Caesar's Civil War [Paperback]

Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential Histories | Publication Date: October 18, 2002

Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great were two of the greatest generals Rome had ever produced. Together they had brought vast stretches of territory under Roman dominion. In 49 BC they turned against each other and plunged Rome into civil war. Legion was pitched against legion in a vicious battle for political domination of the vast Roman world. Based on original sources, Adrian Goldsworthy provides a gripping account of this desperate power struggle. The armies were evenly matched but in the end Caesar's genius as a commander and his great good luck brought him victory in 45 BC.

Editorial Reviews

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"I am most favorably impressed by the Essential Histories series on the American Civil War. Written by four of the best historians of the military course of the war, these volumes provide a lucid and concise narrative of the campaigns in both the Eastern and Western theaters as well as penetrating analyses of strategies and leadership. Ideal for classroom use or fireside reading."

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This unique series studies every major war in history looking at all the aspects of war, from how it felt to be a soldier to the lasting impact of the conflict on the world around it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (October 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841763926
• ISBN-13: 978-1841763927
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.3 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caesar versus Pompey, January 25, 2003

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Caesar's Civil War (Paperback)

Osprey's Essential History #42, Caesar's Civil War 49-44 BC, is a fine summary of the climactic struggle that began to mark Rome's slide from Republic to monarchy. Adrian Goldsworthy, an English scholar of the Roman military, uses Caesar's own commentaries and Appian's later history as the basis for this account. In fact, this volume is probably Goldsworthy's best effort to date. Overall, this is easily the best summary of Caesar's struggle for supreme power available.

Caesar's Civil War 49-44 BC begins with a short introduction on the Roman Republic, a chronology, a section on the background to the war (the First Triumvirate) and a 6-page section on the opposing sides. The main narrative is 37 pages and covers operations between Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon River and the Battle of Munda. Final sections include portrait of a soldier (Caesar's centurions), the development of the dictatorship, portrait of a civilian (Cicero), Caesar's assassination, and the end of the Republic (which covers the final struggle between Antony and Octavian). One interesting addition is a 2-page glossary that provides thumbnail biographies of all the key characters. There are a total of seven maps in this volume: the Roman world in 50 BC, Caesar's advance through Italy, the Ilerda campaign, the Battles of Dyrrachium, Pharsalus, Thapsus and Munda. Given the extent of operations during the civil wars, the maps are not quite sufficient to follow operations in a number of areas, including Spain, Syria, Greece and Africa.

Military readers will be interested by Goldsworthy's discussion of the changing role of the Roman military and its relationship to the outbreak of civil war. By the 1st Century BC, the Roman Army had been transformed from the part-time citizen militia into a standing force. However, Goldsworthy writes that, "the senate refused to acknowledge this change, maintaining that military service was a duty requiring no formal reward, and made no provision to provide for discharged soldiers." Instead, "soldiers started to become more loyal to generals who offered such rewards than to the republic which neglected them. The rise of the professional army was probably the most important of the problems besetting the Republic with which the Senate failed to deal..." After the civil war ended, the victorious Augustus acted to remedy these defects by standardizing military pay and terms of service, as well as providing a guaranteed pension for discharged veterans. Goldsworthy concludes that, "Augustus took care that the legionaries' loyalty was focused on him and no one else. The men were paid by the emperor, swore an oath of loyalty to him and ...received medals from him."

It is clear that the author is sympathetic to Caesar's motives in precipitating a five year long civil war. Certainly Caesar had ample reason to fear that his political rivals would engineer his demise once he laid down the governorship and returned to private life. Pompey, as usual, is presented as a lucky opportunist who lacked the skill or charisma of Caesar (remember, the winners write the history, not the losers). Caesar's frequent clemency of captured prisoners is contrasted against Pompey's execution of captured prisoners. Indeed, some of Caesar's best troops in the later half of the civil war were former pro-Pompey legionaries who had been recruited after being captured. Goldsworthy also does a fine job contrasting the differing command styles of Caesar and Pompey. When the veteran 10th Legion mutinied in 47 BC, Caesar not only calmed the troops but, "soon the legionaries...were begging him to decimate them and take them back into his service." Pompey on the other hand, was the first to flee the battlefield at Pharsalus and was unable to instill his troops with sufficient will to fight. On the operational level, Goldsworthy praises Pompey as "a great organizer, [who] had taken care to gather plenty of food and fodder to supply his troops." Caesar on the other hand, put little effort into logistics and his operations were usually conducted on a shoestring. Pompey was great at raising large armies, but Caesar was great at leading them into battle (often out-numbered). Goldsworthy also notes that while Caesar's actions often seem rash to modern observers, that boldness was considered an essential characteristic for a Roman general. Overall, Caesar's Civil War 49-44 BC is one of the very best of this series and a real gem in itself.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now it's Legion vs. Legion., January 31, 2005

