The False One: By John Fletcher and Philip Massinger

Advertised in its Prologue as a prequel to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, Fletcher and Massinger’s The False One is the first literary work completely to revolve around the affair between Caesar and Cleopatra. In its deployment of their liaison as a venue for the exploration and criticism of contemporary political manoeuvring and its high—spirited and pungent appropriation of Roman history, the play proves to be one of the most compelling Jacobean dramatizations of th...