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J. P. V. D. BALSDON, Julius Caesar and Rome. London, The English Universities Press, 1967. VIII, 184 p. Pr. sh. 12/6

J. P. V. D. BALSDON, Julius Caesar and Rome. London, The English Universities Press, 1967. VIII,... 458 DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA J. P. V. D. BALSDON, Julius Caesar and Rome. London, The English Universities Press, 1967. VIII, 184 p. Pr. sh. 12/6. The intention of this book is to open up a significant historical theme by way of a biography of a great man. ` Rome' - the historical theme-stands for 'the Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic'. The author has admirably succeeded in his task. His earlier publications gave him a reputation for good writing. This last book has in my opinion more than corroborated that reputation. Com- pared with Gelzer's book, differences become apparent especially in two aspects: a relatively large part is devoted to the survey of Caesar's political, diplomatic and, above all, military activities. Less stress has been put on Caesar as the only man who could cope with the fundamental problems of the Empire and its administra- tion. However, both agree in their sober admiration for Caesar's strong points, as well as in their honest underlining of his weaknesses. Mr. Balsdon rejects the unwarranted hypothesis of Caesar's set purpose of establishing monarchy. Those of the conspirators who formerly had been Caesar's loyal lieutenants in Gaul and in the Civil War, can in a sense be compared with Alexander's Macedonian followers protesting against the introduction of proskynesis. But this does not mean that Caesar tried to imitate Alexander. The best thing one can do is what Mr. Balsdon does: not to be over-confident. Perhaps even to Caesar himself his conception of himself remained to the end an unsolved problem; he only knew that he did not fit in with any of the traditional patterns: "I am not King, I am Caesar". LEIDEN, Boerhaavelaan 164 M. A. WES DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA H. CHANTRAINE, Freigelassene und Sklaven im Dienst der römischen Kaiser. Studien zu ihrer Nomenklatur (Forschungen zur antiken Sklaverei, 1). Wiesbaden, F. Steiner, 1967. XIV, 419 S. Pr. DM 70.-. Mit dieser Arbeit wird eine von J. Vogt und H.-U. Instinsky herausgegebene Reihe eroffnet, in der insbesondere Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der antiken Sklaverei und angrenzender Bereiche veroffentlicht werden sollen. Urspringlich war vom Verf. eine mehr soziologisch orientierte Untersuchung iiber die kaiserlichen Freigelassenen und die Entwicklung ihrer Stellung im offentlichen Dienst beabsichtigt, doch stellte sich einerseits bald die Notwendig- keit heraus, auch die Sklaven mit einzubeziehen, andererseits erwies sich das von der Literatur gcbotene Material als wenig aufschlussreich. Damit rickten Inschriften und Papyri mehr in den Vordergrund, was jedoch den Charakter der Arbeit ent- http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mnemosyne Brill

J. P. V. D. BALSDON, Julius Caesar and Rome. London, The English Universities Press, 1967. VIII, 184 p. Pr. sh. 12/6

Mnemosyne , Volume 22 (4): 458 – Jan 1, 1969

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1969 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0026-7074
eISSN
1568-525X
DOI
10.1163/156852569X00346
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

458 DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA J. P. V. D. BALSDON, Julius Caesar and Rome. London, The English Universities Press, 1967. VIII, 184 p. Pr. sh. 12/6. The intention of this book is to open up a significant historical theme by way of a biography of a great man. ` Rome' - the historical theme-stands for 'the Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic'. The author has admirably succeeded in his task. His earlier publications gave him a reputation for good writing. This last book has in my opinion more than corroborated that reputation. Com- pared with Gelzer's book, differences become apparent especially in two aspects: a relatively large part is devoted to the survey of Caesar's political, diplomatic and, above all, military activities. Less stress has been put on Caesar as the only man who could cope with the fundamental problems of the Empire and its administra- tion. However, both agree in their sober admiration for Caesar's strong points, as well as in their honest underlining of his weaknesses. Mr. Balsdon rejects the unwarranted hypothesis of Caesar's set purpose of establishing monarchy. Those of the conspirators who formerly had been Caesar's loyal lieutenants in Gaul and in the Civil War, can in a sense be compared with Alexander's Macedonian followers protesting against the introduction of proskynesis. But this does not mean that Caesar tried to imitate Alexander. The best thing one can do is what Mr. Balsdon does: not to be over-confident. Perhaps even to Caesar himself his conception of himself remained to the end an unsolved problem; he only knew that he did not fit in with any of the traditional patterns: "I am not King, I am Caesar". LEIDEN, Boerhaavelaan 164 M. A. WES DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA H. CHANTRAINE, Freigelassene und Sklaven im Dienst der römischen Kaiser. Studien zu ihrer Nomenklatur (Forschungen zur antiken Sklaverei, 1). Wiesbaden, F. Steiner, 1967. XIV, 419 S. Pr. DM 70.-. Mit dieser Arbeit wird eine von J. Vogt und H.-U. Instinsky herausgegebene Reihe eroffnet, in der insbesondere Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der antiken Sklaverei und angrenzender Bereiche veroffentlicht werden sollen. Urspringlich war vom Verf. eine mehr soziologisch orientierte Untersuchung iiber die kaiserlichen Freigelassenen und die Entwicklung ihrer Stellung im offentlichen Dienst beabsichtigt, doch stellte sich einerseits bald die Notwendig- keit heraus, auch die Sklaven mit einzubeziehen, andererseits erwies sich das von der Literatur gcbotene Material als wenig aufschlussreich. Damit rickten Inschriften und Papyri mehr in den Vordergrund, was jedoch den Charakter der Arbeit ent-

Journal

MnemosyneBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1969

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