The Commentaries of Caesar

by Anthony Trollope

This is a copy of the original book. In this series, we are bringing old books back into print using our own state-of-the-art techniques. Generally, these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way that the author intended. However, as we are working with old material, so occasionally there may be certain imperfections within the text. We are so pleased to ensure these classics are available again for generations to come.

Genres: History

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1870

About the author

Anthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.

Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...

Reviews

[Justin Pickett · Rating 4 out of 5]

“From bloodthirstiness he slaughtered none; but neither from tenderness did he spare any.”

Trollope summarizes ten of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries (or memoirs)—the ten that are believed to have been written by Caesar himself. These describe Caesar’s various campaigns in Gaul and his fight against Pompey. The covered material ranges from Gaulish custom, to Caesar’s building of a bridge in ten days to cross a river, to Pompey’s murder and decapitation, to Caesar’s burning of most of Egypt’s royal library, to his relationship with Cleopatra:

“First, because he wanted some ready money, and secondly, because Cleopatra was pretty, Caesar nearly lost the world in Egypt.”

In is notable how Trollope distinguishes between Roman rulers, setting Caesar apart from Marius, Sulla, Octavius, and Antony, all of whom he views as greedy, power-hungry, “monsters of cruelty.” By contrast, he describes Caesar as merciful, brave, and focused on duty. Interestingly, Trollope’s overall view of Roman society during and immediately before Caesar’s time, and especially of Roman politics, is not a favorable one.

“Power had produced wealth, and wealth had produced corruption … An honest man with clean hands and a conscience, with scruples and a love of country, became unfitted for public employment.”

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-written overview.