Those that with haste will make a mighty fire / Begin it with weak straws: what trash is Rome, / What rubbish and what offal, when it serves / For the base matter to illuminate / So vile a thing as Caesar! In Shakespeare's time, both "trash" and "offal" had the meanings they have now, but they also had their original meanings; both words designated left-overs from manufacturing or butchering. "Offal" was used to refer to stray bits of metal, useless gristle, and small pieces of wood. "Trash" was used to refer to the same kind of thing—wood chips, splinters, or shavings. Therefore Cassius' use of these two words expresses his opinion that the people of Rome are human garbage, and also the tinder that has fueled the fire of Caesar's rise to power.