Product Description
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar follows the lauded Shakespearian tradition of blending story and history in a gripping drama. Like many of Shakespeare's works, the heart of this masterpiece lies in the broad political themes employed to speak comment on life and patriotism in Shakespeare's England. As a quintessential demonstration of Shakespearian verse and construction, Julius Caesar is an essential element for students and Shakespeare aficionados alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

English 10 H Review
I recently read The Tragedy of Julius Caesar in English, and I was monumentally confused at first. But, as we read, it became more clear and easier to understand. I have read only this, and one other Shakespearean play: Romeo and Juliet. I think Romeo and Juliet was superior, but by no means is Julius Caesar a boring play. It was actually a very good read, and I would recommend it if you do not mind trying to understand older English. It is set in Ancient Rome, and is, in fact, a true story, which makes it all the more interesting to read, because it is a fun way to learn history, and it really improves your vocabulary, which is great for students like me who are getting ready for big tests in the next few years like the SAT and ACT.

Marshall Aspinwall (aspinwall_24@hotmail.com)
Julius Caesar has written many of plays and they are very great plays from what I have heard but this play to me personally is some what hard to understand. It is also very long. In some parts of the play it can get exciting. But, can get a little boring after a while, but overall it is a good book. If you haven't read any of his books, I would prefer you to read Romeo & Juliet. But their might be one that is better than Romeo and Juliet if you havn't read any of his books yet.

Julius Caesar Review
Julius Caesar by William Shakespear is a fascinating book written in the 17th century. Although difficult to read at times, the rhetoric gives us a view of the poetic style of language used in this time period. However, I particulary did not like this book compared to Romeo and Juliet which was a tragic novel of two lovers whos fate was starstruck. At times, the book was boring and did not have interesting events taking place, but overall I enjoyed the book.

Review
Julius Caeser is one of the best plays written by William Shakespear. Though, it does have some faults. One fault is that it is really long and can get boring at times. Another fault is that it can be hard to understand, especially since it is boring in some parts. But, on the parts that are more exciting, it is a lot easier to understand. I would recommend this book over a lot other Shakespear books, but I would not recommend reading it if this is your first time reading a piece of Shakespear's work.

Valuble but Not Entertaining
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a classic novel which is often cited at the master work of 17th century English literature. Although this view is true, we ought to note that the work is not a particularly interesting read. Instead I would recommend it for its historical and cultural value; the work provides a key temporal window into the minds of common theatre goers. Because it lacks an absorbing plot, the play is best left alone unless either you need a 17th century literary reference or enjoys the writings of Shakespeare. If you are looking for historic poetry I would instead recommend John Milton's Paradise Lost or Dante's Inferno.Both alternatives include the same artistic use of language that Shakespeare mastered (this is only true for the Inferno in the original Italian) but they also had a more engaging plot. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Friends, Romans, Countrymen and Amazon Readers...
Lend me your ears....

After all these years, like fine wine, Julius Caesar gets better and better...

Haven't read it in 46 years, not since English class my junior year in high school.It was good then, better now.

Good, fast moving story, plots, intrigue, nobleness, and treachery...all the elements of mankind so mixed in a play that all the world might stand and say, "Damn, that was good..."

And all those good, wonderful and memorable quotes, too many to list.
Maybe not Shakespeare's "deepest" play, but one of his best and most enduring...."How many times in ages hence..."

As always the No Fear Shakespeare series is exceptional, with all the old and best of the new in one volume.Format and presentaton can't be beaten.

And here's to good English teachers, like Mrs. Hazel Mullenix at GHS in 1964.They made a difference and continue to make a difference.

Stupid book only suitable for the old fashioned, elderly, or dweebs
I absolutly hated this book!!!!!!! I was forced to stop reading every five pages and throw it at a wall because it was sooooooo boring. Shakespear really brought out his worst in this awful book. The english translations rarely made sence, the font was teeny tiny (size 9, according to Microsoft Word when I scanned it onto word), and the pages were flimsy. All in all, an incredible waste of time and money!!!!!

No Fear Shakespere - Julius Caesar
Actually, I purchased this book for my granddaughter for an English class.The book is excellently presented and was everything we needed to help in the class.

Great Item
As a teacher on the high school level, this has proved to be extremely valuable!

No Fear ShakespeareJulius Caesar
As an older adult that is somewhat isolated I started the study of Shakespeare on my own with just a big book that had annotaions that were often more cofusing than enlightening.It was rewarding but it was like plowing through a field full of big rocks.I found reading two or three scenes of an act with No Fear Shakespeare and then reading the corresponding section of Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare great fun.No Fear explains the nuances of language and setting while Asimov gives rich insight to the characters and events that makes it so easy to remember the varied characters and plot twists.

