Customer Reviews

Julius Caesar: The background, strategies, tactics and battlefield experiences of the greatest commanders of history

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When Roman crowds tried to hail Julius Caesar as rex, or king in Latin, he is said to have replied, "No, I am Caesar, not King." Today, Caesar has become synonymous with the title of Emperor, the rank above king. It is because of him, however, that words like czar and Kaiser have entered the languages of Europe as translations of emperor, rather than just one of this man's names. In his work on Julius Caesar, Nic Fields talks about what made this man so great for all time. Like the last book I read in this command series, this is a very nicely made book, with heavy glossy paper, and a plethora of illustrations and other pictures.

For all its brevity, this is a pretty scholarly work on Caesar, on an introductory level. It has maps and diagrams of battle formations, photos of key sites as they are today, along with famous artistic representations of the man. Fields does not have room to present an exhaustive account of Caesar's life, but he touches on most of the key events and pieces of information known. It leaves the reader wanting to know more, and is written in a fairly readable manner. The book doesn't quite present events in chronological order, however, in terms of the arrangement of facts and events.

I found it particularly interesting that people still make pilgrimages to the remains of his temple--and there was a picture of flowers left at the site to back up the statement. Generally, I would recommend this book to all ages of readers, or even for use in a classroom. People need to know at least something about Caesar, given the way he has impacted western cultures. Besides, this book is a quick and easy read, not one of those ponderous volumes that put people off history.

Dr. Fields is an expert in Roman warfare that I really respect and thorougly enjoy reading his books. In this work he gives an introduction on Caesar, his life, political achievements, the dissertation about Caesar wanting or not to be Rex, classification of Caesar's characteristics of leadership using Keegan's method (prescription, kinship, sanctions, imperative of action, battle presence) that should be used in all books of this series, some battles are described like Sabis/sambre, Alesia, Pharsalus, Thapsus and Munda, and Caesar's main antagonists (Vercingetorix and pompey) have a short section.

The premises of this series are "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict", so if you are searching for a Biography of Julius Caesar this isn't your book. Try Adrian Goldsworthy "Caesar - Life of a Colossus", it's an excellent book. It would be impossible in a c. 60 page book to give a decent biography of Caesar, so Dr. Fields shouldn't had tried to do it IMHO. He gave a short description of Caesar's political evolution, his government, the controversies between his divine status, kingship vs dictatorship, etc. Obviously if Fields had 200+ pages to digress he would had made a great job - but he had 60! And he used almost a quarter of the book that should be used in the "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict" parts of Julius Caesar career. Many campaigns aren't almost mentioned, the battles should have more information, etc. With a good chronological chart the author could had saved 12 - 15 pages and focused on the military aspect (the purpose of this series).

I also believe that the author is mistaken on the meaning circumvallation and contravallation. I'm pretty sure that circumvallation faces the enemy fortification and contravalation it's an outer ring made to protect the besiegers against relieve attempts.

On the bright side this is an excellent place to start reading about Caesar, you also get good art by Peter Dennis (although he can do better), very good pictures, great information on Caesar's capabilities as leader (with lots of examples taken from different sources). Recommended.

After having read lengthy biographies of Caesar, this is a bit underpowered. However, for those who want a brief overview of Julius Caesar, especially his military leadership, this will suffice.

This is part of the Osprey series, "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict." The book begins with Caesar's youth, noting that he came from a noble Roman family line. He was ambitious as he grew up, and aimed to make those ambitions come to reality. He served as a Chief Priest; he was assigned a posting as Consul. However, he and two other renowned Romans felt themselves snubbed. A triumvirate emerged--Caesar, the successful military commander Pompey, and the wealthy and successful commander (the one who ended Spartacus' revolt), Crassus. As a result of their alliance, Caesar was assigned a position as military commander of Gaul.

Thereafter, he used his Roman legions to subdue the Gauls. He also triumphed in Spain, in Egypt (where he met Cleopatra and became infatuated with her), and in Asia (although the book pretty much ignores the campaign in which he uttered the term: "I came, I saw, I Conquered."). The book describes his falling out with Pompey, his defeat of Pompey's forces at Pharsalus.

And, of course, the denouement on the Ides of March, when he met his fate.

The book does a decent job of describing his role as a leader. Good maps appear as well as photos and drawings. All in all, a solid piece of work, accessible to those who only desire a brief survey of Caesar's life and times.