In his late teens he narrowly avoided execution for opposing the military dictator sulla. Life of a colossus caesar documents the rise and fall of caesar one of the greatest roman emperors. The rest of the section deals with the dictatorship and the remaining years of caesars life. Goldsworthy places caesar firmly within the context of roman society in the first century b.
Oxford professor goldsworthy is a prodigy, perhaps the worlds leading expert on roman warfare. Life of a colossus by adrian goldsworthy goodreads. Life of a colossus, succeeds in capturing all the drama and complexity of this bestknown of lives. The life of a colossus by goldsworthy, adrian and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Life of a colossus by adrian goldsworthy online at alibris. The life of a colossus and over 8 million other books are. Flavius ferox, briton turned roman centurion, is charged with keeping romes empire safe. Caesar was indeed a colossus of his time and this book rightfully portrays him as such. Caesar life of a colossus won a distinguished book award from the society of military historians and was shortlisted for the marsh biography award. Talented, amusing and fashionable, he had a voracious appetite for cash and built up. Life of a colossus adrian goldsworthy tracing the extraordinary trajectory of the great roman emperors life, goldsworthy covers not only the great roman emperors accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator.
Life of a colossus has 4 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. See all books authored by adrian goldsworthy, including caesar. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read caesar. He was a remarkable general, a peoples champion, the destroyer of the roman republic and the creator of the roman empire. Caesar life colossus by goldsworthy adrian abebooks. Life of a colossus joins two other recent biographies from the same period to provide a rich sense of rome in the first century bc and shortly thereafter. Caesar, life of a colossus is a biography of julius caesar written by adrian goldsworthy and published in 2006 by yale university press it outlines his life in the. Life of a colossus by adrian goldsworthy 9780300126891. He is the author of numerous books about ancient rome, including caesar, how rome. In these essays, kateb often admonishes himself, in socratic fashion, to keep political argument as far as possible negative. But he doesnt stint on the nonmartial aspects of caesars life his dandyism, his flagrant womanizing which didnt stop enemies from gaybaiting him, his supple political genius and the flair for drama and showmanship that cowed mutinous legionaries and courted romes restive masses.
The life of a colossus 2006 and other books, including the fall of the west. Goldsworthy tries to hold the middle ground between caesar the visionary and caesar the power grabber. Life of a colossus adrian goldsworthy as adrian goldsworthy writes in the introduction to this book, in his fiftysix years, caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator. Goldsworthys extensive body of work on the roman army. He was decorated for valour in battle, captured and held to ransom by pirates, and almost bankrupted himself by staging games for the masses.
At its best, which in my opinion is the books coverage of caesars campaigns, the civil war, and the section on the ides of march, author adrian goldsworthy shines. Life of a colossus by goldsworthy, adrian and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Life of a colossus, by adrian goldsworthy yale university press, new haven, conn. Caesar, life of a colossus by adrian goldsworthy was the perfect compilation of all the notable events from caesars life, written in a highly readable fashion, with just the right balance of speculation and facts. Life of a colossus, and roman warfare, and more on. Roman society, the politics of the senate, gaul ancient france as well as the army of that ancient republic. Readers searching for the last word on the great man can now pick up caesar. Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of the great roman emperors life, gol. Besides from covering the mans achievement, goldsworthy also includes the details about him as a captive in the hands of pirates, seducer of his political rivals wives, and. George kateb has been one of the most respected and influential political theorists of the last quarter century. Roman society, the politics of the senate, gaul ancient. As a politician, he quickly gained a reputation as a dangerously ambitious maverick. His latest book, antony and cleopatra was published in 2010. Goldsworthy, a prolific young british classicist, has real narrative gifts, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of late republican rome.
Life of a colossus, since it was a better biography of caesar than my previous reads. Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of the great roman emperors life, goldsworthy covers not only the great roman emperors. Adrian goldsworthy has written many books on roman history so this wouldnt be too hard an area for him to cover and he compiles this book very well. Caesar, life of a colossus is a biography of julius caesar written by adrian goldsworthy and published in 2006 by yale university press it outlines his life in the context of the many institutions with which he interacted. It was only too easy to underestimate julius caesar. Life of a colossus is a wellwritten and wellresearched biographyappraisal of caius julius caesars life. His work stands apart from that of many of his contemporaries and resists easy summary. Adrian goldsworthy is an awardwinning historian of the classical world. The first major biography of julius caesar in decades, this volume offers an astonishingly intimate and complex view of.
In this landmark biography, goldsworthy examines caesar as military leader, all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of roman. The subtitle, life of a colossus, just says it all. Goldsworthy truly managed to bring life into such an old character. Each of these books not only try to tell caesars story but attempt to understand his impact on the world. Caesar, life of a colossus is a biography of julius caesar written by adrian goldsworthy and published in 2006 by yale university press 519 pages it outlines his life in the context of the many institutions with which he interacted. Caesar life of a colossus by adrian goldsworthy this life of julius caesar was originally published minus subtitle on jacket as one of weidenfields military history tomes back in 2006. From bestselling historian adrian goldsworthy, a profoundly authentic, actionpacked adventure set on the northern frontier of the roman empire. He is currently working on a detailed biography of the emperor augustus. Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of the great roman emperors life, goldsworthy covers not only the great roman emperors accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesserknown chapters during which he was high priest of an exotic cult, captive of pirates, seducer not only of cleopatra but also of the wives of his two main political. In the introduction to his biography of the great roman emperor, adrian goldsworthy writes, caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator. Adrian goldsworthy books list of books by author adrian.
From the very beginning, caesars story makes dazzling reading. Adrian goldsworthys recent biography of caesar adds a large 519 pages book to a formidable pile. Adrian goldsworthy read history at oxford and is the author of the roman army at war, the punic wars, and other books about the ancient world. Adrian goldsworthy did an excellent job on his book, which covers almost all aspect of caesars life from a lover to an emperor. As adrian goldsworthy writes in the introduction to this book. The other two are everitts volumes on cicero and augustus. Probably every educated person in the world is familiar with the name, for the mans life played a large role in shaping the western world as we know it.