Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War [Hardcover]

Ramon Jimenez (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275966208 | ISBN-13: 978-0275966201 | Publication Date: February 28, 2000

Caesar Against Rome is an absorbing narrative of the four-year Roman Civil War that began with Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BCE. Focusing always on Caesar, the book sketches a panorama of Roman society—the first society to display the ambition, greed, and intrigue of modern politics—in the last century before Christ. Caesar was a complex and contradictory figure, extraordinarily talented and extremely ambitious, but at the same time vain, careless, and inclined to be forgiving. While Caesar's unusual clementia was a major factor in winning popular support, soldiers, and towns to his side, it allowed virtually all enemy leaders to return to the battlefield against him.

Supplemented by the writings of other ancient historians as well as the latest research, this book is based primarily on Caesar's own detailed Commentaries, written to explain and justify his military campaigns. Those interested in Roman history will find a wealth of information about every aspect of life in the late Roman Republic, including political issues, class divisions, marriage customs, travel, food, and entertainment. Military historians will discover details about every facet of Roman warfare from weaponry to personnel policy, to tactics, operations, and logistics. Single chapters are devoted to each campaign: Greece, Africa, Spain, and Egypt.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jimenez's narrative of the civil wars that ended the Roman Republic will be welcome alike to specialists and general readers. His well-organized chapters integrate state-of-the-art descriptions of the Roman way of war into clearly written accounts of sieges, skirmishes, and pitched battles on land and sea. Above all, however, this book tells the story of a man simultaneously a master of civil war's tactics and a failure at its policy levels....Pragmatism and public relations skills made him a formidable politician. Yet despite--or perhaps because of--these great gifts, Caesar failed to develop and articulate an idea of what should become of Rome....Rome might no longer be a republic, but it remained a society of law--not whim."-Dennis Showalter Department of History Colorado College

Book Description

Discusses every aspect of the four year Roman Civil War that began in 49 BCE, with individual chapters devoted to campaigns in Greece, Africa, Spain, and Egypt.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (February 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275966208
• ISBN-13: 978-0275966201
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,408,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Narrative of the Roman Civil War, June 19, 2001

By 

Kevin Connelly (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War (Hardcover)

Most of us are familiar with some aspect of Julius Caesar's life- his military reputation, his affair with Cleopatra or his eventual assination. Jimenez has created a readable account that explains the relations of these events, focusing particulary on the confusing period of the Roman Civil war, where Caesar fought for control of the Roman goverment against Pompey. Jimenez produces a fine portrait of Caesar and his motivations in this period. Military events are given excellent summary, balanced with an account of the internal intrigues in the empire, and the astonishing developments of Caesar's campaigns against the Pompeian forces. Careful reference is made to the historical sources that survive, as well as archaelogical finds from modern times.

My own sketchy knowledge of Caesar was considerably expanded. I felt a certain admiration for Caesar that entwined with the narrative to create a vibrant and fascinating story. It's always a good book that leaves you excited and wanting to know more when your done. Jimenez has achieved that task.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Roman Civil War, August 6, 2001

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War (Hardcover)

This is an excellent short work on the Roman Civil War for the general reader. It is written in such an easily read style that, at times, it reads like a novel. It's quite linear, and so all of the many convolutions of this distant and confusing conflict appear to be made clear. Where there are contadictions in the historical record the author notes them, and then gives his best idea of what he feels is correct. I found the work very interesting, and learned quite a bit about this period of

Roman history that I had never known before reading this work. That is a high compliment to the author.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give it a try..., July 10, 2002

By 

Dan Beaudry (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War (Hardcover)

I read this book after completing a book by Barbara Tuchman, and was immediately discouraged by the differences in writing style. Jimenez lacks the twist of phrase and economy of words that makes Tuchman such a pleasure to read, and I came close to putting the book down. However, as I continued to read, these concerns fell by the wayside. True to Jiminez's words in his preface, he lets the facts tell the story, laying them bare for the reader to absorb, and interjecting well labelled speculation from time to time when the facts weren't clear. Whether Jiminez improved his writing style as the book went on, or I simply got used to it, he sythesizes a very readable account of one of the great conquerers in history.

I picked up this book to augment my weak understanding of the late roman republic and the specific things Caesar did to form the empire. I was well served by Jiminez in this regard. Anyone who wants to know how Caesar's life was intertwined with a whole host of other household names from the same time period (Cicero, Mark Antony, Brutus, Pompey and Cleopatra) ought to read this book. Jiminez also gives context to many of Caesar's well known, but little understood exploits such: crossing the Rubicon, the Gallic wars, and Veni, Vidi, Vici.

All in all, an adequately written book with loads in information presented interestingly enough to make you want to continue to read.