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Caesar's Civil War

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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.

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.

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.

Adrian Goldsworthy, a leading classicist gives a good short introduction to the Roman Civil War of 49-44 BC. Admittedly all of the surviving sources are prejudiced against Pompey the Great and for Julius Caesar as Goldsworthy himself admits, but still Goldsworthy's attitude to Caesar borders on hero worship. It is not for nothing that the title is "Caesar's Civil War" instead of the Roman Civil War or even "Pompey's Civil War". One supposes that this is the best monument to Caesar's legendary charisma that some two thousand odd years after his assassination, that men are still championing his cause. Truly Caesar has won the immortality that he sought some avidly during his life.

If one can get the above caveat, this is a very good summary of the civil war and how it relates to the broader downfall of the Roman Republic. Goldsworthy offers a concise summary of the problems of the late Republic, above all the refusal of the Senate to recognize that Rome now had a full-time professional army instead of the old militia, and consequently its unwillingness to properly provide for veterans. At the same time, Italy was suffering from overpopulation, and there were far too many impoverished young men with nothing to lose seeking out a military career, this was an explosive mixture. Combined with the already highly competitive political structure in which scions of the patrician families fought fiercely with each other in order to score the greatest successes for Rome as a way of advancing their careers, and the increasing tendency of the Senate to let leading patricians equip, pay and led their own armies on behalf of Rome, the result was chaos. Essentially, anyone was rich and skilful to lead an army could and did muscle their way to the top. As Goldsworthy ably demonstrates, the rise of Julius Caesar cannot be understood unless one understands this background. There is no doubt that Caesar's optimate opponents were right to see him in the elements of the adventurer and the populare demagogue, but if there had not been no mass of impoverished men with nothing to lose through fighting, Caesar would never had a following. At the same time, Goldsworthy does a fine job of explaining the tactics, equipment and organization of the legions.

Admitting the biases of the sources, Goldsworthy is probably right that through Caesar expected and wanted a leading role in the Roman state, the main blame for the outbreak of the civil war must rested upon his optimate enemies in the Senate who were determined to freeze Caesar up of politics permanently. About the ambiguous actions of Pompey the Great, Goldsworthy is fair, suggesting that Pompey was uncertain if he wanted to be the optimate champion at first. Moreover, Goldsworthy makes a good case that Pompey was a great general past his prime, and the initiative with the younger and probably more talented Caesar.

Goldsworthy presents a fine study of the Mediterranean war torn apart by civil war. There were good accounts of the leading battles fought against the length and breadth of the Mediterranean world in what is now modern Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, Greece, Albania, Turkey and Egypt. Needless to say the leading highlight is the Battle of Pharsaulus, where Caesar met and destroyed the army of Pompey. Allowing for Goldsworthy's evident admiration for Caesar, the way in which Caesar and his lieutenants won control of the entire Roman world in only five years does speak to a high quality of leadership. The accounts of the various battles are concise, well written and gives one a sense of the carnage and chaos of Roman warfare. No Hollywood heroics here, but rather grim, bloody struggles that makes one appreciate the devotion Caesar's legions must had felt for him. Finally, Goldsworthy summarizes the contradictory evidence for what Caesar intended to do with his power once he had created his dictatorship for life. Most probably, Caesar didn't have any well thought out plans. Indeed, Caesar had nothing, but the desire of having won supreme power of never giving it up. All said, a very good, readable introduction to one of the most important chapters in the fall of the Roman republic

Ever since the event happened, the conflict of the Roman Civil War had been told and retold. It is a conflict full of colorful characters and concepts. Caesar himself gave his own interpretation, as would other historians, artists, poets, and writers. One of the world's leading experts on Rome, Adrian Goldsworthy, sums it all up in this little over ninety page work. This is a colossal tale that took place in a colossal time.

Goldsworthy's work begins with a brief summery of what the Roman Empire had been through up until that time. He talks how the building of an empire put so much strain on the Republic that the institutions were in a state of decay and no longer provided much benefit to the average citizen either in home or in the provinces. By page 20, however we get to the actual conflict that creates one of the most famous Civil Wars in the history of the world. Caesar and Pompey, two old friends, allies, in-laws and two of the greatest military heroes in Roman history go head to head for the fate of the city and civilization that both that had devoted their lives.

"The suddenness of Caesar's advance surprised and unnerved his opponents, just as he had intended. Pompey had left Rome in the second half of January, declaring that it could not be defended. He was followed by most of the magistrates, including the consuls, who left in such haste it suggested panic. Many Romans were still uncertain about just how firmly committed each side was to fighting, and this open admission of military weakness made many wonder whether Pompey could really be relied on to defend the Republic." p.31

Like the other to books I reviewed in this series, the work has a textbook format with out having a textbook feel. While most textbooks are dry and devoid of real substance this work is full of life trying to describe a single--although highly significant--historical event. This work not only Goldsworthy's extraordinary writing but also there are maps, detail analysis of battles, chapters devoted to both the military and civilians in this time period. For example, `Portrait of a Civilian' covers Cicero, the greatest orator of his time. The book also takes a close look at Caesar's centurions describing what the war was like for them. There is also at the end an overall historical analysis view of Julius Caesar's career, overall legacy and real ambitions.

"There are essentially two ways of viewing Caesar. The first is to see him as a man perceptive enough to understand that the Republican constitution could no longer function. Throughout his career he had taken considerable interest in the conditions of the poor in Rome and the native population in Rome's provinces, and realized that the territories could not be run simply for the selfish benefit of a tiny elite in Rome." p.78

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a brief but informative summery into one of the most famous military and political conflicts the world had ever seen: the Roman Civil War of Caesar and Pompey.