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Caesar: Life of a Colossus |  | Author: Adrian Goldsworthy
Publisher: Yale University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
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Seller: lhooqbooks
Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 36270
Media: Paperback
Pages: 608
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6
ISBN: 0300126891
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780300126891
ASIN: 0300126891
Publication Date: January 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780300126891 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
As Adrian Goldsworthy writes in the introduction to this book, “in his fifty-six years, Caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator . . . as well as husband, father, lover and adulterer.” In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C.
Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Caesar’s life from birth through assassination, Goldsworthy covers not only Caesar’s accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters during which he was high priest of an exotic cult, captive of pirates, seducer not only of Cleopatra but also of the wives of his two main political rivals, and rebel condemned by his own country. Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar’s character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some two thousand years later.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 64
 Brilliant, Entertaining, and Concise December 8, 2009
Jordan Cox
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been on a streak of reading historical biographies and this may be the best one yet. Caesar is such a fascinating character, and Goldsworthy does a wonderful job bringing this to light without making assumptions. He always points out what is merely a rumor and what is fact. Unfortunately in Caesar's case, much is just rumor and cannot be proven which can be frustrating at times, but this is not the author's fault. He is merely writing the most comprehensive historical biography that he can based on the research he's done. And I must say he does a magnificent job! Goldsworthy is a master in writing about military tactics, and he continues to prove this in Caesar: Life of a Colossus. The battles are all accompanied with diagrams of the opposing armies, and he is very objective in outlining the results even when Caesar suffered losses. Goldsworthy's objectivity accompanied with the brevity of his writing style make this a very enjoyable read. This may be the most comprehensive biography out there on Caesar, and for those of you who love to read about military tactics, you are in for a treat.
 Pretentious September 22, 2009
J. Aubrey (Seattle, WA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was looking for a basic grounding in Roman history and customs and Caesar's exploits in the 1st century BC. It came down to Freeman's and Goldsworthy's biographies. This one is 600 pages and Freeman's is 400 pages. In the end I decided to read both, beginning with Freeman.
Freeman's biography moved smoothly and succinctly along, pausing when appropriate to explore Roman mores and the rather strange (to the modern eye) interactions and motivations of Caesar, Pompey, Crassius, Cato and Cicero. It remained straightforward and interesting throughout with no pretense of originality or self-importance.
I was disappointed with Goldsworthy. He often seemed ponderous and verbose, as if trying to impress a scholar but offering a less well told story in an extra 200 pages.
Go with Freeman and skip Goldsworthy.
First Rate. August 26, 2009
Solomon (Colorado)
This is a terrific book. It is very well written and very entertaining (at least for those who like history). Sometimes I can't wait until I finish a 500-page book, but with this one I was sorry to have reached the end. Not only is Caesar's life discussed in detail, but so are the government and politics of Rome and nature of the Roman military. This is particularly true of the first third of the book that details Caesar's early life. In this part of the book Caesar is just one character among the likes of Marius, Sulla, Crassus and Pompey. An important theme of the book is the personal nature of Roman politics and the fact that it was generally personal gain that motivated the participants, not any great popular agenda. The author contends that laws were passed, wars fought, people subjugated; all in the name of auctoritas (prestige and personal influence) and as a means to achieve great personal wealth. I had always believed that the Roman state pushed imperialism for the wealth that could be extracted from the vanquished, but Goldsworthy shows that it was more the quest of individuals, such as Caesar; not that Rome objected or rejected their share of the plunder.
The story is told from Caesar's perspective and thus events are generally depicted in a favorably light, but Goldsworthy does not shy away from considering the more negative aspects of Caesar's personality and behavior. Caesar is shown to have been a womanizer of epic proportions and a man who fought a Civil War because he felt that his dignity had been insulted. As an example of the story being told from Caesars perspective, it is stated, "Caesar believed that he was forced into the Civil War", rather than stating that Caesar was forced into the Civil War. In other words, we are told what Caesar believed (based on his writings), not an author's interpretation of what happened. Caesar is shown to have been a senior priest (the Pontifex Maximus), a jurist, a master politician and general in the class of Alexander the Great. (To be fair, religion, law, politics and the army were all intertwined in Rome and many men of note participated in all of these endeavors, but few (perhaps only Pompey) were as talented a general (and Caesar ultimately defeated Pompey)).
Many of Caesar's actions can be interpreted in many different ways. For instance, were Caesar's political and land reforms meant to improve a failed system and better the lives of the citizens of Rome; or were they the actions of a master politician who sought to curry favor with people in order to bolster his own prestige and power? Goldsworthy believes that the answer is somewhere between these two extremes, but he provides the information to enable the reader to decide for him or herself. (The information that is given may be somewhat biased, but I came away with the more positive interpretation of Caesar's actions, tinged with the idea of the personal and political gain that they brought.)
The book details many of the important battles that Caesar fought (mostly his victories, but also some minor defeats), and also some minor, but interesting, aspects of Caesars life and Roman life in general. For instance, Goldsworthy describes the Roman naming conventions and why many men had three names (sometimes four), whereas their wives and daughters had only one. While this may seem trivial, it showed me why so many people had the similar or the same name and cleared up many of the questions that arose in my reading of other books. The book also contains a useful chronology of important events and a glossary of terms.
I felt that Goldsworthy's book on the Punic Wars (The Fall of Carthage) was a bit academic in tone, but I do not feel that this is the case for this book. There is much less of the "A says, whereas B says and C says" in this current book. The story is much more straightforward, but in still quite detailed. The areas of current controversy over the interpretation of the historical texts are mentioned, but not dwelled upon.
This book does justice to Caesar's very interesting and controversial life and I highly recommend it. Read it and you will learn about Caesar's life and the Rome of his lifetime. You will learn how he conquered, but perhaps not exactly why. You will learn of the complete destruction of some who fought against him, contrasted to his great leniency shown to others (some of whom repaid this by renewing the fighting against him, some eventually assassinating him). You will learn how Caesar lived and of the conquest of Gaul, the Civil War, his dictatorships and his assassination.
Brilliant August 21, 2009
Mr. J. Acton
Brilliantly written. Brilliant subject. If you haven't read about Caesar there is a reason why his name is know 2000 years later. This book explains why Casear comes down throught the ages. The book is good - you need a book as good as this to do justice to the collosus of Caeasar. I read all his commentaires on the basis of this book. Cannot be recommended highly enough.
Outstanding work of art July 24, 2009
~kev~ (Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the best written books I have seen in a long time. Not only is the book well written, its also an easy read. The authors writing style is fluid and easy to follow.
Well worth the time and the money.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 64
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