I found this method makes Shakespeare infinitely more easy to not only get through but savor and enjoy. My plan is to get as much of No Fear Shakespeare as I can including all the plays that I have gone through so laboriously in the past and apply the No Fear/Asimov technique.I hope it works as well for you as it did for me. ... Read more

Product Description
"De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Julius Caesar is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Julius Caesar then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 01: Julius Caesar is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a timeless play on power politics and political assassination
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was first acted in the early years of the seventeenth century. It is another in the brilliant series of plays by the greatest playwright who ever lived. It is a play which is often taught in high school courses but bears reading again by more mature readers. Every time a reader or playgoer experiences the beauty and wonder of a Shakespearean work new insights are discovered.
Julius Caesar is a five act tragedy revolving around the assassination of Julius Caesar the dictator of Rome who
was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar is a complex man who has been warned about entering the Senate on "the ides of March." He disregards the advice not to go the Senate by his wife Calpurnia and a soothsayer. Caesar is deaf in one ear, epileptic yet a great leader.
His chief opponents are Brutus and Cassius who are Senators and come from noble Roman stock. They and other conspirators stab Caesar to death as they seize power. A blood purge of their political opponents swiftly ensues.
They are defeated and commit suicide at the Battle of Philippi where they are defeated by Mark Antony (he of the immortal "Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears:) speech to the mob in Act III. In that clever speech he turns the proletariat against the Brutus conspirators. Antony reveals how Caesar has granted 75 drachmas to every Roman citizen and also provided public walkways and parks for the inhabitants of the seven hill city. Brutus is a good man who is tormented by the murder of his quondam friend Caesar. On the night before the battle he is visited by the ghost of Caesar who tells him of his impending defeat and death.
Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's many great plays. It is high political and military drama with some of the best poetry ever wriitten. Brush up your Shakespeare and pick up a paperback!

Under-appreciated work...
This is actually my favorite of Shakespeare's works. The product itself is nicely laid out with a decent introduction and afterword. Each page has notations of any language that may need explaining.

Go, go, good countrymen...
Gaius Julius Cæsar is the Caesar we think of when we hear the word "Caesar" -- he conquered Gaul, bedded Cleopatra, and died a pretty dramatic death. And while he only appears in a few scenes of "Julius Caesar," he's the nucleus that William Shakespeare's taut conspiracy play revolves around -- his murder, his legacy, and the bitter jealousy he inspired.

Julius Caesar is returning to Rome in triumph, only to be stopped by a strange old soothsayer who warns him, "Beware the ides of March." Caesar brushes off the warning, but he has no idea that a conspiracy is brewing under his nose. In a nutshell, a group of senators led by the creepy Cassius are plotting against Caesar because of his wild popularity, suspecting that he wants to become KING.

And Cassius' latest target: Brutus, one of Caesar's best buddies. Brutus is slowly swayed over to the conspiracy's side, beginning to believe that Caesar as a great man corrupted by power. Everything comes to a a devastating assassination on... guess when... the ides of March, which will elevate some men to greatness and destroy others.

Though the story is supposedly about Julius Caesar, Caesar himself only has a few scenes -- but his charismatic, dominating presence hangs over the play like a heavy tapestry. What he does, what he plans, what he thinks and who he is are constantly on people's minds, and even after his death he is a powerful presence in the memories of the living.

And Shakespeare cooks up a dialogue-heavy play that is a bit on the slow side, but whose speeches are so powerful and intense that you don't quite notice. There's a lot of those speeches here -- not only Antony's famous speech to the Roman people ("The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones"), but Brutus' impassioned argument with Portia ("You have some sick offence within your mind") and Cassius' oily slanted editorials about Caesar.

Shakespeare's depiction of Brutus is also a beautifully nuanced one -- Antony calls him the "noblest Roman of them all" at the very end, despite the fact that Brutus calmly murdered his friend and leader. He's basically a gullible guy who follows his passions rather than his brain, and bounces into the conspiracy rather than trying to find out the truth about Caesar. You feel sorry for him, and at the same time you want the much smarter Antony to kick him like a soccer ball.

"Julius Caesar" is rather slow-moving, but Shakespeare's powerful writing and nuanced depiction of Brutus more than make up for that. Friends, Romans, countrymen...

