Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman

This is a traditional biography of Julius Caesar, in that it follows almost exclusively the ancient literary sources. Philip Freeman has mastered these , interpreting and integrating them well. It makes for a straightforward account, somewhat biased on the side of Julius, and against the Roman aristocracy, his opponents. Cato of Utica and Pompey the Great are treated somewhat harshly, Cicero gets off easier. The writing is simple and transparent, moving along swiftly while explaining the ins and outs of Roman politics and ancient life, war, and ethnology, making no assumptions of prior knowledge on the part of the reader. Freeman presents a well-rounded portrait, good for getting a general understanding of the Roman revolutionary period and its central figure, but not the latest word in historical scholarship.

What's the difference between the latest historical scholarship and ancient literary sources?

Current historical scholarship integrates the ancient literary sources with other data such as archeological findings, anthropology (i.e. in relation to the Celtic tribes that Caesar dealt with in Gaul), historiographical analysis of the ancient texts themselves in their setting and their relationships to each other, linguistic research, etc. It tries to evaluate the source material as carefully as possible, given the evident limitations. My impression of Freeman is that he wishes to give the traditional account of Caesar's life. He does it very well. He has recently come out with a biography of Alexander the Great, which I am eager to read. A recent scholarly biography of Julius Caesar that has been very well received is Caesar : Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy

Which ancient literary sources did Freeman cite? I'm planning to read Plutarch's Lives and am wondering how his works compare with those of modern scholars.

He cited mainly Julius Caesar's own writings, Cicero's letters and speeches, Suetonius's life of Julius Caesar, Sallust's various histories, the poet Catullus's brief and scandalous references, the fragments of Nicolaus of Damascus, Appian's history, Dio Cassius, and Plutarch.

Freeman says of Plutarch: "The Greek biographer Plutarch, born in the mid-first century A.D., is one of the most readable authors from antiquity. His Lives of Noble Greeks and Romans, a major source for Shakespeare, contains parallel biographies of famous Greeks and Romans, including Caesar paired with Alexander the Great. Plutarch draws widely on many earlier sources in his stated goal of teaching moral lessons from the lives of great men. Aside from Caesar, he features biographies of Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Cato, and Brutus, among Caesar's contemporaries."

Every modern historian of the period has to take Plutarch into account. Happy reading!

Thanks. You're very helpful. Sallust is also on my To Read list, but I'm not familiar with the others.

Julius Caesar's Gallic War and Civil War (Penguin Classics; touchstone doesn't work right) are easy to find and well worth reading. There are several translations of selections from Cicero's voluminous letters. The letters include some from Caesar responding to Cicero. Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars is also readily available in translation. Suetonius, however, was more interested in scandal than anything else, but he was, as imperial secretary, in a good position to find stuff out. Catullus only has a few short poems attacking Caesar in terms that Catullus's mom would have washed his mouth out for. Nicolaus only exists in fragments (i.e. quotes in other writers) and would be very hard to get hold of in translation, except in reprint editions. There's a translation of Dio Cassius (also known as Cassius Dio) in Penguin, titled The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. Appian(Appian of Alexandria, Appianus) wrote The Roman History, available in translation (see Penguin edition titled The Civil War.) Plutarch is your best bet.

From the point of view of literary value, Plutarch, Caesar's two books, Suetonius, and, as you mentioned, Sallust are the important ones. Catullus also is a major poet, but not on account of his poems about Caesar.

It seems Plutarch and Suetonius would complete each other very well, one focuses on moral lessons, and the other scandals. Join the two together, "Ecce Homo". :)