The Ides: Caesar’s Murder and the War for Rome

This title came to my attention while listening to the excellent podcast, "The History of Rome." This is a fine & concise primer that gives the listener an overview of the issues & men surrounding Caesar's assasination. It is rich in facts & tidbits and I learned much that I hadn't heard or read before. The author spends a lot of time leading his listeners to that fateful day in March, but then seems to rush a bit towards the end as he reports on the fate of the participants in the murder. After listening to this book I suggest you then download, "Augustus: The Life of the First Emperor."

I stopped reading about a third of the way in when the nonsense just brought me over the limit. At one point the author claims that Caesar was a soldier at heart who would have been bored by subtle political maneuvering, which is the most mind-bogglingly absurd statement I've ever heard a biographer make about Caesar. Caesar was a politician first and foremost! He had climbed to the very top of Rome's political ladder long before he ever became a general. Even his whole military career was one big ploy to outmaneuver his political enemies, that wanted him arrested and executed for daring to institute land reforms. Since governors of provinces were immune to prosecution, Caesar could prevent his arrest as long as he was governor of Gaul. Governorships were normally limited to a single year, but it would be difficult to deny an extension for a governor who was currently engaged in massively successful war of conquest...

The book is rife with these sorts of things, as well as key pieces of context that the author fails to mention altogether. Don't take my word of it. Look up the reviews for the text version on Amazon and you'll see a chorus of others pointing out all the inaccuracies.

Week-by-week and sometimes even day-by-day account of the events leading up to the assassination of Julius Caesar; and the sad, violent unwinding of its aftermath. It's a gripping story, perfect background for either Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" or the HBO series "Rome." Being mostly familiar with the story from Shakespeare's standpoint, I was surprised at how much of the aftermath the play left out: it jumps almost immediately from the assassination to the cynical plotting of the second triumvirate and the war with Brutus and Cassius. In fact it took months of politicking for this to play itself out. Read with enthusiasm and clarity by Bronson Pinchot. I liked it a lot. What I really want now is more info on the FIRST triumvirate.

One of the greatest stories in history is accounted by Mr Dando-Collins. He takes the reader through the twists and turns of politics and of Roman life during the time of Caesar.

It's impossible to select just one part over another. The end of each chapter had an ominous statement that enticed me to read on.

No, this is my first. But I rather enjoyed it.

My education into history goes no further than anyone's who did not choose this course of study as a major or minor in college. Mine is just a laypersons review. I enjoyed the book a great deal. As for it's accuracy and appeal to historians or those better educated than me, I cannot say. I do think that it's style would appeal to all. Especially those who, like me, enjoy the authors style of leading the reader as if by hand through the scenes he creates.