Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Mark Antony’s intentions with this speech are fairly straightforward – he wishes to turn popular opinion against Caesar’s assassins, especially Brutus, who has just made a persuasive and well received speech defending his actions. 
 An expert in political rhetoric, Mark Antony understands that his first task is to get the public on his wavelength – and in doing so, acknowledge both the gravity of the situation and the occasion itself. 
 So this line, in which he appears to suggest that this is no time for emotive or subjective comments on Caesar’s character is doubly important – it communicates the sombre nature of the occasion and paints Mark Antony first as a  citizen , and secondly as a friend. This veneer of objectivity is crucial to the positioning of his argument.
Friends Romans Countrymen