Customer Reviews

The Civil War of Caesar (Penguin Classics)

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A much wider ranging story than his War in Gaul (De Bellum Galli) that covers campaigns in Africa, Spain, Greece, etc but ultimately not as much fun to read. To me, the most interesting parts of Caesar's accounts are the smaller scale anecdotes and stories. For example, after the initial route of Caesar's legions by an African army with elephants he brings an elephant into camp and describes how he familiarizes his men with the beast and develops tactics for the troops to fight against them. He also tells the story of a centurion who tries to rescue a slave being crushed by an attacking elephant. The centurion is caught by the elephant in it's trunk and is about to be dashed on the ground but manages to free himself by hacking at the elephant's trunk with his sword. The elephant drops the centurion, turns and barrels back through enemy lines. The anecdote presumably shows troops that attacking elephants can be challenged, successfully fought and made to release a soldier, and can even turned into weapons against their own armies. The only downside of this book is that much of it is not written by Caesar, but by his officers. These sections aren't written as well and tend to miss the interesting details and instead focus on the larger scale events. You can clearly tell the difference in the writing. Caesar's eye for detail is meant to help his troops in future battles (and negotiations) and makes the events come alive.

The Civil War is finely narrated by Caesar concerning his vainful efforts in trying to get Pompey & his opponents to accede to peace in order to avert the outcoming conflict.He fails,despite his sound & convincing pleas.The rest of the campaigns are written by either eye-witnesses to the accounts or second hand informed ones who manage to carry their narrative well,except for the difficult & quite laborious prose of the Spanish campaign.Though not as exciting as The Gallic Campaign,Caesar's talent still shines through,particularly in Pharsalus & Spain during the first part of the Civil War,& Caesar's speeches & handling of people & situations are convicing & admirable.Indispensable reading & good education for military matters.

Like his "Gallic War," Julius Caesar's account of the civil war between himself and Pompey has been called propaganda (he does speak of himself in the third person after all), written intermittently by a very busy man engaged in many other "affairs", to justify himself and his actions to the Senate and people of Rome. If this is so I would happily cast my vote for any candidate who could write with such lucidity and straightforward style, even if that candidate harbored imperial aspirations of his own.

It was exactly what I wanted. A good translation of the book.

As a direct source this book is valuable and needed. To the casual reader of history (like myself) it is a bit of a drag. The book has highlights but the authors are writing it to their contemporaries. It is difficult for the modern reader to grasp exactly what is happening. I think a book with maps and further explanations as to motivations and battle tactics (to a layman like me) would have been of greater interest. One thing I can say, however, is that you get a first hand look at what Caesar must have been like. The book clearly shows his side in the most favorable light (not surprising) but not as much as one would think.

I bought this book as a replacement (lost the original plus many more to Hurricane Katrina). Any fan of the pre-christian world or anyone who would like a work that was written over 2000 years ago by one of history's greatest men, this book is for you!

I enjoyed the book on the Gallic War and equally enjoyed this book on the Civil War. The method of indicating and referencing notes was easy to work with. Additonally, both books have an excellent amount of introductory material.

This is a book that contains a great deal more than the struggle between Caesar and Pompey for political control.

Within are many gems; first among them are observation of human nature that appear in sentences, every ten-to-twenty pages. There is the structure of the military, and the focus on terrain - a key topic in War College to this day - there are statements and timeless truths:

"...and you have suffered the fate that commonly befalls those who are too stubborn and arrogant; you are now forced to have recourse to the very thing you spurned only a little while ago, and indeed to beg for it..."

"...no man with a sense of honour should be made to suspect he is not fully trusted, for that diminishes his zeal; nor should a ruffian be allowed to know that he is feared, for our fear will merely increase his insolence..."

"...for in general when something unexpected happens rumour goes beyond the facts..."

"...the functions of a lieutenant are different from those of a general. One has to act entirely according to orders, the other must take important decisions independently..."

"...terror robs men of their powers of reason and impairs their physical capacity..."

"...fortune is wont to reserve for a harsher fate those on whom she has heaped most blessings..."

There are so many more, however, I leave that to you to find and enjoy.

It is interesting, too, to note the social mores, and what was acceptable and common practice. One big surprise is the amount of information on economics present in the book. It is clear monetarism did not start with the Austrians; Caesar was a monetarist - and as he speaks of economic situations and policy (yes - this is very present in the book) he does so in such a way that indicates it was common knowledge and practice to increase the supply of money under certain circumstances.

There are many books within this book, as truly, there are in any book. Literary analysis of this book begins at a trail-head, in which a reader is faced with one clear path, that of the struggle for power between two great men, yet, if at the outset one considers that which lay before him, they will see the different trails, the different journeys, their travels may take them as they read this work.