By 

Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Caesar's Civil War (Paperback)

As I say in my Amazon's AYA page I'm a history buff. Caesar is one of my favorite historical characters. I've read his "Commentaries" and "The Civil War", Suetonius' "The Twelve Caesars", Plutarch's "Lives" and a score of contemporary books about his life.
After reading Kate Gilliver's "Caesar's Gallic Wars" in this same collection I went for this volume.

I wasn't disappointed. Osprey's Essential History is a great resource for History "aficionados", in a very compact book series with excellent presentation, first quality paper and nice reproductions gives the reader a succinct and complete view of the subject.

This is a great resume of the Roman Civil War (49 - 44 BC). In only 96 pages (the customary format) Adrian Goldsworthy gives a complete, clear and accurate picture.
Maps of all main battles are wonderful and detailed, helping to understand the positioning and evolution of the confronting forces.

Mr. Goldsworthy starts with a synopsis of the events preceding the break out of the war, the different actors, the balance of power and the political situation of the last days of the Republic. Continue with a description of Roman's Legion, composition, leadership style and combat doctrine. Next he focuses on the Civil War itself, starting with the Rubicon crossing till the final battle of Munda.
Jumping from the general picture to the intimacies of "real people", the author reconstruct the experiences of a Centurion, Cicero and Caesar himself; putting the reader in touch with "everyday" occurrences.
Finally a short description of what happened after Caesar's murder is given completing the picture of those turbulent days.
As a bonus Mr. Goldsworthy provides thumbnail bios of main characters. This is a very helpful feature due to the repetitive use of patronymics done by Romans which tend to confuse sometimes the reader.

This book may suites as an introduction for neophytes or as a graphic resume for students and researchers.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complex War Made Simple, February 1, 2008

By 

Mike Dillemuth (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar's Civil War (Paperback)

Adrian Goldsworthy did an excellent job of condensing the battles, campaigns, and political drivers of the Roman Civil War. This book is focused, well organized, and follows the standard format of the Essential Histories series. It has ten chapters and the softcopy edition is 92 pages long. The book contains numerous photos of ancient coins, helmets, statues, and scenes carved on monuments. The photos are of good quality and make a worthwhile contribution. The author also included battle maps that are clean, simple, and give just the right amount of information.

The chapter on "The fighting" is divided into sections that focus on certain campaigns and their associated years. In this way, the chapter provides an excellent overview of the more critical battles such as the Ilerda Campaign, Pharsalus, Thapsus, and Munda. Certain sections are subdivided even further. For example, the campaign in Greece is spit to cover the battle at Dyrrachium and then the battle of Pharsalus. The narrative then boils down each battle to its relevant parts.

The chapter titled "Portrait of a Civilian" focuses on Cicero, the well-known Roman senator. Although Cicero's involvement in the Civil War was minimal, his writings provide excellent insight on the Senate's view of the war. Cicero wanted peace and only reluctantly sided with Pompey. He was later killed because of his opposition to Mark Antony. Cicero derisively described how the senators in Pompey's camp became arrogant in their anticipation of winning the war. Caesar's victory at Pharsalus only reinforced Cicero's low opinion of the Pompeian forces.

The book contains a chapter on Roman centurions. Mr. Goldsworthy does a fine job of describing their activities even though very little first hand information is available. He effectively uses the few known examples of specific individuals to paint a picture of their contributions to the Roman legions.

The book ends with a chapter on "Conclusions and Consequences." This chapter provides a short synopsis of the Civil War's aftermath and the end of the Republic. The author describes the upcoming alliance and subsequent falling out between Mark Antony and Caesars' adopted son, Octavian. He goes on to describe the second triumvirate, the proscriptions that led to Cicero's death, and the Battle of Actium where Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra. In essence, the author provides a nice conclusion to the Civil War and shows how Octavian, a.k.a.: Augustus, became the first Roman emperor.

Bottom line: this is a well-organized and comprehensive book on the Civil War. It is an easy read and one of the better volumes in the Essential Histories series.