Super interesting account of Caesar’s life, it has helped so much having about 7-9 of Plutarch’s lives under my belt to read this, but this is also helping greatly sort out some of the relationships between lives (Julius, Marius, Crassus, Pompey, Brutus, etc) and overall impressions of their broad brushstroke character traits at a more distant observation of them. This book also explains very well the important aspects of ancient Roman life in general: government and policies, politics, elections, and triumphs, the spiritual and empirical houses and impact of the spiritual upon the governmental. Very simply and straight forward writing, author takes his time to build up some cultural and political context for the reader in a very accessible manner, nice and conversational. Excellent resource for Ancient Rome in general as well as a cohesive account of Caesar’s life and impact upon the world as we know it. Includes a fleshed out bibliography with several titles I recognized.
Ccs: commentary made likening the Roman sprawl to ‘American fighting and subduing the Indian tribes’, and the very next sentence states that the Asian inhabitants “were not all savages”. “Savages” used to describe several people groups conquered. Outdated term ‘midgets’ used to illustrate Cesar’s early career inferiority when compared to Pompey. Some people commit suicide: one falls on his own sword in battle; another consumes live coals. A man is murdered by a group via stabbing. The perpetrators are hunted down and killed, described in varying degrees of detail. A woman stabs her own thigh to prove her trustworthiness.