The Death of Caesar

Paperback, 352 pages

English language

Published March 21, 2016 by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN:: 978-1-4516-6881-0
OCLC Number:: 913303337
ASIN:: B00LD1S2YQ
Goodreads:: 25814407

(2 reviews)

Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC—the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. He was, says author Barry Strauss, the last casualty of one civil war and the first casualty of the next civil war, which would end the Roman Republic and inaugurate the Roman Empire. “The Death of Caesar provides a fresh look at a well-trodden event, with superb storytelling sure to inspire awe” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Why was Caesar killed? For political reasons, mainly. The conspirators wanted to return Rome to the days when the Senate ruled, but Caesar hoped to pass along his new powers to his family, especially Octavian. The principal plotters were Brutus, Cassius (both former allies of Pompey), and Decimus. The last was a leading general and close friend of Caesar’s who felt betrayed by the great man: He was the mole in Caesar’s …

Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC—the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. He was, says author Barry Strauss, the last casualty of one civil war and the first casualty of the next civil war, which would end the Roman Republic and inaugurate the Roman Empire. “The Death of Caesar provides a fresh look at a well-trodden event, with superb storytelling sure to inspire awe” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Why was Caesar killed? For political reasons, mainly. The conspirators wanted to return Rome to the days when the Senate ruled, but Caesar hoped to pass along his new powers to his family, especially Octavian. The principal plotters were Brutus, Cassius (both former allies of Pompey), and Decimus. The last was a leading general and close friend of Caesar’s who felt betrayed by the great man: He was the mole in Caesar’s camp. But after the assassination everything went wrong. The killers left the body in the Senate and Caesar’s allies held a public funeral. Mark Antony made a brilliant speech—not “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” as Shakespeare had it, but something inflammatory that caused a riot. The conspirators fled Rome. Brutus and Cassius raised an army in Greece but Antony and Octavian defeated them.

An original, new perspective on an event that seems well known, The Death of Caesar is “one of the most riveting hour-by-hour accounts of Caesar’s final day I have read....An absolutely marvelous read” (The Times, London).

2 editions

Tom Bradley Jr. reviewed The Death of Caesar by Barry Strauss

Review of 'The Death of Caesar' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What happens in Rome, stays in Rome…unless you happen to assassinate Julius Caesar. When that’s the case, blood is spilled and loyalties switch at the drop of a toga.

In The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination, author Barry Strauss exposes the political motivations and behind-the-scenes machinations of Caesar’s assassination, up to the dirty deed itself and beyond the subsequent civil war between Caesar’s loyalists and his enemies.

The cast of characters—Caesar, Brutus, Decimus, Cicero, Octavian, et. al.—is familiar to anyone for whom Shakespeare’s epic was required reading in school. However, unlike The Bard, Strauss digs deep into the pantheon of contemporary writings by and personal communications among those involved in the plot; the list of works he cites is exhaustive. Strauss sorts through the sometimes conflicting accounts of what happened in the months leading to the Ides of March in 44 B.C., to present as …

What happens in Rome, stays in Rome…unless you happen to assassinate Julius Caesar. When that’s the case, blood is spilled and loyalties switch at the drop of a toga.

In The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination, author Barry Strauss exposes the political motivations and behind-the-scenes machinations of Caesar’s assassination, up to the dirty deed itself and beyond the subsequent civil war between Caesar’s loyalists and his enemies.

The cast of characters—Caesar, Brutus, Decimus, Cicero, Octavian, et. al.—is familiar to anyone for whom Shakespeare’s epic was required reading in school. However, unlike The Bard, Strauss digs deep into the pantheon of contemporary writings by and personal communications among those involved in the plot; the list of works he cites is exhaustive. Strauss sorts through the sometimes conflicting accounts of what happened in the months leading to the Ides of March in 44 B.C., to present as accurate a picture as possible of the assassins and their motives.

However, the assassination’s aftermath proves to be more compelling than the murder itself, as the subsequent rise of Mark Antony and Octavian—and the demise of Brutus, Decimus, and their co-conspirators—propels Rome on a path that the assassins may not have foreseen. In other words, they should have been careful about what they wished for.

The writing is clear and concise, though some stretches were dry. Personally, I found the book interesting as I have not read much of ancient Roman history; it opened a window on the time for me, particularly as it pertains to the political landscape. I suspect readers more familiar with the subject matter may find the book tedious, but to me, it was a fascinating and worthwhile read.

Lois

rated it

March 14, 2023