Napoleon's Commentaries on the Wars of Julius Caesar

Napoleon's Commentaries on the Wars of Julius Caesar

Author:

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-11-30

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 1526716291

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While in exile on St Helena, Napoleon dictated a commentary on the wars of Julius Caesar, later published in 1836. In each chapter he summarized the events of one campaign, then added comments from the standpoint of his own military knowledge. Over the nearly two millennia between Caesar and Napoleon some aspects of warfare had changed, notably the introduction of firearms. But much remained the same: the rate of movement of armies (at the foot pace of horse or man); human muscle power as the main source of energy for construction work; some military techniques, notably bridge construction; as well as the actual territory fought over by Caesar and later by Napoleon. Napoleons commentary thus provides a fascinating and highly authoritative insight into Caesars wars, as well as providing a window into Napoleons own thinking and attitudes. Napoleon in places detects mistakes on the part of Caesar and his enemies, and says what they should have done differently. Remarkably, this is thought to be the first full English translation of Napoleon's work.Napoleon Bonaparte was born to an obscure Corsican family but rose through the ranks of the French army to become Emperor of France, conqueror of most of Europe and acknowledged military genius. He wrote this book while in exile on St Helena.The translator. RA Maguire, is a former civil engineer with a long-standing interest in military and ancient history.


Chronicles of Caesar's Wars

Chronicles of Caesar's Wars

Author: Napoleon Napoleon I

Publisher:

Published: 2017-10-29

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 9781973183686

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For the first time ever, Napoleon's "Chronicles of Caesar's Wars" ("Pr�cis des guerres de C�sar") is available in English.Dictated by Napoleon to Count Marchand, his valet, while in exile on St. Helena, Chronicles of Caesar's Wars explores Caesar's rise, his campaigns in Europe and North Africa, and the plot that killed him. Napoleon, who had a lifelong obsession with Caesar, wrote this book in one of his last acts. The work relaxed him, "tossing a few flowers on the path that was leading to the tomb," as Count Marchand's preface recalls.Napoleon passionately explores Caesar's battles in Gaul and during the Civil War. He concludes each chapter with observations, sometimes providing details, sometimes veering away from praise towards criticism, applying the insights of a military career and a healthy ego to explain what he would have done better. Napoleon ends the book with a remarkable defense of Caesar's dictatorship. He takes apart his assassins' justifications and the fault-finding of "good Plutarch the libeler" with such fervor that one can scarcely believe a gulf of two millennia stood between the two eminent men. In a sense, though, it was also a defense of his own government.Attached to the book are previously untranslated essays in which Napoleon takes on the role of literary critic and philosopher. He criticizes Virgil's Aeneid for butchering Homer's Iliad, and Voltaire for unflatteringly depicting Mohammad, another of Napoleon's heroes. He explores in another essay whether a man has the right to kill himself, an act we now know he had personally attempted.


The Landmark Julius Caesar

The Landmark Julius Caesar

Author: Kurt A. Raaflaub

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2019-02-05

Total Pages: 898

ISBN-13: 0307455440

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The Landmark Julius Caesar is the definitive edition of the five works that chronicle the mil­itary campaigns of Julius Caesar. Together, these five narratives present a comprehensive picture of military and political developments leading to the collapse of the Roman republic and the advent of the Roman Empire. The Gallic War is Caesar’s own account of his two invasions of Britain and of conquering most of what is today France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The Civil War describes the conflict in the following year which, after the death of his chief rival, Pompey, and the defeat of Pompey’s heirs and supporters, resulted in Caesar’s emergence as the sole power in Rome. Accompanying Caesar’s own commentaries are three short but essential additional works, known to us as the Alexandrian War, the African War, and the Spanish War. These were written by three unknown authors who were clearly eyewitnesses and probably Roman officers. Caesar’s clear and direct prose provides a riveting depiction of ancient warfare and, not incidentally, a persuasive portrait for the Roman people (and for us) of Caesar himself as a brilliant, moderate, and effec­tive leader—an image that was key to his final success. Kurt A. Raaflaub’s masterful translation skillfully brings out the clarity and elegance of Caesar’s style, and this, together with such Landmark features as maps, detailed annotations, appendices, and illustrations, will provide every reader from lay person to scholar with a rewarding and enjoyable experience. (With 2-color text, maps, and illustrations throughout; web essays available at http://www.thelandmarkcaesar.com/)


The Conquest of Gaul

The Conquest of Gaul

Author: Julius Caesar

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1983-02-24

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1101160470

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The enemy were overpowered and took to flight. The Romans pursued as far as their strength enabled them to run' Between 58 and 50 BC Julius Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and invaded Britain twice, and The Conquest of Gaul is his record of these campaigns. Caesar’s narrative offers insights into his military strategy and paints a fascinating picture of his encounters with the inhabitants of Gaul and Britain, as well as lively portraits of the rebel leader Vercingetorix and other Gallic chieftains. The Conquest of Gaulcan also be read as a piece of political propaganda, as Caesar sets down his version of events for the Roman public, knowing he faces civil war on his return to Rome. Revised and updated by Jane Gardner, S. A. Handford’s translation brings Caesar’s lucid and exciting account to life for modern readers. This volume includes a glossary of persons and places, maps, appendices and suggestions for further reading.


