274:, had become a champion of the people. The Senate, whose authority Caesar had defied in obtaining his post as governor, recognized that Caesar posed a serious political threat and demanded that he disband his army in order to be allowed to stand for the consulship. Caesar agreed provided that Pompey do the same, but this only further enraged the Senate. As his term as governor came to an end, Pompey and the Senate demanded that Caesar disband his army and return to Rome, and they forbade him to run for consul
40:
445:. The oldest known manuscripts of the commentaries date to the tenth century AD. Parts of the book have remained lost though, with at least sixteen passages known to be missing. Given its much shorter length when compared to Caesar's other works, and its abrupt ending, it is possible that he never finished the work, or that a significant part may still be missing. In 1469 the commentaries were republished in Rome, from which edition most modern copies are now derived. In 1809
1458:
270:. This friendship of convenience came to an end with the death of Crassus in 53 BCE, and Pompey's marriage to Cornelia Metella, the daughter of a fierce opponent of Caesar. Amid a fresh outbreak of political violence in Rome, Pompey was appointed sole consul in 52 and solidified his support among the Optimates in the Senate. Caesar, meanwhile, had concluded his conquest of Gaul and, aided by the publication of his
393:. Caesar then writes another monologue portraying Pompeius as a coward because of his refusal to make a stand against Caesar, whose army was beginning to have supply problems, and pointed to Scipio as the primary obstacle to peace. Caesar describes Scipio as a maniacal and untrustworthy but weak villain concerned only with destroying Caesar. Scipio raises a personal army of his own from his provinces in
413:. There Pompeius was murdered, according to Caesar, by the Egyptians. Caesar ends the book with an epilogue on the Egyptians' lack of justification for killing Pompeius. He then proceeds to explain his reasoning for occupying Egypt with his army, using a succession crisis among the Egyptian royal family as his pretence. The Egyptians resisted and Caesar seized the
437:
Modern historians lament the fact that Caesar omits many important details about the military events, primarily because the book is the only source known to exist for many of the events that occurred in it, but also because it was written from the unique perspective of the most powerful figure in the
337:
from Gaul. Pompeius attempts to raise an army in southern Italy, but is forced to retreat with the army to Greece. Caesar continually points to his efforts to reach an accommodation with
Pompeius, and attempts to portray Pompeius as a jealous man only interested in perpetuating a rule in which he and
389:, and dismisses Pompeius' tactics and the strength of his army. He points out that Pompeius' army was drawn largely from the provinces and was poorly trained. After Caesar successfully outmanoeuvred Pompeius's army in the eastern Balkans, Pompeius and his army gradually fall back into
384:
to Greece after a mop up operation in Italy and in Spain. In Greece
Pompeius initially has the stronger position, with more troops, controlling many of the strategic areas. Caesar writes a lengthy monologue about the superiority of his army of elite veterans of the
214:
is often retained as the title of the book in
English translations of the work. The title itself is Latin for "Commentaries on the Civil War". It is sometimes shortened to just "Civil Wars", "About the Civil Wars", and "The Civil War", in English translations.
253:
and the annexation of all of Gaul. As a result of nearly ten years of conquest, Caesar had not only amassed enormous wealth but had established himself as a formidable military and political rival to Pompey. Caesar and Pompey, along with
404:
in June 48. The lengthy battle and siege resulted in a decisive victory by Caesar's army. Pompeius and his cohorts flee to other areas of the
Republic in an attempt to reverse their fortunes. Caesar then leads his army across the
301:. Throughout the commentaries he presents his cause as a noble one to restore order and return peace to the Roman people, while showing how his actions were justified. He also commonly presents himself as a humane liberal on the
465:, along with Caesar's other literary works, became staple reading for Latin studies around the world because of their quality and simplicity and because of the excellent grammar employed by Caesar in his writings.
278:. Knowing that he would be ruined by his political opponents without either the protection provided by his army or the immunity offered by the consulship, Caesar ignored the demands of the Senate and, by
372:
sends reinforcements to Varus. Curio is overly confident; his poor decision-making leads to his army being trapped and slaughtered by the
Numidians. Juba takes several Roman senators captive.
249:. During this time he conducted a series of devastating military campaigns against the various groups of people inhabiting Gaul (primarily present-day France and Belgium) culminating in the
329:
ordering him to return to the city to face charges of misconduct and possible execution. Caesar explains how he was wronged by
Pompeius and his cohorts, who refused to permit him the
417:. The book ended with the line "Haec initia belli Alexandrini fuerunt." ("These things were the beginning of the Alexandrian war"). The events of the book were followed by the books
267:
1059:
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model. Caesar omits many details of the military campaigns, focusing in large part on the larger strategic situation and the reasoning behind the actions occurring.
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317:. Each book is subdivided into numbered paragraphs. The books cover a two-year period discussing the Roman Civil War during 49 and 48 BC.
170:. It consists of three books covering the events of 49–48 BC, from shortly before Caesar's invasion of Italy to Pompey's defeat at the
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262:. This alliance had overthrown many of the formal legal institutions of the state, through their combined command of the Senate, the
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Written as a narrative, the book begins with the expiration of Caesar's term as governor of Gaul and the party dominating the
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is not disputed, while the three later works are believed to have been written by contemporaries of Caesar.
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Caesar organized his commentaries into three separate books, at that time written on individual
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The book was for a time lost, but was rediscovered in
Italian city archives in the
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747:, English translation by William Duncan, ed.; also includes a Latin text edition
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In the text, Caesar presents himself as the victim of a conspiracy occurring in
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1783 edition of the
Commentaries on the Gallic War and the Civil War
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Republic and one of the most notable generals in human history.
