The story of Caesar's death and the resulting political upheaval were very important in Shakespeare's time. The play is thought to have been written in 1599, when Europe and England were ruled by monarchs struggling to consolidate their power. England ran into opposition from the established aristocracy and the elected representatives in the House of Commons. Because Elizabeth had no direct heirs, it was feared at the time that England might decay into civil chaos similar to that of the fifteenth century. Fear of censorship prevailed in matters relating to political discourse, and for Shakespeare, the story of Julius Caesar provided a safe way of dealing with many of the important questions at the time.

The main source for the play was Thomas North's English translation of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, where he described the Roman republic as ruled by at least one or more powerful men, but rarely more than a few men. Shakespeare adopts this concept of Rome for Julius Caesar, focusing more on the actions and influences of a few extraordinary people rather than dealing with larger social movements. The personal flaws and strengths of the Roman leaders are far more important in shaping the action of the plot. The play consists of many characters, none of which are able to dominate the plot. The drama is created from the interactions of the main characters. In terms of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare creates only a limited depth to his characterization, and does so mainly by relying on the negative reports from his enemies.

One of the great techniques used by Shakespeare has been called "gradual release." This is when he slowly provides information throughout the play, which forces the audience to revise its interpretation of the actions seen previously. For instance, when Antony climaxes his famous soliloquy by reading Caesar's will and speaking of the generosity that Caesar has shown to the common people, he mentions that Caesar has left them some money. However, two scenes later we see him trying to minimize the cost of this generosity by reducing the amount of money that needs to be given out. The combination of the two scenes forces the audience to reevaluate everything we know about Antony, and denies us the ability to fix firm motives on any of the characters. In general, Shakespeare uses a specific type of blank verse in his writing called iambic pentameter. This is when the lines have ten syllables that alternate between stressed and unstressed syllables.