In act three, scene two, of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" the indignant people of Rome want to know why Caesar has been killed. Marcus Brutus has just given the people a legitimate excuse for his murder indignant, but, as it is clearly shown in "Julius Caesar," it is always not the man who has the most valid point that people believe, but he man that is more convincing. People do not always think, but instead let their actions be lead by their heart. Mark Antony is well aware of this and uses it to his advantage in his funeral oration. In the opening section of his funeral oration for Julius Caesar, Mark Antony quickly moves the hostile crowd from believing that they are well rid of Caesar to questioning the assassination. Through language, which suggests he is contrasting his concrete experience with the conspirator's mere opinions, through phrasing, which suggests that Brutus is wrong, through a repetition of keywords in context, which reverse their meaning, and his use of theatrical gestures, Mark Antony sways the crowd to his position.
During his eloquent oration, Mark Antony, convinces the emotion driven crowd that Caesar is a wronged hero. By stating his personal view as if it was fact and the conspirator's views as though they were nothing more than misguided opinions. He delicately approaches the fickle crowd by addressing them as "friends" (line 73), and he tells them that he has "come to bury Caesar, not praise him" (line 74) in order make the crowd less leery of his intentions and allow them to be more open to what he has to say. Antony uses specific events to prove that, contrary to what Brutus says; ambition could not be the reason the conspirator's killed Caesar. Antony tells the mob that "He (Caesar) hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill" (lines 88-89) proving that Caesar was not greedy, but giving; as he did not keep the money gained from the sale of the captives, but instead gave the proceeds to the people of Rome.