Caesar: Life of a Colossus (Hardcover)

~ Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)
Key Phrases: plebian status, triplex acies, experienced legions, Transalpine Gaul, Cisalpine Gaul, Mark Antony (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The man who virtually defined the West's concept of leadership comes alive in this splendid biography. Military historian Goldsworthy (The Complete Roman Army) gives a comprehensive, vigorous account of Caesar's conquest of Gaul and his victories in the civil war that made him master of Rome. But he doesn't stint on the nonmartial aspects of Caesar's life—his dandyism, his flagrant womanizing (which didn't stop enemies from gay-baiting him), his supple political genius and the flair for drama and showmanship that cowed mutinous legionaries and courted Rome's restive masses. Goldsworthy's is a sympathetic profile. In his telling, Caesar's massacres and group enslavements, though "utterly ruthless," are considered and pragmatic, not wanton, and the conqueror seems to possess a moderation and magnanimity that sprang from the same idealized self-image that fed his ambition. The author's vivid portrait of the late Roman Republic that Caesar toppled is correspondingly jaundiced: its politics are about nothing except the personal ambitions of powerful men, and chaos, corruption and violence reign beneath the ritualistic niceties of republican procedure. More compellingly than most biographies, Goldsworthy's exhaustive, lucid, elegantly written life makes its subject the embodiment of his age. 16 pages of b&w photos, maps. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

One of the most recognizable names to the ancient and modern worlds, Caesar is one of the few figures from the Roman Empire--Cicero and Augustus are two others--susceptible to modern biographical treatment. Caesar, by Christian Meier (1996), was the previous portrait. Goldsworthy is a historian of the Roman army, a credential vital to assessing the career of Caesar, conqueror of Gaul, instigator of a fateful civil war, dictator, and would-be conqueror of Parthia (modern Iraq) but for the Ides of March. Leaning on Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, Goldsworthy exhibits strong explanatory skill about military campaigns and about Caesar's rising but precarious political status at Rome. Accepting that Caesar crossed the Rubicon to stave off personal ruination, Goldsworthy's account of the ensuing war nevertheless does not absolve his opponents, Pompey and Cato primarily, from responsibility for the political impasse behind the war. In any case, Caesar sealed his military reputation with a rapid victory. Eternally intriguing history readers, the end of the Roman Republic receives astute analysis and dramatic narration in Goldsworthy's life of Caesar. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (September 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300120486
• ISBN-13: 978-0300120486
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,181 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Biography, October 7, 2006

By	Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Adrian Goldsworthy's latest book, "Caesar", is another one of those great books that you cannot afford to miss this year. Following on from his excellent run of books; "The Punic Wars" and "In The Name of Rome", this new title is a great addition to anyone's library.

The tale of Julius Caesar has been told before many times but I doubt as well as this in recent times. The research and story telling is exceptional. I found the book easy to read although it is quite detailed in regards to the political and social events and background that made up Rome during Caesar's period.

The accounts of Caesar's military campaigns were well told and presented with a number of basic maps to assist the reader in following the action. The author presented the facts covering Caesar's life in an un-biased way and left it to the reader to make up his own mind in regards to those controversial events in Caesar's life.

The book is about 520 pages in narrative text along with a number of black & white photographs and maps. Overall this is a good book and I am sure anyone who has an interest or passion for this period of history or for Julius Caesar will enjoy this book immensely.

81 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Objective, reader-friendly, thorough but not overly technical - a must-read for Roman scholars/fans, September 27, 2006

By	Deygan Brendan "Deygan" (Sherman Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Fans of Goldsworthy's previous works won't be disappointed with this bio, which will undoubtedly be named as one of the best overall works about Julius Caesar for many years to come.

Goldsworthy doesn't focus primarily on any one aspect of Caesar's life, yet manages to go over all of them in a way that is still detailed and illuminating, even for one who's read dozens of books on the subject.
He gives comprehensive accounts of Caesar's military campaigns, at the same time giving backgrounds on the regions/peoples involved, yet without getting lost in the history/tactics/equipment of the legions themselves.
*(the definitive work on Caesar's military campaigns will always be Theodore Ayrault Dodge's "Caesar", with Stephen Dando-Collins' ongoing history series on individual legions also proving to be very interesting - to-date he's done "Caesar's Legion" on the 10th, "Nero's Killing Machine" on the 14th, and "Cleopatra's Kidnappers" on the 6th, with "Mark Antony's Heroes" on the 3rd coming out in November)*

Goldsworthy gives one of the most detailed descriptions of Caesar's early life and rise into politics that I've ever read, and in the process is able to go over the numerous political process(es) of the era in a way easily understandable for those unfamiliar with them.
He talks about Caesar's pros/cons in an objective manner, always bringing up alternative points of view, and asking questions that may not have occurred to those whose thinking may be slanted in one direction or the other.

While very long at first glance, Goldsworthy's writing is very insightful and reader-friendly, making the subject all the more fascinating.
Just as he did in his hard-to-find 2000 work "The Punic Wars", he's able to take a topic most people would have no interest in, and turn it into a study that you want to read more than once.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good biography of a major historical figure, November 18, 2006

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus joins two other recent biographies from the same period to provide a rich sense of Rome in the first century BC and shortly thereafter. The other two are Everitt's volumes on Cicero and Augustus. Among them, once gets a sense of the increasing dysfunction of the Roman Republic and the various efforts to address the increasingly unfortunate state of affairs.

Goldsworthy's book provides a detailed view of Caesar's life. Where details are sparse, he uses good sense in trying to fill in the blanks, appropriately noting where the gaps in the record lie. The volume begins by describing the status of the Republic before Caesar's story begins. This includes the institutions of government and the increasing internal problems, with murder and assassination as more typical of "regime change" than is good for a stable polity. The role of the Senate is well described.

After setting the stage, Caesar's story is put into context. One key issue was his association with the popularis and the hostility of some of the elite of Rome toward Caesar as a result. On page 105, the author notes that "Caesar had from early in his career inclined toward a popularis path. . . ."

He held his first public office in 72 or 71 B. C. Shortly thereafter, he began to ally with Pompey the Great and, later, with Crassus in the First Triumvirate. He also began a habit of spending a great deal of money to generate support from Romans. This led to a situation where he was often risking great and even crushing debt in order to build support. Normally, the risk was rewarded with success over the course of his career.

The book goes on to discuss in nice detail Caesar's assignment in Gaul. Over a period of time, he accumulated a record of great success in fighting the Gauls and making Rome's hegemony in the region stable. His work also generated nice revenues for Rome and loot for his troops. Upon the completion of years of service in Gaul, he expected proper recognition. When the political climate became sour, he "crossed the Rubicon" with some of his troops and established his political dominance. The ups and downs of Caesar trying to overcome the army of Pompey, his former partner, and stabilizing the frontier (in Egypt, where he consorted with Cleopatra) and the east.

Upon his return to Rome he was preparing to return to the east when he was assassinated. His popularis tendencies appear to have been a part of that as well as a fear by many in the elite that Caesar was to become a dictator.

This is a nice volume on the period and on Caesar as a person. The book does a fine job of placing Caesar in the context of the increasingly problematic republic. Goldsworthy writes well and the end product is well worth a look by those interested in the subject and the time.