Caesar's Civil War
by Adrian Goldsworthy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Adrian GoldsworthyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-10-18
ISBN: 1841763926
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Book Reviews of Caesar's Civil War
Book Review: A Complex War Made Simple
Summary: 5 Stars
Adrian Goldsworthy did an excellent job of condensing the battles, campaigns, and political drivers of the Roman Civil War. This book is focused, well organized, and follows the standard format of the Essential Histories series. It has ten chapters and the softcopy edition is 92 pages long. The book contains numerous photos of ancient coins, helmets, statues, and scenes carved on monuments. The photos are of good quality and make a worthwhile contribution. The author also included battle maps that are clean, simple, and give just the right amount of information.
The chapter on "The fighting" is divided into sections that focus on certain campaigns and their associated years. In this way, the chapter provides an excellent overview of the more critical battles such as the Ilerda Campaign, Pharsalus, Thapsus, and Munda. Certain sections are subdivided even further. For example, the campaign in Greece is spit to cover the battle at Dyrrachium and then the battle of Pharsalus. The narrative then boils down each battle to its relevant parts.
The chapter titled "Portrait of a Civilian" focuses on Cicero, the well-known Roman senator. Although Cicero's involvement in the Civil War was minimal, his writings provide excellent insight on the Senate's view of the war. Cicero wanted peace and only reluctantly sided with Pompey. He was later killed because of his opposition to Mark Antony. Cicero derisively described how the senators in Pompey's camp became arrogant in their anticipation of winning the war. Caesar's victory at Pharsalus only reinforced Cicero's low opinion of the Pompeian forces.
The book contains a chapter on Roman centurions. Mr. Goldsworthy does a fine job of describing their activities even though very little first hand information is available. He effectively uses the few known examples of specific individuals to paint a picture of their contributions to the Roman legions.
The book ends with a chapter on "Conclusions and Consequences." This chapter provides a short synopsis of the Civil War's aftermath and the end of the Republic. The author describes the upcoming alliance and subsequent falling out between Mark Antony and Caesars' adopted son, Octavian. He goes on to describe the second triumvirate, the proscriptions that led to Cicero's death, and the Battle of Actium where Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra. In essence, the author provides a nice conclusion to the Civil War and shows how Octavian, a.k.a.: Augustus, became the first Roman emperor.
Bottom line: this is a well-organized and comprehensive book on the Civil War. It is an easy read and one of the better volumes in the Essential Histories series.
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