Play description

ACT I

Scene 1. The common people of Rome, the plebeians, are on the verge of rebellion due to the lack of

grain; they blame the patricians—the Roman nobility—for their plight. They are especially bitter

towards Caius Marcius, a patrician and a successful soldier, whom they regard as "the chief enemy to

the people." Menenius tries to persuade them that the patricians are acting in their best interests but

when Marcius arrives he makes no attempt to disguise his contempt for the plebeians. When news

comes that the Volsces have taken up arms against Rome, Marcius receives it with pleasure, believing

their leader Tullus Aufidius to be a noble adversary. Sicinius and Brutus, tribunes appointed to

represent the interests of the plebeians, discuss Marcius's overweening pride.

Scene 2. Aufidius prepares to go to war against Rome.

Scene 3. Marcius's mother, Volumnia, urges his wife Virgilia to glory in his warlike prowess. Valeria

brings news that Marcius is about to attack the Volsces' city of Corioles.

Scene 4. Marcius curses the fainthearted Roman soldiers and urges them on to attack Corioles. When

they refuse, he enters the enemy city single-handed. When the Romans see him alone within the walls

of Corioles, they rush in to assist him.