Caesar: Gallic War VI

by E.C. Kennedy, Dashka Slater, Julius Caesar

Book Overview

Book VI of Caesar's description of his campaigns in Gaul deals with events of 53 BC, teh year after his major expedition to Britain. He suppresses revolts in Northern Gaul and crosses the Rhine to deal with maurauding Germans, then pursues the chieftain Ambiorix into the Ardennes, leaving Q. Cicero (the orator's younger brother) at Arduatuca with the Fourteenth Legion where the camp is attacked and casualties inflicted by German forces. The central...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0862920884
• ISBN13: 9780862920883
• Release Date: June 1991
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Press
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

caesar the historian

Caesar's Gallic War (the literary work, not the actual war) is an interesting exercise in a politician attempting to justify and explain his conquest of Gaul to ordinary Romans while also trying to show his breadth of learned-ness - quite a task, really. He pretty much pulls it off, too...but that is another matter altogether, more suited to Classics students' essay topics. This edition of the Sixth Book of De Bello Gallico is, as are most BCP texts, best for students - at times some of the most self-evident phrases are 'helpfully' translated. The vocab at the back is helpful if a little narrow in interpreting the nuances of words; it's always quite nice to find you won't have to drag your Lewis & Short/Chambers & Murray out to translate or along to class... The introductory passages at the beginning of the edition are in general interesting, if a little dry and unspecific at times. The small glosses at the beginning of each chapter are almost too explanatory - it ends up taking half the surprise out of what might happen in the chapter...but I suppose it's all for the best and prevents you getting completely lost in the rare complex phrases of Caesar, or totally getting the wrong idea due to mistranslating one word.In general, this edition is helpful and suits undergraduate language students (though the series is apparently aimed at 'A' and 'O' level students!) though perhaps the more learned out there will sniff at the simplicities...