CAESAR LIFE OF A COLOSSUS CAESAR life of a colossus adrian goldsworthy YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN AND LONDON First published in the United States in 2006by Yale University Press. First published in Great Britain in 2006by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Copyright © 2006by Adrian Goldsworthy. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107and108of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Text design: www.carrstudio.co.uk. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006922060 ISBN-13: 978-0-300-12048-6(cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-300-12048-6(cloth : alk. paper) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Acknowledgements vii Map list viii Introduction 1 I – THE RISE TO THE CONSULSHIP, 100–59 BC 1 Caesar’s World 10 2 Caesar’s childhood 30 3 The First Dictator 48 4 The Young Caesar 61 5 Candidate 82 6 Conspiracy 109 7 Scandal 130 8 Consul 152 II – PROCONSUL, 58–50 BC 9 Gaul 184 10 Migrants and Mercenaries:The first campaigns, 58 BC 205 11 ‘The Bravest of the Gaulish Peoples’: The Belgae, 57 BC 233 12 Politics and War: The Conference of Luca 253 13 ‘Over the Waters’: The British and German Expeditions, 55–54BC 269 14 Rebellion, Disaster and Vengeance 293 15 The Man and the Hour: Vercingetorix and the Great Revolt, 52 BC 315 16 ‘All Gaul is Conquered’ 343 III – CIVIL WAR AND DICTATORSHIP, 49–44 BC 17 The Road to the Rubicon 358 18 Blitzkrieg: Italy and Spain, Winter–Autumn, 49 BC 380 19 Macedonia, November 49–August 48 BC 405 20 Cleopatra, Egypt and the East, Autumn 48–Summer 47 BC 432 21 Africa, September 47–June 46 BC 448 22 Dictator, 46–44 BC 468 23 The Ides of March 490 Epilogue 512 Chronology 520 Glossary 524 Bibliography 529 Abbreviations 534 Notes 535 Index 565 Acknowledgements A number of people read through some or part of this book and I should begin by expressing my deep gratitude to them all. Thanks must go to my former undergraduate tutor, Nicholas Purcell, who very kindly agreed to have a look at a draft ofthe manuscript. Many useful comments came from Philip Matyszak, who knows more than I ever shall about the workings of the Roman Senate in this period. As ever, Ian Hughes was extremely thorough and helpful in checking and commenting on each chapter as it was written. Kevin Powell read the entire thing through and provided a number ofuseful comments. Ian Haynes was kind enough to look at Part Two for me and raised several points. To these, and anyone else who read some or all of the text, I offer my most sincere thanks. Thanks should also go to my agent, Georgina Capel, who negotiated a contract which gave me the opportunity to do this subject justice. Finally, I must thank Keith Lowe and the other staff at Orion for their work on, and enthusiasm for, this project. vii Map List The Roman Empire in the first century BC, – 12 The City of Rome– central area, Forum etc. – 20 Gaul and its tribes – 198 Battle of Bibracte – 221 Battle vrs Ariovistus – 231 Battle of the Sambre – 245 The coastline of Britain and Gaul – 279 Siege of Alesia – 337 The Italian campaign 49 BC– 386 Battle of Ilerda – 403 The lines at Dyrrachium – 417 Battle of Pharsalus – 426 Alexandria – 436 Battle of Thapsus – 463 Battle of Munda – 484 viii Introduction The story ofJulius Caesar is an intensely dramatic one, which has fascinated generation after generation, attracting the attention of Shakespeare and Shaw, not to mention numerous novelists and screenwriters. Caesar was one of the ablest generals of any era, who left accounts of his own campaigns that have rarely – perhaps never – been surpassed in literary quality. At the same time he was a politician and statesman who eventually took supreme power in the Roman Republic and made himselfa monarch in every practical respect, although he never took the name ofking. Caesar was not a cruel ruler and paraded his clemency to his defeated enemies, but in the end he was stabbed to death as a result ofa conspiracy led by two pardoned men, which also included many of his own supporters. Later his adopted son Octavian – fully Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus – became Rome’s first emperor. The family line perished with Nero in AD68, but all later emperors still took the name ofCaesar, even though there was no link by blood or adoption. What had simply been the name of one aristocratic family – and a fairly obscure one at that – became effectively a title symbolising supreme and legitimate power. So strong was the association that when the twentieth century opened, two ofthe world’s great powers were still led by a kaiser and a tsar, each name a rendering of Caesar. Today the Classics have lost their central position in Western education, but even so Julius Caesar remains one of a handful of figures from the ancient world whose name commands instant recognition. Plenty ofpeople with no knowledge ofLatin will recall Shakespeare’s version ofhis dying words, et tu Brute(in fact, he probably said something else (see p.508–9) but that is by the way). Of other Romans only Nero, and perhaps Mark Antony, enjoy similar fame, and from other nations probably only Alexander the Great, the Greek philosophers, Hannibal and, most of all, Cleopatra remain so high in the public consciousness. Cleopatra was Caesar’s lover and Antony one ofhis senior lieutenants, and so both form part ofhis story. Caesar was a great man. Napoleon is just one ofmany famous commanders who admitted that he had learned much from studying Caesar’s campaigns. Politically he had a huge impact on Roman history, playing a key role in ending the Republican system of government, which had endured for four and a half centuries. Although he was fiercely intelligent and highly educated, Caesar was 1