The interaction primarily serves to inform the audience about events that have taken place off stage. Specifically, it reveals that Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus have been actively eliminating their political enemies through proscription and that a significant number of senators, including Cicero, have been killed as a result. This sets the stage for the impending conflict and illustrates the high stakes of the political landscape in which Brutus and Cassius are operating. The differing numbers of senators reported to have died also highlights the chaos and uncertainty of the situation, further enhancing the tension and foreshadowing the conflict to come in the play.
[BRUTUS.] Messala, I have here receivèd letters,
That young Octavius and Mark Antony
Come down upon us with a mighty power,
Bending their expedition toward Philippi.
MESSALA. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenor.
BRUTUS. With what addition?
MESSALA. That by proscription and bills of outlawry,
Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus
Have put to death an hundred senators.
BRUTUS. Therein our letters do not well agree.
Mine speak of seventy senators that died
By their proscriptions, Cicero being one.
CASSIUS. Cicero one!
MESSALA. Ay, Cicero is dead,
And by that order of proscription.
How does this interaction affect the plot?
It clarifies the relationship between Brutus and Mark Antony.
It informs the audience about events that took place off stage.
It provides background information about Brutus’s relationship with Messala.
It demonstrates the lack of power that Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus hold in Rome.
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