Selecting a good leader for a country is like setting up a set of dominoes. If
the leader does his job correctly the country will be strong, but if he does not
become a good leader, the country will topple and go fall. A good leader must be
able to make his own decisions because if he cannot make decisions on his own,
then he would be considered as a weak leader. The leader of the country has to
be able to communicate with the people as well because if he gets the people of
the country to listen, then his job would be much easier. Another thing that
makes up a good leader is nobility because if he is noble to the countrymen,
then there would not be any disputes within the country. Mark Antony, from the
play Julius Caesar, has the characteristics of a good leader. Not only is he a
confident and noble person, he is also persuasive and that helps in becoming a
good leader. Mark Antony would be a good leader of Rome because he is confident,
noble, and persuasive. Mark Antony would become a great leader because he is
confident. He never changes his mind when he makes a decision and that is good
in a leader. When the triumvirate was making a list of people to kill, Antony
came across the name of his nephew. Even though it was his nephew that he was
killing, Antony said, “He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.”
Antony had to kill his nephew because his nephew might have opposed him, and he
did not want to take the chance. Another part where Antony’s confidence in
decision making was when he was talking to Octavius about Lepidus. The
triumvirate was made up of three people, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius, and so
“The threefold world divided, he should stand one of the three to share it?”
Antony meant that Lepidus would not be capable of ruling a third of the world,
and that he would rather take half and Octavius take the other half. Mark
Antony’s confidence shows him being capable of becoming a great leader. Along
with being confident, Mark Antony would make a great leader because of his
nobility towards others. Antony was seen to be noble towards Caesar. The two men
were close to each other as a mother and her child. When Caesar died, Mark
Antony wanted revenge for Caesar. And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell, Shall stir these confines with a
monarch’s voice Cry “Havoc,” and let slip the dogs of war, That this foul
deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial. (Lines
270-275 pg.483) Caesar was like family to Mark Antony and when Caesar was
killed, Antony wanted Caesar’s spirit to rest easier, and so he went to get
revenge for Caesar. Besides being noble to Caesar, Antony was noble to the
countrymen as well. When Antony came to give his speech about Caesar at the
town, the people were listening to him respectively. Antony knew about
Caesar’s will and he did not have to tell the citizens about it. Since Antony
was a good person he read the will and he said “To every Roman citizen he
gives, To every several man, seventy-five drachams.” Being a good person as he
is, he read the will as the people wanted so that they would be content.
Antony’s nobility shows him to be worthy in becoming a good leader for Rome.
Along with being confident and noble, Mark Antony would be a great leader
because he is persuasive. Since Antony had great speaking skills, he could get
people to think the way he wants them to think. After Caesar’s death, Antony
met up with the conspirators and he decided to make them think he would forget
about the assassination. He said “I doubt not of your wisdom. Let each man
render me his bloody hand.” The conspirators thought that Antony had forgiven
them, but the truth was that Antony was going to make the public turn against
Brutus and the conspirators. When it was time for Antony to make his speech
about Caesar to the countrymen, he used his orating skills and got the
countrymen to side with him. The citizens were moved by his speech and said,
“We’ll hear him, we’ll follow him, we’ll die with him.” The countrymen
were listening to Brutus’ words at the beginning and they were agreeing with
what he said. Now Antony had gotten the people to listen to him and follow him.
Antony uses his speech skills to win the heart of the crowd and he makes the
people feel how he wants them to feel. Something he said was “Good friends,
sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny.” That
quotation probably made the crowd want to know more of what Antony had to say,
and that was what Antony wanted. So, the ability to persuade people is a very
important element in becoming a good leader. A good country should have a good
leader, and Mark Antony has the capability of becoming a great leader. He can
persuade people into thinking as he does and he is noble to the people of the
country. He gives the people a chance to say what they have to say instead of
just going on his own beliefs. He is also confident in himself and so whatever
he decides to do he does, and does not change his mind. Not only is he noble to
his friends, he is also noble to the people of the country as well. With Antony
as a leader, the country would not go bad since he is a person who does things
right. Mark Antony was an honorable and powerful man, and so he would be the
greatest leader.