Caesar's Greatest Victory

Caesar's Greatest Victory

Author: John Sadler

Publisher: Casemate

Published: 2016-12-31

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 1612004636

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“A good account of one of the most decisive battles of the ancient world. Who knows how world history would have proceeded had Caesar been defeated?” (New York Journal of Books). Julius Caesar’s campaign of 52 BC frequently hung in the balance. Celtic chieftain Vercingetorix was a far more formidable opponent than any he’d encountered in Gaul. The Romans were caught totally off-guard, and it seemed all too likely that their grip on Gaul, which Caesar had imagined secure, would be pried free. Failure would have been a total defeat for Caesar, not just in Gaul but in the Senate. Rome would not have become an empire beyond the Mediterranean. It was a decisive moment in world history . . . The Siege of Alesia itself was one of the most astonishing military undertakings of all time. Caesar’s interior siege lines stretched for eighteen kilometers and were surrounded by an outward-facing line three kilometers longer, complete with palisades, towers, ditches, minefields, and outposts. This work was completed in less than three weeks. Vercingetorix’s refuge proved a trap, and, despite an energetic defense and the arrival of a huge relief army, there was to be no escape. Using new archaeological evidence, the authors reveal both sides of the conflict and construct a fresh account of not just the siege, but also the Alesia campaign, placing it into the wider context of the history of warfare. This is Roman history at its most exciting, featuring events still talked about today. “Those seeking a primer on Alesia need look no further than this excellent book.” —HistoryNet


Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Author: Maj.-Gen J. F. C. Fuller

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2018-04-03

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 1789121310

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Since the Renaissance, Julius Caesar has been idolized as a superman. Classical sources, however, present a far less exalted being. As General Fuller writes, Caesar was "an unscrupulous demagogue whose one aim was power, and a general who could not only win brilliant victories but also commit dismal blunders....It is reasonable to suspect that, at times, Caesar was not responsible for his actions, and toward the end of his life, not altogether sane." There is no doubt that Caesar was an extraordinary man. But Fuller points out that he was extraordinary for his reckless ambition, matchless daring, and ruthless tyranny, rather than for his skills as a military commander. Caesar continually had to extricate himself from results of mistakes of judgement. His unnecessary Alexandrian War, his close call at Thapsus, and his seemingly unpremeditated Gallic conquest are just a few of Fuller's many examples. And in telling Caesar's history, Fuller illuminates a century of Roman history as well. Aided by maps of Caesar's principal battles and diagrams of many of his weapons, Fuller brings to life Caesar's wars, his armies, his equipment, and his methods. Brilliant in design and impressive in scope, Julius Caesar clarifies how the military, political, and economic aspects of the Roman Republic worked together to produce a man whose name has come down to us as a synonym for absolute authority.


Sorcery Against Caesar

Sorcery Against Caesar

Author: Richard L. Tierney

Publisher: Pickman's Press

Published: 2020-12-21

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 1953215033

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A REBEL AGAINST ROME Simon of Gitta, an escaped slave turned magician, roves the Roman Empire battling dark magic and demons, all the while pursued by Caesar’s soldiers. Join Simon as he flees across the ancient world evading cultists and Legionaries, outwitting sorcerers and Centurions, and fighting gladiators and gods, even the deities of the Cthulhu Mythos. Yet all these foes cannot prepare him for his greatest challenge: the pursuit of his lost soul-mate Helen, a love so deep even death can’t stand in its way for long. These stories were one of the inspirations for the Cthulhu Invictus campaign for the Call of Cthulhu role playing game by Chaosium. Enjoy sixteen stories combining superbly researched historical fiction with sword & sorcery and Lovecraftian horror, including: The Sword of Spartacus The Fire of Mazda The Seed of the Star-God The Blade of the Slayer The Throne of Achamoth The Emerald Tablet The Soul of Kephri The Ring of Set The Worm of Urakhu The Curse of the Crocodile The Treasure of Horemkhu The Secret of Nephren-Ka The Scroll of Thoth The Dragons of Mons Fractus The Wedding of Sheila-Na-Gog The Pillars of Melkarth Vengence Quest (poetry)


The Last Assassin

The Last Assassin

Author: Peter Stothard

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-10-01

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0197523374

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Many men killed Julius Caesar. Only one man was determined to kill the killers. From the spring of 44 BC through one of the most dramatic and influential periods in history, Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus, exacted vengeance on the assassins of the Ides of March, not only on Brutus and Cassius, immortalized by Shakespeare, but all the others too, each with his own individual story. The last assassin left alive was one of the lesser-known: Cassius Parmensis was a poet and sailor who chose every side in the dying Republic's civil wars except the winning one, a playwright whose work was said to have been stolen and published by the man sent to kill him. Parmensis was in the back row of the plotters, many of them Caesar's friends, who killed for reasons of the highest political principles and lowest personal piques. For fourteen years he was the most successful at evading his hunters but has been barely a historical foot note--until now. The Last Assassin dazzlingly charts an epic turn of history through the eyes of an unheralded man. It is a history of a hunt that an emperor wanted to hide, of torture and terror, politics and poetry, of ideas and their consequences, a gripping story of fear, revenge, and survival.


Caesar's Silver

Caesar's Silver

Author: Mark Stonecipher

Publisher: Badgley Publishing Company

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0985440376

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A superb and suspenseful story of fact and fiction that brings to life and chronicles the struggles of real people as they sealed their places in history. Caesar, a true life character, was an escaped slave from Virginia who made his way to the Ohio country and was adopted by the Shawnee. His journey from slavery to freedom, from fugitive to a Shawnee Warrior is strikingly described in this book. Caesar’s life intertwined with the Shawnee, a proud, scattered people, noted for their beautiful silver ornaments, whose wanderings had brought them to the Ohio Valley. Their struggles to remain a strong nation faced with the encroachment of settlers and war with the “Longknives” is expertly portrayed in this book. In 2012, an old letter is found giving detailed directions to an underground cavern that holds a cache of silver that the Shawnee had hidden. What was found in that cavern will astound you for there was much more than the lost treasure of the Shawnee. There is a section, in the form of endnotes, at the back of the book that will guide the reader through the actual events of history that inspired the author to create this wonderful story