A Great Edition for High School Students
As an experienced high school English teacher, I always advise my students and their parents to purchase a Folger's edition of Shakespeare's plays. The notes, summaries, and other commentary serve the novice Shakespearean reader well and make the classical allusions and denotations of unfamiliar and common words and phrases from the Elizabethan age much easier for 21st Century readers to understand. ... Read more

Product Description
More than two thousand years after his death, Julius Caesar remains one of the great figures of history. He shaped Rome for generations, and his name became a synonym for "emperor" -- not only in Rome but as far away as Germany and Russia. He is best known as the general who defeated the Gauls and doubled the size of Rome's territories. But, as Philip Freeman describes in this fascinating new biography, Caesar was also a brilliant orator, an accomplished writer, a skilled politician, and much more.

Julius Caesar was a complex man, both hero and villain. He possessed great courage, ambition, honor, and vanity. Born into a noble family that had long been in decline, he advanced his career cunningly, beginning as a priest and eventually becoming Rome's leading general. He made alliances with his rivals and then discarded them when it suited him. He was a spokesman for the ordinary people of Rome, who rallied around him time and again, but he profited enormously from his conquests and lived opulently. Eventually he was murdered in one of the most famous assassinations in history.

Caesar's contemporaries included some of Rome's most famous figures, from the generals Marius, Sulla, and Pompey to the orator and legislator Cicero as well as the young politicians Mark Antony and Octavius (later Caesar Augustus). Caesar's legendary romance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra still fascinates us today.

In this splendid biography, Freeman presents Caesar in all his dimensions and contradictions. With remarkable clarity and brevity, Freeman shows how Caesar dominated a newly powerful Rome and shaped its destiny. This book will captivate readers discovering Caesar and ancient Rome for the first time as well as those who have a deep interest in the classical world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

A wonderful Read
Both entertaining and informative, Philip Freeman's biography of Julius Caesar is a wonderful read. The book is not overly wordy or textbook-like, but instead is often exciting and flows like fiction. I truly enjoyed this book.

Oustanding read.
Julius Caesar is obviously a recognizable name that people know about, but Freeman humanizes him in a great way. The historian and the average leader will love the intense narrative that will keep the reader's attention. Highly recommend. I have not enjoyed reading a book this way in a while.

Fascinating and extrememly readable
I ordered this book as a continuation of my reading of all the great military captains of history.I really knew little of Ceasar as a military man but herein found his accomplishments truly remarkable.But even more remarkable is the author's writing style and ablity to craft a story that holds the reader's interest.This book was a delight.

Why another book about Caesar? Read it and see.
If you've already read a dozen books about Julius Caesar, you can probably pass this one by without missing any information. But if you do, what you'll miss is one of the few I've found that's not just informative but truly a pleasure to read. Freeman's prose is clear and not at all verbose (contrast this book with Frank McLynn's biography of Marcus Aurelius and you'll want to buy Freeman a nice lunch); and better still, the narrative he constructs communicates a very real enjoyment of its material. (Again the contrast with McLynn, who sneers at his subject throughout, is instructive.)

Especially welcome are Freeman's easy to follow and compelling accounts of Caesar's campaigns in Gaul and the portraits he includes of such figures as Cicero, Pompey and a number of Roman generals who support and/or oppose Caesar as his march to supreme power progresses. Freeman has the novelist's respect for the characters who people the story, and even the bit players (fans of HBO's Rome should watch for an appearance by Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo) are imbued with personality.

This is not History for historians. Ironically, given its subject, Freeman's book is more democratic in its sensibility and approach. Five stars, highest rating. (I hope the author does his own book about Marcus Aurelius sometime.)

Better than I thought
This is an exceptional book.Laid out in grand story telling style, its strikes an excellent balance between being an enjoyable read and very informative.Freeman is an unabashed Julius Ceasar Apologist who focuses largely on Julius Ceasar's life as a politician/general.If I remember rightly, its only the last two Chapters that take place when Ceasar takes sole control of Rome.Either way, you get a great look into the mind and heart of one of the greatest leaders Rome produced.
My only criticism?The end is shockingly abrupt.I confess I was taken aback at how quickly he hit the end.That minor issue aside, I highly recommend this read. ... Read more

Product Description
Ant. He shall not liue; looke, with a spot I dam him. But Lepidus, go you to Caesars house: Fetch the Will hither, and we shall determine How to cut off some charge in Legacies . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (50)

Fine
Jesus! They were all great! They were in good shape and they arrived in a reasonable amount of time.

Mike L.

