Caesar: Life of a Colossus
by Adrian Goldsworthy
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Book Reviews of Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Book Review: Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good book, though it lacks a little organization. It's linear and accumulative. The story is not that well broken down into smaller issues like different size pieces of a puzzle, rather it's more like an accumulation of identical logs or bricks that amount to the thick book we have here. Facts and dates just follow each other in sequence. The truth is the author has enough talent to not get too messy, though at times it is monotonous. A clearer structure and less blurry lines between issues, dates and locations could have helped. If you want to go back and find the exact page where a certain issue is dealt with, it is going to be hard.
Looks like a lot of cons but overall the book is readable thanks to its almost popular style, modern students friendly.
A note that meant a lot to me as a Spaniard, and that I can't help mentioning: "In 92 BC an edict closed down schools teaching rhetoric Latin, stating that instruction in Greek was superior, even for teaching a man to make speeches in Latin (...) this measure was in part intended to prevent the oratorical skills useful in public life from becoming too common, for such schools were not likely to have taken pupils from those families outside the Senate (...) so this continued the emphasis on what would be useful rather than on acquiring purely academic learning." This reminded me of the banning of the Spanish language in schools in Cataluña (Spain) for the partisan interests of the entrenched nazionalist class; a class that lives on well-paid government jobs and subsidies and is throwing overboard a whole cultural legacy that belongs to a larger community than their own clan.
A whole lot we still have to learn from history (and from books like this one), from Roman history specifically. Treat yourself and take sides between Cato and Caesar. But try to understand the other side too.
Book Review: A Fine Biography
Summary: 5 Stars
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").
Book Review: Good, informative but why, oh why?!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a book I would recommend to anyone with some curiousity about "how Rome worked"...provided the reader has a strong mental filter to separate fact from fiction. It is readable, and the author's English is delightful, in the sense that there is something of the turn of the Century (19th-to-20th - not 20th-to-21st) elegance in it. The focus is perhaps more on the "workings of Rome" than on Caesar's most important years affecting Rome - the author is a bit too shy to appear to "endorse a Dictator". And, this is the weakness of the book. It is somewhat like historical works published in the Soviet era in the Soviet Union or one of its satellites. (Yevgeniy Tarlé's works on Napolean and Talleyrand come to mind [ Bonaparte, ]. Superb history, but Tarlé, a Soviet author, must pay homage to dialectic materialism).. In this case the author cannot keep himself from paying homage to all the "important" concepts that make a British academic "politicaly acceptable". Why, oh why, do so many today contaminate their excellent work with the eager additions to show that their thinking, by they way, corresponds to what is required? In this respect, the Introduction is outright painful. Also, to be popular in the early 21st Century, we must write about sex, sex, sex... Of course, we are just speculating, and therefore to avoid any danger of being accused of mixing history with fiction, we put in some weasel-words when we have no sources... The reason why this otherwise excellent work does not get five stars is the author's self-demeaning with his eagerness to prove that he is Politically Correct.Book Review: Brilliant, Entertaining, and Concise
Summary: 5 Stars
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.Book Review: Very Impressive
Summary: 5 Stars
Adrian Goldsworthy did a fantastic job in writing this book. It's well written, painstakingly researched, and has little bias whatsoever. This is the second biography I've read on Caesar, and while the first [Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman] was a good introduction to the man, I found this book to be infinitely more informative and intriguing. At times the paragraphs can get a bit lengthy but after about 20 pages I got used to the writing style. The story is jam-packed with details that would escape most historians, but Goldsworthy presents them as a vital tool to help better explain just how complex the Roman world was at the time of Julius Caesar. I could go on and on about the various elements included in the book that helped make it one of the most enjoyable historical works I've read to date, but I don't mean to bore any readers of this review. To sum it all up, I must say that I was blown away by the scholarship I found in this book and highly, highly recommend it.