This is the concluding half of Caesar's Commentaries, the first half of which appears as "The Conquest of Gaul". Everything I wrote about that book is also true here. This is a marvelous example of a first-hand historical account of major events written by the major protagonist. A rare and precious thing, to say the least. Caesar wrote his "Commentaries" for the popular consumption of the citizens back home. Propagandist though they may have been in their original purpose, they nevertheless are an accurate account of events and they vividly showcase the talents of their author. Besides being a consumate general and politician, Caesar was also a great speaker, a careful observer, and an outstanding writer. His writing is at once concise, informative and interesting.

This book includes three accounts that are thought to have been written by some of Caesar's lieutenants. While this may bring down the quality of the narrative a bit, it is certainly understandable given the human whirlwind that was Caesar during these years. From the crossing of the Rubicon in 49 B.C., where the book begins, Caesar proceeded to occupy Rome, pacify Spain, defeat Pompey at Pharsalus, establish Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt, defeat his opponents at Thapsus, and dispose of the last opposition forces in southern Spain by 45 B.C.

A few months after these events, Caesar was assassinated in Rome after assuming the position of "perpetual dictator". It was argued that Caesar sought to be King of Rome. In fact, however, he was not the first to assume the position of Dictator after emerging successfully from civil strife. Both Marius and Sulla had gained similar powers within the preceding 60 years. For those interested in a fictional, but nevertheless vivid and historically accurate account of this entire period, I suggest Colleen McCullough's series, beginning with "The First Man In Rome" and continuing (so far) through five volumes, the latest of which is entitled "Caesar". More are planned.

As for "The Civil War", it may not be quite as exciting or compelling as "The Conquest of Gaul", but it is still excellent reading. And it's all true. Try it. I think you'll like it.

History is written by the winners. In this case it is truer then most, however, I do not believe one should naturally discount it for that reason, but it does need to be mentioned. With that said, this second famous work by Julius Caesar is a remarkable read. It is great political document where Caesar not only reports on the events that happened but also presents his case to why his cause should prevail. The war was caused by a political situation that had boiling for years and was now going to boil over the cause of Caesar and the populares and the optimates now being championed by Caesar's former friend and ally, Gnaeus Pompeius, also known as Pompey the Great.

Caesar had just wrapped up his campaign in Gaul, and was fast becoming the most popular man in Rome. Caesar wanted to be the consul again but his enemies would not have it. The optimates demanded that Caesar resign his pro-consulship of Gaul and retire. Caesar agreed to resign his command and disband his army only if the Pompey agreed to do the same. The Senate refused, supported Pompey's time as sole consul, and approved his pro-consulship of the Spanish provinces. Caesar feeling boxed in crossed the Rubicon and marched on Rome proclaiming `the die is cast.'

"However for the sake of Rome I bore this loss of privilege with a good grace. When I wrote to the Senate suggesting a general demobilization, I was not allowed even that. Troops are being raised all over Italy, my two legions, which were taken from me on the pretext of a Parthian campaign, are being retained, and the whole State is in arms. What is the aim of all these preparations but my destruction?" p.40

Ancient warfare was extremely brutal and by modern day standards would be consider criminal. In this respect Caesar was no different than any other, in fact, considering his success as general, who could argued to be the most brutal. Decided to try something different, he offered clemency to those who had fought against him and took no action to those who had chosen to remain neutral. This helped him win over the population that he was now going to rule.

"Their departure left the soldiers free to fraternize. There was a general exodus from the Pompeian camp; the men began asking after personal friends and fellow-townsmen in Caesar's camp, and called them out. Firstly, they all expressed their thanks to all of our men for having spared them the day before, when they were utterly terror-stricken. `We owe our lives to you,' they said. They then asked weather Caesar could be trusted, and whether they would be right to put themselves in his hands; they expressed regret for not having done so in the first place and having joined battle with their own friends and kinsmen." p.72

Like his book on the Gallic War, Caesar likes to quote dialogues that there was no way he could have been privy to. Granted, later defectors could have given him such information but it is still very unlikely that he could have known what they would have said word for word. It is also interesting the Caesar, of course, keeps out the famous Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. It is said that he did not later chapters such as the Alexandrian War and the African War, but I could not see any differences when I was reading them.

"If at any time Pompey acted with particular slowness or deliberation, they would say that the business need keep them only a single day, and that Pompey took pleasure from being in command and was treating ex-consuls and ex-praetors as if they were his slaves. They were already starting to squabble openly among themselves about rewards and priesthoods and were assigning the consul ships for years to come, while some were claiming houses and property of those in Caesar's camp." p.148

I highly enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone interested in the time period, I would also recommend Adrian Goldsworthy small work Caesar's Civil War Caesar's Civil Waras a reference guide while reading.