Go, go, good countrymen...
Gaius Julius Cæsar is the Caesar we think of when we hear the word "Caesar" -- he conquered Gaul, bedded Cleopatra, and died a pretty dramatic death. And while he only appears in a few scenes of "Julius Caesar," he's the nucleus that William Shakespeare's taut conspiracy play revolves around -- his murder, his legacy, and the bitter jealousy he inspired.

Julius Caesar is returning to Rome in triumph, only to be stopped by a strange old soothsayer who warns him, "Beware the ides of March." Caesar brushes off the warning, but he has no idea that a conspiracy is brewing under his nose. In a nutshell, a group of senators led by the creepy Cassius are plotting against Caesar because of his wild popularity, suspecting that he wants to become KING.

And Cassius' latest target: Brutus, one of Caesar's best buddies. Brutus is slowly swayed over to the conspiracy's side, beginning to believe that Caesar as a great man corrupted by power. Everything comes to a a devastating assassination on... guess when... the ides of March, which will elevate some men to greatness and destroy others.

Though the story is supposedly about Julius Caesar, Caesar himself only has a few scenes -- but his charismatic, dominating presence hangs over the play like a heavy tapestry. What he does, what he plans, what he thinks and who he is are constantly on people's minds, and even after his death he is a powerful presence in the memories of the living.

And Shakespeare cooks up a dialogue-heavy play that is a bit on the slow side, but whose speeches are so powerful and intense that you don't quite notice. There's a lot of those speeches here -- not only Antony's famous speech to the Roman people ("The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones"), but Brutus' impassioned argument with Portia ("You have some sick offence within your mind") and Cassius' oily slanted editorials about Caesar.

Shakespeare's depiction of Brutus is also a beautifully nuanced one -- Antony calls him the "noblest Roman of them all" at the very end, despite the fact that Brutus calmly murdered his friend and leader. He's basically a gullible guy who follows his passions rather than his brain, and bounces into the conspiracy rather than trying to find out the truth about Caesar. You feel sorry for him, and at the same time you want the much smarter Antony to kick him like a soccer ball.

"Julius Caesar" is rather slow-moving, but Shakespeare's powerful writing and nuanced depiction of Brutus more than make up for that. Friends, Romans, countrymen...

Confusing page numbers
This edition of the text has very confusing page numbers.Rather than separating the sections by scenes and acts, the book numbers at the top 2.3.45 or 1.1.115.It makes it more difficult in a way to find specific scenes because they run together on the page rather than appear with a break between the scenes.However the Arden edition has very nice notes that help with difficult passages or references.

Not what I expected
This series is great for students. The books are divided into three sections: the first section is a kind of history of Shakespeare and his plays, the second section is the actual play, and the third section is more of the details of the play,i.e. where the story came from, how it is performed,how to directed the play. All in all it was a great for teaching the works of Shakespeare.

A classic
One of the classics -- we all had to read it in high school, but it's remarkably easier to get through than it was when I was 16. ... Read more

Product Description
The Civil War is Caesar's masterly account of thecelebrated war between himself and his great rivalPompey, from the crossing of the Rubicon in January 49B.C. to Pompey's death and the start of the AlexandrianWar in the autumn of the following year. His unfinishedaccount of the continuing struggle with Pompey's heirsand followers is completed by the three anonymousaccounts of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish Wars,which bring the story down to within a year of Caesar'sassassination in March 44 B.C. This generously annotatededition places the war in context and enables the readerto grasp it both in detail and as a whole. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The books within this book
This is a book that contains a great deal more than the struggle between Caesar and Pompey for political control.

Within are many gems; first among them are observation of human nature that appear in sentences, every ten-to-twenty pages.There is the structure of the military, and the focus on terrain - a key topic in War College to this day - there are statements and timeless truths:

"...and you have suffered the fate that commonly befalls those who are too stubborn and arrogant; you are now forced to have recourse to the very thing you spurned only a little while ago, and indeed to beg for it..."

"...no man with a sense of honour should be made to suspect he is not fully trusted, for that diminishes his zeal; nor should a ruffian be allowed to know that he is feared, for our fear will merely increase his insolence..."

"...for in general when something unexpected happens rumour goes beyond the facts..."

"...the functions of a lieutenant are different from those of a general.One has to act entirely according to orders, the other must take important decisions independently..."

"...terror robs men of their powers of reason and impairs their physical capacity..."

"...fortune is wont to reserve for a harsher fate those on whom she has heaped most blessings..."

There are so many more, however, I leave that to you to find and enjoy.

