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Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Audiobook24 hours

Caesar: Life of a Colossus

Written by Adrian Goldsworthy

Narrated by Derek Perkins

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Julius Caesar's life, Adrian Goldsworthy covers not only the great Roman emperor's accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters. 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.


In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines Caesar as a military leader, as well as his other roles, and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 12, 2014
ISBN9781494574154
Author

Adrian Goldsworthy

Adrian Goldsworthy's doctoral thesis formed the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC–AD 200 (OUP, 1996), and his research has focused on aspects of warfare in the Graeco-Roman world. He is the bestselling author of many ancient world titles, including both military history and historical novels. He also consults on historical documentaries for the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. Adrian Goldsworthy studied at Oxford, where his doctoral thesis examined the Roman army. He went on to become an acclaimed historian of Ancient Rome. He is the author of numerous works of non-fiction, including Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, Caesar, The Fall of the West, Pax Romana and Hadrian's Wall.

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Reviews for Caesar

Rating: 4.331103730769231 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

299 ratings21 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A tour de force! Simply marvellous. Exquisitely written and read. Highly recommended if you’re interested in his life and his surrounding context.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A rich and colorful biography of Julius Caesar. If you like Roman History, this is a must read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Outstanding read and listening too. It kept you interested throughout with its fascinating historical references, excellent pacing and suspense. I very much admire the research that went into this.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Incredibly researched, yet understandable at the popular level. Quite an achievement.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A very good and very readable biography, with rather creepy relevance to current affairs: extensive government corruption; factionalism ahead of the good of the Republic; excessive pursuit of monetary gain; eagerness to use the legal system as a way to punish enemies rather than to serve justice; and public support for “strongman” to take care of everything. Author Adrian Goldsworthy notes that there is no evidence that Caesar was always planning to seize control of the Roman government – events just worked out that way. Caesar comes across as one of the most talented people in history: as general, he won almost all his battles; as a politician he was adept at forging alliances; as an author he received praise even from his enemies. He had a reputation for clemency (well, for a Roman – when he crucified the pirates who had kidnapped him early in his career, as a mercy he had their throats cut first). He was immensely popular with his troops, willing to share their field privations and to go into battle himself at crucial moments; his histories mention common soldiers and centurions far more often than higher ranking officers.Goldsworthy claims Caesar and his contemporaries were influenced by his sense of auctoritas - usually translated as “authority”, although with a more subtle meaning connected with honor and influence; you could have auctoritas without actually being in a position of legal or political authority (for example, Roman women could have auctoritas if they were in a position to influence political outcomes, even if they had no political authority themselves). Goldsworthy attributes Caesar’s crucial decision to “cross the Rubicon” with his army as due to fear (probably quite correct) that his auctoritas would be diminished if he didn’t. (I was surprised to note that despite the fact that “crossing the Rubicon” has become idiomatic for taking an irreversible step, nobody knows exactly where the Rubicon was; several small streams are candidates). As with any good book, Caesar raises a lot of questions; one that intrigues me is that Goldsworthy makes it clear that success in the Roman political system required huge amounts of money. What for, exactly? It’s not as if it was spent on TV ads. Similarly, where did the money come from? Rome, after all, had no large corporations or even individuals who had become rich though trade or manufacturing. It seems like the only way to become wealthy was to be appointed governor of a province and then skim tax collections (this is what Caesar did; the conquest of Gaul allowed him to pay off all the creditors who had supported him thus far and have massive amounts left over for bribery and army recruitment). Goldsworthy gives some hints about Roman economics but a detailed account would require a whole other book; I’ll have to do some research.There’s a lot more fascinating stuff than mention; this is a very worthwhile book and an easy read. A plate section shows people and sites; there are good maps of most of Caesar’s battles (at least as far as events can be reconstructed). Recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Goldsworthy takes a Livian minutiae approach to his biography of Julius Caesar!