BORROWED WISDOM

 Yesterday, I brought up my friend Bill Shakespeare and I will again today.  This just to show that he was not perfect.

In his play, Julius Caesar, he includes a reference which cannot be.  A member of the senate named Cassius puts together a plot to assassinate Caesar supposedly because he exceeding his power in ruling them.   He gets Caesar's politician friend, Brutus, to join in the plot and actually help perform the act.  Here Cassius is sending Brutus to do the deed.

Act 3, scene 1 

The scene begins with a sound from offstage - a clock strikes and Brutus tells Cassius to "count the clock" which means for him to note the time.  Then Cassius says "it hath stricken three."  Now is the time for Brutus to join others and find Caesar at the Senate and do the deed.  Several stab Caesar and finally Brutus does also. As he is dying, Caesar says the famous, "Et tu Brute" meaning "and (even) you Brutus.".  

My point here, if you haven't noticed, is that there was no mechanical clock at that time - they weren't invented yet.  All they had was a sundial . . . and they don't make any noises.  

Tsk, tsk, tsk.