It is interesting, too, to note the social mores, and what was acceptable and common practice.One big surprise is the amount of information on economics present in the book.It is clear monetarism did not start with the Austrians; Caesar was a monetarist - and as he speaks of economic situations and policy (yes - this is very present in the book) he does so in such a way that indicates it was common knowledge and practice to increase the supply of money under certain circumstances.

There are many books within this book, as truly, there are in any book.Literary analysis of this book begins at a trail-head, in which a reader is faced with one clear path, that of the struggle for power between two great men, yet, if at the outset one considers that which lay before him, they will see the different trails, the different journeys, their travels may take them as they read this work.

Incredible epic
Caesar, it is believed, wrote this account of the first part of the civil wars: the war between him and Pompey. Yes: `Caesar actually wrote this!' I kept repeating to myself as I read it (Wow, this was written by Caesar, can you believe it? Caesar wrote this, and now I am reading it...). But even if you don't share such childish obsessions, this is well worth looking at. The divine Julius was as good a story-teller as a politician and general, and this is one of the most readable works by any ancient writer I have tried. The battles are described with great realism, both ordinary soldiers' and the general's everyday concerns come across convincingly, and the broader picture is kept alive in a highly coherent narrative.

Caesar's story focuses on the military events, with some, though limited references to the political side. Unfortunately, the beginning of Book I was lost, which would have contained more on the political origins of the civil war. And of course, there is no telling how much is propaganda, how much outright invention, and how much is true. We don't have Pompey's version, though Cicero, who was not on Caesar's side, did provide some corroboration. Thus Caesar always claims to have been the most magnanimous, loyal, and truthful leader, and always ready to negotiate peace, while his enemies were greedy and timorous. Nevertheless, this is an account of the highest quality. As a bonus, the introduction has excellent basic notes on the political context, the Roman constitution, and Roman military organisation. Three texts by anonymous ancient authors, also in this edition, continue with the war in Egypt, Africa, and Spain.

Prestige has always been of prime importance to me
As Jane F. Garner states in her excellent introduction, Caesar understood that one could not break the Roman Senate's de facto power in the Roman republic by using the sovereign power of the people. `One needed to secure military command, and with it, wealth, patronage and, not least important, armed power.'

This book is in fact the story of the battles for the consolidation of one sole armed power in the Roman republic under one general, which would, indeed, yield sole power (dictator for life) for him.
Of course, it reflects only the author's point of view. Julius Caesar's hagiographic autoportrait is one of a magnanimous, not vindictive or rancourous, but integer, just and generous general and politician.

But his chronicle gives also an in depth picture of the war scene in Caesar's time, not only of long and short term tactics, but also of the (in)human side of it.
The battles were in the first place a fight for water, corn and fodder, before a frontal confrontation could be engaged. The preparations therefore were more a matter of civil engineering than anything else: walls of up to 17 miles, ramparts, dams, river crossings, roadblocks, ditches and fences, towers and ballistic missiles. Animals like elephants, and even scorpions were used.
The wars resulted in `farm-houses being burned down, fields devastated, flocks plundered and killed, towns and forts razed and abandoned, and the leading citizens slain or kept in chains while their children were carried off and enslaved.'
Vae victis: `Soldiers won over by personal prestige of the general, persuaded by money and promises of gain, captured but, as their lives had been spared, they had been anxious to demonstrate their gratitude. These were the men whose bodies, remarkable for size and comeliness, now lay hacked and limp all over the plain.'

The book shows also Caesar's psychological insight: `for we believe what we wish were so, and hope that others feel as we do', `rumour goes beyond the facts' or `friends become enemies in adversity'.

Truly stunning is the end of the story: After securing sole military command, Caesar returned to Rome and was murdered six months later.

With its tens of thousands of deaths, this book doesn't sketch a very positive picture of mankind.
A must read for all historians and lovers of classical texts.

Second Book in the Oxford Series I've Read
I enjoyed the book on the Gallic War and equally enjoyed this book on the Civil War. The method of indicating and referencing notes was easy to work with. Additonally, both books have an excellent amount of introductory material.

Excellent Pre-Christian view of untainted world
I bought this book as a replacement (lost the original plus many more to Hurricane Katrina).Any fan of the pre-christian world or anyone who would like a work that was written over 2000 years ago by one of history's greatest men, this book is for you! ... Read more

Product Description
Dramatizing the political battles in Rome during the height of the Pax Romanum, Shakespeare pits Caesar against an untold number of conspirators and lets the daggers fly. In the end, Antony comes to carry on the rule of the Caesars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Helps children get ahead
I am not in to explaing, but lets just say son who hates Shakespear was able to understand it with the help of Cliffnotes!Enough to get me to purchase these for almost every book he has to read for help on plots, etc.

