About this item
Highlights
- For centuries, Julius Caesar has endured in our collective imagination as a favorite among historians and scholars, playwrights and poets.
- About the Author: Christian Meier is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Munich.
- 528 Pages
- Biography + Autobiography, Historical
Description
About the Book
What were the political and social forces that shaped and challenged Julius Caesar? And how did this larger-than-life leader truly affect the fate of the Roman republic and the course of history? Internationally renowned historian Christian Meier explores these questions in the most authoritative and accessible account of Caesar's life, career, and legacy.Book Synopsis
For centuries, Julius Caesar has endured in our collective imagination as a favorite among historians and scholars, playwrights and poets. In legend he lives as the great conqueror "of" Rome's immense empire, a remarkable diplomat and writer, an unrivaled heartbreaker, and a man of relentless determination who met a seemingly tragic end."Caesar" examines the riveting story of a complex man within the context of the crisis of the Roman republic. Meier vividly reconstructs the distinctive features of this age by emphasizing the prevalent educational practices that imposed limitations on individual development. Meier clearly shows that Caesar early on established himself as a man whose unique drive, self-confidence, and detachment would bring him into continual conflict with established institutions.
What were the political and social forces that shaped and challenged this extraordinary individual? And how did this larger-than-life leader truly affect the fate of the Roman republic and the course of history? Internationally renowned historian Christian Meier explores these questions in the most authoritative and accessible account ot Julius Caesar's life, career, and legacy.
From the Back Cover
James Boswell called him 'the greatest man of any age'. As politician and diplomat, writer and lover, but above all as a military genius, Julius Caesar is one of the most perennially fascinating figures in history. Christian Meier's biography is the definitive, modern account of Caesar's life and career, and places him within the wider context of the crisis of the Roman republic. Written specifically for a general readership, this authoritative, stimulating book serves, amongst other things, as a reminder to those who believe that men are mere servants of historical forces that the great individual still has an unarguably significant part to play.
"Meier's is a compulsively readable, scholarly, imaginative, and almost poetic account."
PETER JONES, 'Sunday Telegraph'
"A subtle and complex inquiry into the nature of politics and power in the late Republic ... Meier builds up a convincing portrait of a man with a restless need for achievement but no master plan ... His 'Caesar' goes well beyond the confines of biography to present a radical analysis of a political system in decline, and the opportunities it afforded one of the most brilliant and unscrupulous individuals of all time."
JOAN SMITH, 'Independent on Sunday'
"This book of Meier's ... has become a book of great historical importance and literary glory, portraying the most fascinating ruler of the ancient world in his historical context, and in all his humanity, against the background of a Rome shattered by civil war."
INGE FRESE, 'Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung'
About the Author
Christian Meier is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Munich. He is one of Europe's leading authorities on the late Roman Republic and is the author of 'The Greek Discovery of Politics', 'The Political Art of Greek Tragedy' and 'Caesar'.