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although we know that Julius Caesar's life came to an abrupt end, reading the long book emphasied how abrupt it was. Caesar had packed so much into his life, things appeared to have settled down, and then with what appears to be little preparation and thought, a group of senators selfishly put an end to that life. This episode fills just a few pages of this 500 page book. The rest is spent on his early life as he positions himself, quite cheekily, for promotion. A bulk of the book is spent on his time on Gaul, where some of the details of troop movements in battle do tend to be a bit tedious. However, a book that is worth reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Caesar didn't live up to my expectations. I found it hard going. Goldsworthy refashions dramatic events into basic facts. A biography of Caesar should be lively and transport the reader to a world rich in detail that brings it alive. There are occasional glimmers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Goldworthy's work is comprehensive, accurate and balanced, offering the finest examination of Caesar's incredibly rich and astounding life. The book is long, over 500 pages, however as the author notes... how could a shorter version capture the multitude of events and accomplishments that comprise Rome's greatest citizen?The preeminent biography of Caesar. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Goldsworthy pulls readers into the politics, military endeavors, and aspects of daily life for member of the Roman Republic’s upper class. This biography provides context and works to present Caesar’s life in its correct time and place without evaluating it through the lens of modern thought. The biography contains several key sections, the first dealing with Marius, Sulla, and the political climate that Caesar was born into. The book goes on to cover his youth and ascension of the corpus honorum, his time as consul, his governorship of Gaul, and finally the Civil War and dictatorship.Goldsworthy is particularly diligent in describing the battles and campaigns, with numerous references to historical works and archaeological finds that tie in to what he is describing. The book also contains a number of helpful charts showing deployments prior to and during various battles.This biography is a must read for the Roman history aficionado and is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning a little more about one of the most significant names from ancient Rome.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Eloquent and incredibly well-researched biography of a somewhat familiar historical figure. Provides an astonishing amount of new insights about this multifaceted and absorbing person.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a fairly monumental life of Caesar, weighing in at over 500 pages of small text in hardback. It is extremely well researched and surely offers the most detailed and balanced assessment of the life of this political and military giant that we are ever likely to possess, given that, notwithstanding the fact that Republican Rome in the 1st century BC is one of the most documented eras of the pre-technological world, there is still much that we do not know about Caesar the man, particularly his early life and his ultimate motivations. I did get rather bogged down in the endless military manoeuvres, especially during the Gallic wars, and found this very hardgoing in places, but then descriptions of the actual fighting have always been my least favourite aspect of military history. Excellent biography.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In his introduction Goldsworthy says that, "Unlike those studying more recent history, ancient historians often have to make the best of limited and possibly unreliable sources, as well as balancing apparently contradictory accounts." In my opinion he does this very successfully in a readable book that doesn't try to present academic disputes.The basic outlines are clear with one paragraph in the introduction opening with the sentence, "Ceasar was a great man", and another opening with the sentence, "Caesar was not a moral man....", the two sides of his character being amply illustrated throughout the 23 chapters. Goldsworthy gives cognisance to the fact that the 1st century B.C. Roman Republic were not moral times and that ancient history needs to be judged in its own context, for example Roman pride in "virtu" (which could be expressed by conquering weak neighbours) or the mass entertainment of gladiatorial combat. Ceasar was a famous philanderer of the aristocratic wives of Rome which caused him some obvious difficulties, and he could bribe his way through politics and ally himself with armed gangs as well as the best of them, finally breaking the Republic by crossing the Rubicon and imposing himself as dictator.Militarily, he was as consistently successful as he had been with the Roman wives, conquering Gaul and eventually reaching the pinnacle of power that he had always sought through the defeat Pompey, his only credible rival in wealth, political influence and armed might. He combined cunning with aggressiveness, succeeding in subduing Gaul in good measure by his clemency and willingness to grant Roman rights, and it is notable that his well designed legislation continued to proved its worth under the subsequent rule of Augustus.I found this a very rewarding and recommendable book (much better than Tom Holland's "Rubicon").
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this biography of Caesar, especially his early life, about which I knew nothing. Mr Goldsworthy describes with clarity the turbulent politics and ambitious personalities of the time at the end of the Roman Republic. I had heard of people such as Cato, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Brutus, Scipio, Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, but this book puts them into the context of Caesar's life without allowing the many details and side debates to detract from the main focus, Caesar himself. Descriptions of political motivations of the various players were very interesting. The Gallic wars took up quite a chunk of the book. I was less interested in these, partially because (as noted by Goldsworthy) virtually the only historical sources for this period are written by Caesar himself. I also found the epilogue somewhat watery and hedged (it is written by a historian after all). However overall it was a clearly written book which gives a very good insight into the man Caesar and his time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A highly recommended biography of Caesar. Goldsworthy does an excellent job of fitting a life of Caesar into one book. He clearly spells out what is and isn't known about the subject, and provides a reasoned view.