Reviews

The day is happily past when schoolchildren were taught to admire Caesar as a heroic man of action who also happened to be a major Latin stylist. His Gallic Wars is truly a landmark in history, and he was, perhaps, the most successful general of all time. But this dispassionate biography, evenly narrated by the sonorous Nelson Runger, reveals a strategic genius matched by an equal measure of ruthlessness. During the wars in Gaul, Egypt, Africa, and elsewhere, entire populations were wiped out, and these genocides were tempered only when seen to be counterproductive to Caesar's ambition, which was boundless. He scorned the Roman Republic, setting himself up as a godlike Imperator. Although concise and well written by an accomplished classicist, this biography is a reminder that there has never been a masterpiece written about Caesar (even Shakespeare made him a minor character), and perhaps this has more to do with Caesar than his biographers. For all his belligerent activity, Caesar's most productive legacy is the Julian calendar. The perspectives from which classical lives and letters are studied and taught forever change, but their value in helping to show us the complex nature of civilization remains constant. Recommended for larger collections.‘Peter Josyph, New York