Caesar: A History of the Art of War Among the Romans Down to the End of the Roman Empire, With a Detailed Account of the Campaigns of Caius Julius Caesar

Great Captains

by Theodore Ayrault Dodge

Book by Dodge, Theodore Ayrault

Genres: History, Biography, Military History, Ancient History, Military Fiction, Ancient

816 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

Theodore Ayrault Dodge was an American officer and military historian. He fought as an Union officer in the American Civil War, and lost his leg at the Battle of Gettysburg; as a writer, he devoted his writings to both the American Civil War and the great generals of Ancient and European history.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and detailed examination of Caesar’s military campaigns. This book examines Caesar the general rather than the politician. As a general he is shown to be one of history’s first strategists. As a soldier the author places him behind Hannibal and Alexander; however he goes on to describe him as “the greatest man in antiquity “.

Excellent coverage of the Gallic wars, the invasion of Britain, two Spanish campaigns, Pharsalus, Alexandria and Africa.

[Takipsilim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelling in politics, war, oratory, and literature, Caesar was the greatest man of antiquity. This deals with the military side of that.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dodge is almost mandatory reading for fans of military history at some point. He's either referenced or referred to by so many other writers in the genre that you just can't avoid him. Of personal interest in this book for me compared to other things I've read on Caesar is that Dodge focused in detail on Caesar's lesser campaigns. Everyone writes about Caesar and Pompey slugging it out but very few people or other books go into the level of detail that Dodge does talking about the campaigns in Spain, Gaul, Greece, and Egypt.

Vercingetorix was without a doubt Caesar's most talented and dangerous enemy that he ever fought. Dodge makes it clear that Pompey was many things, but Great was not one of them. Had Vercingetorix waited another few years to stage his massive revolt in Gaul it would have succeeded in grand style and ripped the province away from Rome. Caesar would have been woefully unprepared and incapable of fighting the Civil War against the Pompeians across the entire length and breadth of the Republic and then coping with a naturally talented, skilled, and charismatic commander the likes of Vercingetorix. Besides, lets face it, Vercingetorix is a pretty awesome name.

The last thirty or forty pages are a comparison between Caesar, Hannibal, and Alexander. Every one of these three men earned the right to be called one of the Great Captains and every one of them excelled in different areas. Dodge's astute comparison of their virtues and vices is perhaps the most clear and concise one that I've read to date.

[Tyler Windham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theodore Dodge follows up his outstanding books on Alexander the Great and Hannibal with yet another masterfully done work of classic history. It is, as is Dodge's style, clean and lucid in its prose, insightful, interesting, fast-paced, and detailed--a true titan of Caesarian study at near eight hundred pages. As my reviews of the two aforementioned works extoll Dodge's work quite thoroughly I will not bother to reiterate my praises yet again, however, suffice it to say, it will not disappoint, nor will Dodge heir on the side of those who believe Caesar a blood-soaked sociopath or on the side of those who hold Caesar to be the "greatest man of any age" (to quote Boswell).

[Jeff Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent follow on the Hannibal book by the same author. I really enjoy the attention to detail, numerous maps, and insights and evaluations of the battle skill of the various opponents. I have read a number of biographies of Caesar, but none which have given such a strong view of his command (and faults) on the battlefield. I recommend the whole "great captains" series and will be picking up Alexander soon (slightly out of order).

Also - read the books rather than listen: too many helpful maps and images are missed otherwise.

[Luis Delgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAESAR

Es un excelente libro de la historia militar en la que Dodge se supera a lo presentado en sus libros sobre Alejandro Magno y Hannibal, transportadores en el tiempo haciendo nos partícipes de las campañas. Casera hizo grande a Roma y gracias a él se inició lo que conocemos la occidentalizacion del mundo. Los comentarios que hace Dodge sobre el Arte de la Guerra estoy seguro que se mantienen vigente a pesar de la evolución de las armas.