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In the courtyard just below their apartment, Vorenus cries over the limp body of Niobe, who has committed suicide by falling from the balcony. When young Lucius approaches, he lurches for the boy, just as his two daughters return with their aunt Lyde and catch sight of their dead mother. "Whose child is this?" Vorenus demands, hoisting the boy in the air as if ready to hurl him over the gates. As Vorena the Elder reaches for the boy, he smacks her to the ground, then lets the boy go, redirecting his anger. "I curse you!" he says, pointing at his children, leaving them to weep over their mother's corpse.
Having just heard the news of Caesar’s death, Atia collapses in grief. But Octavia is furious, realising Servilia used what she had disclosed to her about Niobe’s son to lure Vorenus away from Caesar’s side - leaving him defenceless. Octavian instructs his sister never to speak of it again in case they are mistakenly implicated in the plot. Atia wants to flee the city, convinced Mark Antony is dead since he hasn't come for her. Octavian argues they should stay, insisting leaving would be playing into Servilia’s hands. They are interrupted by Antony himself as he arrives breathless from Quintus Pompey's chase. Atia's relief soon turns to anger when he talks of heading north and raising "an army of monsters" to avenge Caesar's death - all without her. Eventually he gives in and invites Atia to join him.
In a meadow in the Roman countryside, Pullo proposes marriage to Eirene, both of them oblivious to the chaos unfolding in the city. When he explains that she is no longer a slave and so can say no to his proposal if she wishes, Eirene accepts.
At Caesar's villa, his widow Calpurnia presides over her husband's body as formal mourning rites begin. Mark Antony, Atia and her children arrive to pay their respects - and they are the only ones to do so. Calpurnia rejects Mark Antony's offer to escape the city under his protection. She is happy to die in Rome. She insists that Posca read Caesar's will, which stipulates that every citizen receive 75 denarii, and every soldier and veteran 100.
But all of Caesar's property and remaining money, as well as the legal obligations and benefits of his estate, have been left solely to one person: Octavian, whom Caesar has designated sole heir and his lawful son. Atia can hardly believe her luck; Antony can't conceal his wounds. But he quickly recovers, explaining that Brutus and his men are now the law, and Caesar's money and land will go to them. "They will declare his death a rightful tyrannicide," Posca concedes, "and his will and all his acts become null and void”.
