Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34321 in Books
• Published on: 1983-02-24
• Original language: Latin
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres... It is, perhaps, the most famous opening line of any memoir in Western civilization. What Caesar and the Romans called "Gaul," although we usually think of it as France, also comprised Belgium, the German lands west of the Rhine, southern Holland, and much of Switzerland. This is the only military campaign of the ancient world for which we have a chronicle written by the general who conducted it, and Julius Caesar is an insightful historian, with a keen eye for detail, as in this scene from the repulsion of the forces of the German king Ariovistus:

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

Language Notes
Text: English, Latin (translation)

Customer Reviews

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).