Question

read the excerpt from julius caesar, act 2, scene 1. decius. shall no man else be touched, but only caesar? cassius. decius, well urged. i think it is not meet mark antony, so well beloved of caesar, should outlive caesar. we shall find of him a shrewd contriver. and you know his means. if he improve them, may well stretch so far as to annoy us all; which to prevent, let antony and caesar fall together. brutus. our course will seem too bloody, caius cassius, to cut the head off and then hack the limbs, like wrath in death and envy afterwards - for antony is but a limb of caesar. let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, caius. which conclusion does brutus excerpt best support? mark antonys life will be spared because he will be useless without caesar. mark antony should also be assassinated because he and caesar are so close. all of caesars followers should be put to death, not just mark antony. no matter whom brutus and the others kill, the people will see brutus and the others as murderers.

Explanation:

Brutus argues against killing Mark Antony along with Caesar. He says killing Caesar (the "head") and then hacking at the "limbs" (like Antony) would seem too bloody. He implies that Antony is just a "limb" (less important part) compared to Caesar (the "head"). So, if they just remove the head (Caesar), the limb (Antony) won't be a big threat. This supports the idea that Mark Antony's life will be spared because without Caesar (the main power - figure), he will be less significant (useless in a sense related to power and threat).

Answer:

Mark Antony's life will be spared because he will be useless without Caesar.