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Master of Rome: A Life of Julius Caesar
Author(s): David Potter (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication Date: August 6, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 400 pages
- ISBN-10: 0190867183
- ISBN-13: 9780190867188
Book Description
Through a careful analysis of the ancient sources, especially Caesar’s own writings, David Potter offers us a stunning and original portrait of this great general and statesman.
Master of Rome reveals Caesar as a highly organized manager with an extraordinary ability to adjust to circumstances while maintaining the ancient equivalent of a positive “media presence.” After his death, Caesar’s followers put forward a narrative of his life that made his rise to power seem inevitable, but Caesar’s own writing tells us a different story–one of a detail-oriented general who demanded a high degree of accountability from his subordinates.A critical aspect of Caesar’s philosophy of command was the need to find room for former enemies to serve in his organization. While this philosophy catapulted Caesar to great fame as a general during the wars in Gaul, when he attempted to put this method into effect in the wake of the civil war that established him as the master of Rome, it led to his brutal assassination in 44 BCE.
Master of Rome tells the dramatic story of one of history’s most intriguing figures, who rose from the fringes of Roman political society to unprecedented heights. Along the way, Potter identifies the extraordinary qualities that enabled Caesar to dominate the world in which he lived.Editorial Reviews
Review
“In this sweeping narrative treatment of Julius Caesar’s life, David Potter once again demonstrates his ability to make intricate and controversial events accessible through an engaging and fast-paced retelling. His exploration of multiple contexts-from Rome to Gaul, Africa to Egypt and Spain-allows the characters to come to life in their original settings. Astute readings of Caesar’s own self-representation add a special nuance, while recovering more of what was actually going on. Potter’s analysis sheds welcome new light on the intricacies of events, interactions, and motives that led to the outbreak of civil war in 49 BCE.” — Harriet I. Flower, Princeton University
“This biography (a life of Julius Caesar’ as P. modestly subtitles it) is an essential read-perhaps not for school pupils or those with a passing interest, but for teachers and students wishing to understand more fully the man and his times. With 16 colour plates, black-and-white images of coins fronting each chapter (sadly too badly reproduced to be of any great value), a catalogue of who’s who (‘The Cast’), a timeline, a glossary of terms, useful end notes, a bibliography and index, it will make a valuable addition to any serious library. It might also excite readers to wonder how long, given his ill health (a series of mini-strokes) and growing detachment from reality, Caesar would have lasted on the Parthian campaign on which he was intending to embark in 44 BC just three days after the Ides of March.” — David Stuttard, Classics for All
“General readers will find in Master of Rome a readable portrait that emerges from careful study of ancient sources. Experts will find in that portrait a series of considered provocations. Potter’s Caesar diverges from the usual portrait in important ways, especially with regard to his position within the nexus of relationships that constituted Roman politics in the first century BCE and the efficacy of his political organization in Gaul. The result is a lively account of the period, liberally seasoned with assessments of its larger-than-life characters.” — CHOICE