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Probably the most engaging biography I've read, on this or any other subject. Goldsworthy's colossus of a book is tightly focused on its subject, but still gives a better picture of the end of the Roman Republic than the much more pop-history "Rubicon." As one would expect from the author of "The Punic Wars," "Roman Warfare" and "The Complete Roman Army", Goldsworthy thoroughly explores and explicates Caesar the General; but he also gives a complete and balanced picture of Caesar the politician as well. By doing so, he shows how war and politics were two sides of the same coin in the Late Republic - indeed, war in Rome was simply politics by other means (Cicero's greatest weakness as a Roman politician was undoubtedly his lack of military skill).One of the greatest strengths of this book is how it manages to put Caesar into his time and place - nobody in 30 B.C. knew that Caesar would become the figure we think of him as now, and so there was nothing fore-ordained or inevitable about his rise and fall. Goldsworthy is also careful to highlight where sources are contradictory, unclear, or inadequate - something that lends a historian more authority in my eyes than bald assertions could ever do. By drawing attention to these uncertainties, Goldsworthy illuminates a clearer understanding of Caesar and his times for the reader.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm still only about half way though this. It's more military focused than I thought (I tend to prefer the social history rather than the military/political) but I still enjoy it when I dip into it. The man could fit a battle, that's for sure.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Goldsworthy's Caesar is an extraordinarily well-written one-volume biography. Some who have sniffed that Goldsworthy's treatment is not comprehensive enough miss the point - this is supposed to be a one-volume biography of Caesar and the book is 519 pages as is without chasing after the disputes between Crassus and Pompey. The author shows remarkable discipline in not wandering off down the many enticing pathways offered by the late Roman Republic. Goldsworthy specifically cautioned at the beginning that he intends to stay focused on Caesar and Caesar alone and that is what he does. Writing a biography of Caesar presents the formidable challenge of humanizing the subject - much like writing about Napoleon or Robert E. Lee. They are the 'marble men' in Shelby Foote's phrasing. Goldsworthy succeeds admirably in this regard. He repeatedly cautions the reader not to regard the events of Caesar's life as inevitable. The reader gets the sense of Caesar as a man who strove to succeed above all else, but could have failed. His lively writing style paints an engaging portrait of Caesar (much more so than Anthony Everritt's 'Augustus', for example). Crisply described battle scenes give the reader a good sense of what happened and why, whether against the Gauls at Alesia or Pompey at Pharsalus. Contrary to some other reviewers, I found that Goldsworthy's background as a preeminent military historian serves him well. At Caesar's most successful he was above all a Roman general and spent most of the last 15 years of his life fighting wars first against Rome's enemies and later against other Romans. True, Caesar was nearly 40 before he embarked on the victories that made his place in history, but we remember him for those years as a military leader not for his role as praetor or pontifex maximus. A remarkable one-volume biography. I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could. Highest recommendation.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was surprised to see a very negative, one-star review of this book. I thought it was both interesting and well-written. In fact, I had trouble putting it done, and I was sorry to finish it. If the subject matter appeals to you at all, I think you are pretty much bound to enjoy this book.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I found this book incredibly dull. Well researched--no question that almost all of the known material on Caesar is summarized here--but does it have to be so boring? While reading it, I found myself constantly comparing it wih Colleen McCullough's 5 volume fictional work on Caesar; IMHO, her books are infinitely preferable to this one volume. Same material, better read.For someone who is supposedly a military historian, it is beyond my power to understand how Goldsworthy could make the Gallic Wars sound so dull. It appeared to me thathe was bored by them. He seemed to pick up interest in the Civil War. I found his summary decent.For me, a major problem was the style of writing--mostly simple, declarative sentences. Such monotony along with the appearance of a lack of real interest in his material made for heavy going.Another very subjective complaint I have about the book is a lack of a point of view. I'm surprised that in 2007 someone can still make the statement in print of strivign to be entirely objective. That's a vain hope! No one is. In doing so, his material loses life. There is a saying in opera, "strong opinions, strong production". I think it applies equally well to writing.Granted, any author of fiction has far, far more leeway than a historian. But McCullough brings her characters to life, which made it far easier for me to remember the material! Also, you can learn far, far more about Roman life, culture, institutions, etc from her glossaries which beat anything I have ever seen in novels.Any really good general history ought to inspire the reader to go to original sources. I can't imagine desiring to read Caesar's Commentaries after reading Goldsworthy. Yet they are utterly fascinating.The only reason why I didn't give this book the lowest rating is that it is useful to have the material all inone place. And it certainly helps to put one to sleep at night--a good cure for insomnia.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Detailed, well researched, and thought provoking. Not a good book to read in bed, as it's heavy and the hard cover can cause injury, it's still well worth the effort. A good addition to any Roman historian's collection, even though the aftermath is somewhat lightly glossed over.