Author : Luca Grillo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 40,21 MB
Release : 2012-01-19
Category : History
ISBN : 1107009499
Participating in a new wave of Caesar studies, this book examines the Bellum Civile as a piece of literature written by a recognized intellectual and not simply a successful politician and general. Focusing on the peculiarities of Caesar's art, this reading explores the work's style, rhetoric, ideology and architecture.
Author : Luca Grillo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 31,73 MB
Release : 2012-01-19
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 1139503219
Traditional approaches have reduced Caesar's Bellum Civile to a tool for teaching Latin or to one-dimensional propaganda, thereby underestimating its artistic properties and ideological complexity. Reading strategies typical of scholarship on Latin poetry, like intertextuality, narratology, semantic, rhetorical and structural analysis, cast a new light on the Bellum Civile: Ciceronian language advances Caesar's claim to represent Rome; technical vocabulary reinforces the ethical division between 'us' and the 'barbarian' enemy; switches of focalization guide our perception of the narrative; invective and characterization exclude the Pompeians from the Roman community, according to the mechanisms of rhetoric; and the very structure of the work promotes Caesar's cause. As a piece of literature interacting with its cultural and socio-political world, the Bellum Civile participates in Caesar's multimedia campaign of self-fashioning. A comprehensive approach, such as has been productively applied to Augustus' program, locates the Bellum Civile at the interplay between literature, images and politics.
Author : Ayelet Peer
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 41,18 MB
Release : 2016-03-09
Category : History
ISBN : 1317110013
In his Commentarii de Bello Civili Julius Caesar sought to re-invent his image and appear before his present and future readers in a way which he could control and at times manipulate. Offering a new interpretation of the Bellum Civile this book reveals the intricate literary world that Caesar creates using sophisticated techniques such as a studied choice of vocabulary, rearrangement of events, use of indirect speech, and more. Each of the three books of the work is examined independently to set out the gradual transformation of Caesar's literary persona, in step with his ascent in the 'real' world. By analysing the work from Caesar's viewpoint the author argues that by adroit presentation and manipulation of historical circumstances Caesar creates in his narrative a different reality, one in which his conduct is justified. The question of the res publica is also a key point of the volume, as it is in the Bellum Civile, and the author argues that Caesar purposely does not present himself as a Republican, contrary to commonly held views. Employing detailed philological analyses of Caesar's three books on the Civil War, this work significantly advances our understanding of Caesar as author and politician.
Author : Richard W. Westall
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 41,29 MB
Release : 2017-11-20
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9004356150
In Caesar's Civil War: Historical Reality and Fabrication, Westall combines literary analysis of Caesar’s Bellum Civile with a concern for the socio-economic history of the Roman empire. The Bellum Gallicum and the Shakespearean play are better known, but Caesar’s partisan account of the Roman civil war culminating in the battle of Pharsalus offers a historical text of perennial interest and relevance. Two introductory chapters contextualize this book and offer a traditional narrative of political and military history for 49-48 BCE. There follow seven chapters that are dedicated to each of the geographical theatres of civil war. These chapters show how Caesar’s testimony sheds important light upon the nature of Roman rule in the Mediterranean, but also explore the problems to be encountered in using potentially tendentious testimony.
Author : Edward Paleit
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 18,37 MB
Release : 2013-04-25
Category : History
ISBN : 0199602980
In War, Liberty, and Caesar, Edward Paleit discusses how readers and writers of the English Renaissance read and understood Lucan's epic poem on the Roman civil wars. Looking at engagements with Lucan across a wide variety of literary forms, Paleit questions what made this Latin author so relevant during this period.