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entering into Italy at the head of his army on
January 10, 49 BCE
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wars, written most likely by officers of Caesar's armies.
711:. Vol. 39. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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C. Iuli
Caesaris Commentariorum libri III de bello civili
178:. It was preceded by the much longer account of Caesar's
258:, had earlier formed a political alliance known as the
453:, ordered a detailed look at the works of Caesar. The
457:, along with his other works, were compiled into the
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16:Discussion of the Roman civil war by Julius Caesar
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380:Caesar and his army follow Pompeius across the
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667:Studies on the Text of Caesar's Bellum Civile
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689:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
647:(First ed.). Oxford Classical Texts.
409:in pursuit of Pompeius, who had landed in
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338:his inner circle control the Republic.
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19:For the epic poem by Lucan called
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1179:Ut est rerum omnium magister usus
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397:and moves to reinforce Pompeius.
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753:; also includes books 2 and 3.
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774:, Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3.
767:Commentaries on the Civil War
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194:. Caesar's authorship of the
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1486:Works about history in Latin
1334:Gaius Julius Caesar (father)
1135:Commentarii de Bello Gallico
272:Commentarii de Bello Gallico
268:Tribal Assembly of the Plebs
115:Commentarii de Bello Gallico
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783:Commentarii de Bello Civili
617:Henderson, Jeffery (2006).
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400:The book climaxes with the
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1221:Caesar's Rhine bridges
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1114:Laudatio Iuliae amitae
1090:Constitutional reforms
1077:Lex Julia de maiestate
709:Loeb Classical Library
625:. Edward's Brother's.
606:Caesar, Gaius Julius.
839:Early life and career
451:Emperor of the French
433:Criticism and revival
223:Further information:
1438:Marcus Junius Brutus
1349:Julia Minor (sister)
1344:Julia Major (sister)
942:Invasions of Britain
859:Crossing the Rubicon
505:as possible authors.
387:pacification of Gaul
362:Publius Attius Varus
346:Caesar's lieutenant
128:de Bello Alexandrino
1277:Cossutia (disputed)
592:Henderson, pp. ix–x
535:Caesar, 1.5–8
402:Battle of Pharsalus
264:Centuriate Assembly
172:Battle of Pharsalus
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1096:Dictator perpetuo
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832:Major life events
772:Dionysius Vossius
718:978-0-674-99703-5
704:Caesar: Civil War
676:978-0-19-872406-3
654:978-0-19-965974-6
517:Henderson, p. vii
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26:
22:
1462:
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1247:Green Caesar
1177:
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771:
765:
743:
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703:
666:
644:
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544:Caesar, 1.23
540:
531:
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503:Gaius Oppius
492:
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382:Adriatic Sea
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1423:Mark Antony
1372:by Plutarch
1206:Curia Julia
1142:De analogia
1069:Legislation
1000:Dyrrhachium
967:Uxellodunum
894:Gallic Wars
849:Gallic wars
553:Caesar, 2.4
526:Caesar, 1.2
443:Middle Ages
419:Alexandrian
276:in absentia
140:Commentarii
86:Non-fiction
1480:Categories
1418:Julia gens
1252:Arles bust
1185:Last words
1084:Lex Roscia
990:Brundisium
778:Wikisource
762:Wikisource
751:Latin only
621:Civil Wars
469:References
447:Napoleon I
395:Asia Minor
364:, and the
1428:Cleopatra
1392:Caesarism
1313:Caesarion
1292:Calpurnia
1230:Portraits
1194:Buildings
1005:Pharsalus
985:Corfinium
977:Civil War
932:Octodurus
685:cite book
482:Suetonius
391:Macedonia
350:besieges
303:epicurean
247:Illyricum
92:Publisher
25:Pharsalia
1464:Category
1433:Servilia
1301:Children
1282:Cornelia
1121:Anticato
957:Gergovia
952:Avaricum
937:Morbihan
927:Atuatuci
907:Bibracte
884:Mytilene
665:(2015).
643:(2015).
427:Hispanic
376:Book III
366:Numidian
352:Massilia
309:Contents
266:and the
166:and the
162:against
60:Language
1411:Related
1287:Pompeia
1042:Thapsus
1037:Corduba
1032:Ruspina
757:Summary
599:Sources
423:African
342:Book II
331:triumph
315:scrolls
160:his war
72:History
68:Subject
1362:Legacy
1262:Family
1157:Quotes
995:Ilerda
962:Alesia
912:Vosges
715:
673:
651:
629:
493:Julius
415:Pharos
321:Book I
297:, and
295:Scipio
245:, and
231:, and
210:title
190:, and
130:
117:
50:Author
23:, see
1327:Other
1308:Julia
1270:Wives
1106:Works
1047:Munda
1015:Siege
922:Sabis
917:Axona
788:Latin
411:Egypt
368:King
358:Curio
335:Italy
208:Latin
202:Title
192:Spain
184:Egypt
176:Egypt
148:, or
105:46 BC
82:Genre
1027:Zela
902:Arar
713:ISBN
691:link
671:ISBN
649:ISBN
627:ISBN
501:and
480:See
425:and
370:Juba
287:Rome
206:The
733:At
158:of
1482::
780::
764::
742:-
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707:.
687:}}
683:{{
576:^
510:^
495:56
490::
484:,
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227:,
186:,
74:,
817:e
810:t
803:v
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27:.
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