Book Description

"Julius Caesar, one of the world's greatest generals, learnt his first lessons in the art of war when he was still mainly involved in political rather than military life, suppressing the unruly Lusitanian tribes while governor of Spain. In 45 B.C., the year before his assassination, he was back in Spain for his last victory. The intervening, years of campaign saw him earning a formidable military reputation. Nine years' fighting in Gaul were his "school in the grand operations of war", during which time he also led two invasions of Britain. Two years after crushing the united Gaulish armies at the battle of Alesia, Caesar's forces crossed the Rubicon to take on Pompey's army in civil war. Campaigns in Egypt and across Northern Africa (defeating Scipio) followed, before Caesar's return to Spain to inflict final defeat on the Pompeian army at Munda. Before writing his classic account of Caesar's campaings, Dodge visited all of the great general's know battlefields. Familiar with their topography and gaining insight into the course of the battles as a result, he provides descriptions of the actions that are distinguished by their clarity. Dodge goes on to examine Caesar's strategy and tactics and the structure and operation of his army, in detail, and surveys the stagnation of the art of war in the Roman Empire after Caesar's death. In this unrivalled work, he shows that "Taken in all his characters, Caesar is the greatest man in Antiquity". Classic account of Caesar's campaigns Military analysis of Caesar's methods Many charts, maps, plans of battle and illustrations."--Jacket.