Author : Drew Arlen Mannetter
Publisher : Universal-Publishers
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 19,70 MB
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : 1581124279
This comprehensive reader utilizes a step-by-step approach to help students of Latin read and understand the longest and most dramatic book of Caesar's Gallic War. Book 7 is the culmination of the conflict between Gaul, led by the young Arvernian Vercingetorix and fighting for its freedom and political survival, and the Romans, led by Julius Caesar and fighting for hegemony and political mastery. The final battle at Alesia, pitting the united might of Gaul at 339,000 men against a Roman army of 40,000, changed the course of Western history. This reader is ideal for Latin students of all levels who have a basic knowledge of grammar and morphology. The Latin text of all 90 chapters of Book 7 is broken down into manageable segments, normally about a sentence in length. Immediately following, all vocabulary is provided with several meanings of each word selected for that particular context. This is especially helpful for beginning students who are sometimes unsure which definition of a given word to select for translation. Following the vocabulary, there are notes on the passage. A unique feature of this reader is that the notes are complete and cover the syntax of every construction and every word in turn. The thoroughness of this reader facilitates speed in reading, increases comprehension, and promotes satisfaction in reading a difficult language. The benefits of this approach will be shared by teachers and students alike.
Author : Suzanne M. Adema
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 41,48 MB
Release : 2017-07-10
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9004347127
In Speech and Thought in Latin War Narratives, Suzanne Adema offers linguistic and narratological tools to analyse and interpret narratorial choices in speech and thought representation in Latin narratives. Her approach combines insights from (cognitive) linguistic and narratological theories and has been tested and adjusted through corpus based research (Caesar, Vergil, Sallust). The approach is a useful tool to unveil rhetorical uses of speech and thought representation in Latin war narrative by means of close readings of Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum 1 and 7, and Vergil’s Aeneid 11 and 12. Focusing on the attitudes of the narrators towards war, Adema provides new insights into these texts and offers linguistic and narratological contributions to literary and historical discussions about the Bellum Gallicum and the Aeneid.
Author : Gareth C Sampson
Publisher : Pen and Sword Military
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 15,55 MB
Release : 2023-07-31
Category : History
ISBN : 1526793652
In August 48 BC, following the earlier battle at Dyrrhachium, the two greatest Roman commanders of their generation met in battle again at Pharsalus in Greece. Julius Caesar, conqueror of Gaul, had been defeated at Dyrrhachium and forced to retreat but now stood at bay to face Pompey the Great, conqueror of the East. At stake lay the future of the ailing Roman Republic, each man believing he alone had the solution to restoring Republican government. Gareth Sampson examines the campaigns which led up to the battle as well as the role played by the various regional powers who got drawn into the Roman Civil War. The Battle of Pharsalus itself is analyzed in detail to determine the strengths and weakness of both armies and their various commanders, as well as the organization, equipment and tactics of the forces involved in the battle which culminated in a decisive victory for Caesar. The author concludes with consideration of the aftermath of the battle, which saw Pompey murdered in Egypt and Caesar distracted by the affairs of the East.
Author : Luca Fezzi
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 359 pages
File Size : 17,31 MB
Release : 2020-01-07
Category : History
ISBN : 0300249020
A dramatic account of the fateful year leading to the ultimate crisis of the Roman Republic and the rise of Caesar’s autocracy When the Senate ordered Julius Caesar, conqueror of Gaul, to disband his troops, he instead marched his soldiers across the Rubicon River, in violation of Roman law. The Senate turned to its proconsul, Pompey the Great, for help. But Pompey’s response was unexpected: he commanded magistrates and senators to abandon Rome—a city that, until then, had always been defended. The consequences were the ultimate crisis of the Roman Republic and the rise of Caesar’s autocracy. In this new history, Luca Fezzi argues that Pompey’s actions sealed the Republic’s fate. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, including Cicero’s extensive letters, Fezzi shows how Pompey’s decision shocked the Roman people, severely weakened the city, and set in motion a chain of events that allowed Caesar to take power. Seamlessly translated by Richard Dixon, this book casts fresh light on the dramatic events of this crucial moment in ancient Roman history.
Author :
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 541 pages
File Size : 21,49 MB
Release : 2019-07-29
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9004409521
The Historiography of Late Republican Civil War is part of a burgeoning new trend that focuses on the great impact of stasis and civil war on Roman society. This volume specifically concentrates on the Late Republic, a transformative period marked by social and political violence, stasis, factional strife, and civil war. Its constitutive chapters closely study developments and discussions concerning the concept of civil war in the late republican and early imperial historiography of the late Republic, from L. Cornelius Sulla Felix to the Severan dynasty.