Understanding the structure & characters of "Julius Caesar"
James Vickers' Cliffs Notes for Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" begins with a short biography of the Bard that focuses on what little the historical record tells us about the man.A Brief Synopsis of the Play is followed by a List of Characters that not only tells us who they are but their primary roles in the play.The Summary and Commentary section of the volume breaks down the play scene by scene, and the best way of using this or any other little yellow book with the black stripes is to read the commentary after you have read each scene of the play.This is especially important with Shakespeare because the dialogue is so important and Vickers does not work in as many choice lines as some of the other Cliffs Notes for Shakespeare plays.You cannot deal with Shakespeare if you do not know the key lines.The last section dealing with Character Analyses looks as Caesar, Antony, Octavius, Brutus and Cassius, referring back to the analysis already established regarding the individual scenes.What you will not get from this volume if you are teaching/reading "Julius Caesar" is how the play touches upon the political realities of Elizabethean England.But Vickers does an excellent job throughout of capturing how Shakespeare uses the play to manipulate the audience.Remember, the celebrated funeral oration by Marc Antony is being listened to on stage by a Roman mob that is being watched by an audience of Londoners in the theater.This is one of the better jobs at capturing how Shakespeare constructed a play. ... Read more

Product Description
Between 58 and 50BC Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and twice invaded Britain. This is the record of his campaigns. Caesar's narrative offers insights into his military strategy & paints a fascinating picture of his encounters with the inhabitant of Gaul and Britain, as well as offering lively portraits of a number of key characters such as the rebel leaders and Gallic chieftains. This can also be read as a piece of political propaganda, as Caesar sets down his version of events for the Roman public, knowing that he faces civil war on his return to Rome.Amazon.com Review
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres...It is, perhaps, the most famous opening line of any memoir in Westerncivilization. What Caesar and the Romans called "Gaul," although weusually think of it as France, also comprised Belgium, the Germanlands west of the Rhine, southern Holland, and much ofSwitzerland. This is the only military campaign of the ancient worldfor which we have a chronicle written by the general who conducted it,and Julius Caesar is an insightful historian, with a keen eye fordetail, as in this scene from the repulsion of the forces of theGerman king Ariovistus:

Caesar placed each of his five generals ahead of a legionand detailed his quaestor to command the remaining legion, so thatevery soldier might know that there was a high officer in a positionto observe the courage with which he conducted himself, and then ledthe right wing first into action, because he had noticed that theenemy's line was weakest on that side.

Customer Reviews (30)

A Large Pinch of Salt
What strikes the reader in particular about Caesar's long report about his war in Gaul is the lack of any great detail with regard to Gaulish opposition. Two of the most powerful Celtic tribes, the Belgae and the Nervii, are described as very brave, and one is led to believe that things are heading for a major showdown between them and the Romans. Yet it all kind of fizzles out in an anticlimax. Caesar's campaign in Gaul is often represented as a walk-over, yet the fact that it took him eight years strongly suggests that the Celtic Gauls put up far greater resistance than Caesar would have us believe. Gaul was not a cluster of mud huts filled with primitive people, but a sophisticated culture with large cities, including ancient Paris and Lyon. Caesar was heavily in debt and Gaul was rich. Caesar's memoir raises far more questions than it answers. Sadly we only have Caesar's word, yet how far can that be trusted when he lied to the very Senate over the reasons for invading Gaul in the first place?
Gaul was a free land being illegally invaded by a ruthless opportunist carrying out Roman imperial expansion (or theft on a grand scale). Dumnorix, one of the most influential Gauls, declares loudly (before Caesar has him killed) that he is a free man and the subject of a free state. If America was faced with such a warlike invasion its citizens are likely to declare the same kind of thing. Hitler is rightly viewed as a monster responsible for the deaths of millions, yet Caesar is hailed these days as a hero, even though he also was responsible for the deaths of millions, including women and children. This book remains an attempt at justifying his actions to a Senate with whom he was far from popular. Vercingetorix, king of the Gauls, and the worthy opponent who defeated Caesar several times before finally surrendering in a grand manner, according to Plutarch,on his sumptuously adorned horse. Caesar's version of the surrender plays this down in his book. Vercingetorix was kept captive for five years before being paraded as part of Caesar's triumph. Caesar then had him strangled in his cell, hardly a noble or heroic act, and a monumental insult to a Celtic warrior king, who would have expected the honourable death of decapitation, according to age old custom.

