His technique was to penetrate fairly deep in to a the, as it were, unconquered territory. And he kept winning, didn't he? And he kept taking these he did. Can you just give the listener some idea of how much territory he took over in gaul and how important that was for the future world? A lot. Even if this was really the surveyfist and counterfeit have we talk of a period of years artan during which he wrote his commentaries,. His famous seven volumes, his own view of his exploits - they are remarkable documents.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life, work and reputation of Julius Caesar. Famously assassinated as he entered the Roman senate on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar was an inspirational general who conquered much of Europe. He was a ruthless and canny politician who became dictator of Rome, and wrote The Gallic Wars, one of the most admired and studied works of Latin literature. Shakespeare is one of many later writers to have been fascinated by the figure of Julius Caesar.
With:
Christopher Pelling
Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford
Catherine Steel
Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow
Maria Wyke
Professor of Latin at University College London
Producer: Thomas Morris.