Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: The War Commentaries as Political Instruments
Kathryn Welch
Dec 2009 · Classical Press of Wales
Ebook
225
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About this ebook
The writings of Julius Caesar have beguiled by their apparent simplicity. Generations of readers have been encouraged to see them as a limpid record of positive achievement. The contributors to this volume demonstrate that the appearance of simplicity is achieved by devious and accomplished art. In nine original studies, focussing mainly on the Gallic War, the contributors trace systems of justification and omission, of measured praise and subtle criticism, which served to promote Caesar and to leave Roman enemies empty-handed. It is shown that Caesar's writing has an ingenuity of description which might seduce the casual Roman sceptic, and an artfulness of focus which now recalls the cinematographic. Even the notorious regularity of Caesar's syntax and his economy of vocabulary are revealed as pointed elements of a political manifesto. Far from being a plain and traditional record of warfare, Caesar's Commentaries are here shown to illuminate the political thinking of a man on his way to reshaping the world.
About the author
Kathryn Welch is a specialist on the Late Republic she has published numerous articles in learned journals. Anton Powell is author of Athens and Sparta. He has edited several collective works including Roman Poetry and Propaganda in the Age of Augustus.
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