An explanation of the anachronistic reference to a clock in Act 2, Scene 1 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Brutus
Peace! Count the clock.
Cassius
The clock hath stricken three.
Shakespeare has committed a humorous anachronism, which is the attribution of something to a time period to which it doesn’t belong. It will be 1500 years before the invention of a mechanical clock that can chime on the hour.