Great background to the Gallic Battles
First off, do not read this book with the intention of remembering the names of all of the tribes and people involved in this conquest. If you keep that in mind then this book is great. The first half was hard to get into for me as I tried to remember all the names, locations, dates, etc. Later in the book I gave up and enjoyed the read. I would recommend to anyone looking for a detailed account of the Gallic Conquest.

fascinating
Why he came, what he saw, whom he conquered. Rendered unto the reader what is Caeser's story.

De Bello Gallico
This was the first translation of the Gallic War I read, and it is still my favorite.The index with all the tribes, forts, etc. is particularly useful (a lot of translations don't have one, and to my knowledge none have as comprehensive of one).

2000 Plus years old and still going strong
If the pre-christian world is where your interests are this book belongs in your collection.The good old days when power and might formed and held together the greatest empire to ever rule the known world. ... Read more

Product Description

Praise for Manga Shakespeare

ALA Best Book for Young Adults

ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

“Reluctant readers who appreciate manga and who would not think of picking up the work of Shakespeare are sure to gravitate toward these titles. Even if the text puts them off, they will be drawn to the illustrations. These adaptations would make wonderful additions to any school or public library’s manga collection.” —VOYA

“Refreshingly clear, this adaptation is recommended for all libraries serving teens.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This fresh new way of looking at a classic will draw new readers to Shakespeare, hopefully to discover that his plays are really quite entertaining.” —YAbookscentral.com

Customer Reviews (2)

Caesar Manga
I am a teacher, and I bought this book to help my students understand Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.The drawings helped my students grasp the story, and the language still sounds authentic and not dumbed down.I would suggest this book as a companion text for any teenager who is trying to understand Julius Caesar.

A Dark Julius Ceaser
The sixth of the Manga Shakespeare is the darkest of them.The drawing and selection of lines goes for the war torn look. The constant circling gunships and look of Mad Max tell the story in Shakespeare's words and has some depth with the art work, but it is harsh.I found myself stumbling sometimes on the language due, to being distracted by the drawings, a bit disconcerting,but some art is that way. You may need to read it twice to understand more of the artwork. Not for the youngest manga fans ... Read more

Product Description
Julius Caesar is the most powerful man in Rome, but his power threatens the republic’s very existence. A conspiracy is hatched, one that will have fatal consequences not only for Caesar and the conspirators, but also for the future history of the Ancient World. At its heart is the noble Brutus, caught in the tragic conflict between private affection and public duty. This wonderful production is performed by Michael Feast, Adrian Lester, and the Arkangel cast. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great tool for high school learners!!
My kids loved the fact that they could listen instead of read hours of Shakespeare...It broke up the monontonous and made it enjoyable. It follows along perfectly with the written version which was great because the MP3 download did not.

Julius Caesar CD
I am using this CD in my classroom. My students are reading Julius Caesar. Actually, they are reading the play while we listen to the professional actors read on the CD. I stop the CD to explain what's happening.

I wish audio tapes had been available. It's much easier to find your place on a tape than on a CD.

Brilliant!
This recording just about saved my life. Seriously. Although I have taught Romeo & Juliet to high school freshmen about a million times, this year I was tapped to teach a class of sophomores reading...gulp...JULIUS CAESAR! This was never my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, and most of my memories of it derived from my own dreadfully dull tenth grade experience.

When I began reading the play with my own students, it didn't take any of us long to realize that their halting, stilted, first-time line-readings would make the play more difficult for them to interpret and enjoy. So, over a long weekend, I ordered Arkangel's recording. I had no idea that this recording would actually change my opinion of the play itself!

My students and I became completely captivated by the characters of Caesar as performed by the brilliant actors involved in this recording. John Bowe as Brutus and Adrian Lester as Antony impressed us particularly--their famous speeches to the people of Rome following the death of Caesar actually had my class of sophomores on the edge of their seats!

I highly recommend this fantastic recording to anyone teaching Caesar.

Superlative performance
Like all the Arkangel Shakespeare, this production of "Julius Caesar" is great listening. I've listened to it many times and I never get tired of hearing it. I'd especially single out for praise the superb sound effects: the thunderstorm early in the play sounds so real you almost feel wet! Highly recommended.

Fabulous Teaching Tool
These audio CDs were a valuable addition to my unit. Students were able to hear the text's tone, inflection, and nuances and then more accurately pattern their own oral readings after that of the professional actors on the CD. The CDs also aided students' comprehension. I used them with Acts 4 and 5, and next year I will play the key speeches in Act 3 for students before we engage in role play. Students read along in their texts while listening to the audio. ... Read more

Product Description

Turn the page and take a step back in time!

