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Caesar

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Caesar

By: Adrian Goldsworthy
Narrated by: Roger Davis
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The story of one of the most brilliant, flamboyant and historically important men who ever lived.

From the very beginning, Caesar's story makes dazzling reading. In his late teens he narrowly avoided execution for opposing the military dictator Sulla. He was decorated for valour in battle, captured and held to ransom by pirates, and almost bankrupted himself by staging games for the masses.
As a politician, he quickly gained a reputation as a dangerously ambitious maverick. By his early 30s he had risen to the position of Consul, and was already beginning to dominate the Senate. His affairs with noblewomen were both frequent and scandalous.

His greatest skill, outside the bedroom, was as a military commander. In a string of spectacular victories he conquered all of Gaul, invaded Germany, and twice landed in Britain - an achievement which in 55BC was greeted with a public euphoria comparable to that generated by the moon landing in 1969. In just thirty years he had risen from a position of virtual obscurity to become one of the richest men in the world, with the power single-handedly to overthrow the Republic. By his death he was effectively emperor of most of the known world.©2006 Adrian Goldsworthy Ancient Europe Historical Military Military & War Rome Pirate
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Critic reviews

Goldsworthy's magnificent biography places Caesar in the context of the Roman world and shows why we return to the great man
Goldsworthy is renowned as a military historian, but his coverage here of messy late Republican politics is also authoritative and clear. He gives us a colourful sense of the wider world and Roman society at this time, and above all, the commanding, unmistakeable presence of the timelessly fascinating man himself
Adrian Goldsworthy's account of this extraordinary period is a superb achievement. He writes at length and in detail, but with a light touch, never allowing the complexities to obscure the sharpness of the story line...It is a model of the way ancient biographies should be written
Goldsworthy is the one of the new generation of young classicists who combine scholarship with storytelling to bring the ancient world to life: in his masterly new CAESAR he shows us the greatest Roman as man, statesman, soldier and lover
The analysis of Caesar's generalship is predictably excellent, the account of the Gallic wars, in particular, has rarely been bettered
This admirable biography... is so lucid, so comprehensive and so balanced
A compelling biography of Julius Caesar, charting his fantastically eventful life
Goldsworthy is a fine military historian and his account of the Gallic Wars is exemplary
[Goldsworthy] is careful and judicious in his analyses, seeking to integrate the man of action, the scholar, the showman, the lover, legal reformer, town planner
Adrian Goldsworthy's 519-page work certainly does justice to the scale of his subject, and the evidence is masterfully assembled
Richness of detail illuminates to great effect the risk-taking, self-promotion and sheer force of will that fuelled Caesar's extraordinary career
A thorough and wide-ranging biography of a legendary figure
Highly enjoyable... [Goldsworthy] writes well, and with real authority
All stars
Most relevant
The more I listen to AG the more I want from him. You just feel as though you're getting balanced honest history which is important now more than ever. The detail is superb and in no way slows the narrative, but rather enhances it with explanations so that it becomes like a masterpiece of art from a veritable Da Vinci or Caravaggio, rather than an impatient impressionist effort from the likes of, well, choose your own.
In my book he's up there with the best - like VDH, Barry Strauss, Donald Kagan et.al.

My only gripe was with some of the pronunciations. I've always heard Cato pronounced as Cay-toe and not Cat-toe; and Varro as Varro and not Warro; Decimus as Dess imus and not Deck emus; AND believe it or not, Vercingetorix as Verse in get orix and not Working get orix. Thank goodness he didn't pronounce Cicero as Kickero. Come to think of it why didn't he? If I'm wrong about this, then stand me corrected. But if I'm not then why on earth did some one not stop him at the start and correct him. Other than that he has a very pleasant and authoritative voice which sounds genuinely interested in the subject.
Mick the Hick.😊

A.G. the go to man for honest history.

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I feel total educated - Caesar accomplished so much - shame it ended the way it did. 2000 years later politics hasn’t really changed! We’re still killing and will continue to kill, politics is still for the elite and feeds the rich, politicians as re still lying to the public, the public are still fools! Politicians are still stabbing each other in the back and there’s plenty of pressure groups looking out for their own interest!

I know so much more

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