 2 4 speeches
Act 4, Scene 3 1 speeches
Act 5, Scene 1 1 speeches
Act 5, Scene 4 3 speeches
Act 5, Scene 5 1 speeches

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.