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Assassinatin of Julius Caesar

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Ibex-coins:
I must recommend to everyone, "The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A people's History of Ancient Rome", by Michael Parenti.
First of all I must admit that I find Julius Caesar to be one of the most remarkable figures in History.  It is rare to find the combination of a scholar, general and politician that blends so well.  I have long been troubled by certain aspects of Roman History.  Why do historians treat Cato as a great republican?  Ciecero is always treated as a great orator and noblemen, yet I always found him spineless and fickle.
The Gracchi brothers are portrayed as trouble makers, yet them seem to me to be standing up for the plebians and underclassed.  This book addresses many of those issues.  It makes the point that the history we have of Rome was written by the nobility and that most historians who followed them were "gentlemen" who shared many of their values.  The plebians are never considered by these historians.  I would strongly encourage anyone interested in the history of the late republic to read this book.

Jochen:
Thanks for the advice!

Jochen

60_Driver:
Plebs... ::)

Let them eat cake!  ;D

Robert_Brenchley:
Another good one is 'Rubicon' by Tom Holland, published by Abacus. It doesn't follow the old aristocratic bias either; Cicero is correctly portrayed as an indecisive trimmer, and so on. History will always, like theology, depend on the perspective of the writer, and I think this generation of scholars are far more aware of that than previous generations.

David Atherton:
Speaking of Tom Holland, he also wrote a book about Nero that I haven't had a chance to read yet. Any opinions on the book and/or the writer?

Sorry if this is a bit off topic. :-\

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