Product Description
This new edition of Julius Caesar is part of the established Cambridge School Shakespeare series and has been substantially updated with new and revised activities throughout.Remaining faithful to the series' active approach it treats the play as a script to be acted, explored and enjoyed. As well as the complete script of Julius Caesar, you will find a variety of classroom-tested activities, an eight-page colour section and an enlarged selection of notes including information on characters, performance, history and language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent resource
The Cambridge School Shakespeare series is filled with fresh ideas for teaching Shakespeare.It is a great resource. ... Read more

Product Description
As a busy teacher, you don t have time to waste reinventing the wheel. You want to get down to the business of teaching! With Secondary Solutions professionally developed teacher-written literature guides, you can address the English/Language Arts content standards while you teach the required core literature! Secondary Solutions has provided you with the answer to your time management problems, while saving you hours of tedious and exhausting work. Our teaching guides will allow you to focus on the most important aspects of teaching (the personal, one-on-one, hands-on instruction you enjoy most) and the reason you became a teacher in the first place!

This Secondary Solutions teaching guide for Julius Caesar contains 88 pages of student coursework, quizzes, tests, and teacher guides aligned with tenth through twelfth grade English / Language Arts content standards. Content-standards based guide includes: This Guide includes: Author Biography; Anticipation/Reaction Pre-Reading Activity; Notes on the Real Julius Caesar; Vocabulary List With and Without Definitions; Comprehension Checks for Each Act; Standards Focus Activities on Setting, Tone, and Mood, Character Motivations, Analysis of Rhetoric, Tragedy and the Tragic Hero, and more; Assessment Preparation Activities on Word Roots, Context Clues, Analogies, and Connotation; Quizzes for Every Act; Two Final Test Versions; Summary of the Play; Pre-Reading Ideas and Activities; Post-Reading Ideas and Activities; Essay/Writing Ideas and Prompts; Project Rubric; Response to Literature Rubric; Complete Answer Key ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Extremely useful
This literature guide has several activities that I found very useful in the classroom. I liked that it was broken up by act providing specific activities and graphic organizers for each act corresponding to the events and specific literary elements present within that act. There are also great project ideas. ... Read more

Product Description
Julius Caesar, in the popular Oxford School Shakespeare series, updated with a fresh new look.

Julius Caesar is a popular text for study by secondary students the world over. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes.
... Read more

Product Description
George Lyman Kittredge's insightful editions of Shakespeare have endured in part because of his eclecticism, his diversity of interests, and his wide-ranging accomplishments all of which are reflected in the valuable notes in each volume. The plays in the New Kittredge Shakespeare series retain the original Kittredge notes and introductions, changed or augmented only when some modernization seems necessary. These new editions also include introductory essays by contemporary editors, notes on the plays as they have been performed on stage and film, and additional student materials. ... Read more

Product Description
A military leader of legendary genius, Caesar was also a great writer, recording the events of his life with incomparable immediacy and power. "The Civil War" is a tense and gripping depiction of his struggle with Pompey over the leadership of Republican Rome - a conflict that spanned the entire Roman world, from Gaul and Spain to Asia and Africa. Where Caesar's own account leaves off in 48 BC, his lieutenants take up the history, describing the vital battles of Munda, Spain and Thapsus, and the installation of Cleopatra, later Caesar's mistress, as Queen of Egypt. Together these narratives paint a full picture of the events that brought Caesar supreme power - and paved the way for his assassination only months later. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Watch Out for Caesar's Ghost!
The themes that Shakespeare dealt with are universal.Yet, the biggest complaint that many people have when reading or discussing Shakespeare is the language:"People don't talk like that.", "Why don't they speak in English?", "I can't understand a word of what they just said." are just a sampling of complaints I've heard when attempting to teach Shakespeare to high school students. I try everything I can think of to get over the language issue, but very little seems to help (comments such as "You do know that the way people talk in movies usually isn't the same way people talk in real life, either, don't you?" seem incomprehensible to students). That's why I'm thankful when books such as SHAKESPEARE'S JULIUS CAESAR: THE MAGNA EDITION come around; it provides another avenue to use in trying to get students connected with the themes of the play and not worry about the language.

SHAKESPEARE'S JULIUS CAESAR takes Shakespeare's famous play and puts it into graphic novel form (even though subtitled "The Magna Edition" the book isn't a true magna because magna reads from the back of the book to the front).Some minor scenes have been cut out, but Shakespeare's language remains.The result is an engaging and accessible graphic novel that young people and more visually oriented people might be able to relate to and understand better than just reading the play directly from the text. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more