Caesar Against Rome

Caesar Against Rome is an absorbing narrative of the four-year Roman Civil War that began with Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BCE. Focusing always on Caesar, the book sketches a panorama of Roman society—the first society to display the ambition, greed, and intrigue of modern politics—in the last century before Christ. Caesar was a complex and contradictory figure, extraordinarily talented and extremely ambitious, but at the same time vain, careless, and inclined to be forgiving. While Caesar's unusual clementia was a major factor in winning popular support, soldiers, and towns to his side, it allowed virtually all enemy leaders to return to the battlefield against him.

Supplemented by the writings of other ancient historians as well as the latest research, this book is based primarily on Caesar's own detailed Commentaries, written to explain and justify his military campaigns. Those interested in Roman history will find a wealth of information about every aspect of life in the late Roman Republic, including political issues, class divisions, marriage customs, travel, food, and entertainment. Military historians will discover details about every facet of Roman warfare from weaponry to personnel policy, to tactics, operations, and logistics. Single chapters are devoted to each campaign: Greece, Africa, Spain, and Egypt.

RAMON L. JIMÉNEZ, a freelance writer, has devoted much of the last ten years to studying and writing about Julius Caesar, the Celts, and the history of the late Roman Republic.