ABSTRACT

Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great were two of the greatest generals Rome ever produced. Together they had brought vast stretches of territory under Roman dominion. But in 49 BC they turned against one another and plunged Rome into civil war, with legion pitched against legion in a vicious battle for political domination of the vast Roman world. Based on original sources, Adrian Goldsworthy's book provides a gripping account of this desperate power struggle, in which the armies were evenly matched but Caesar's genius as a commander and his remarkable luck brought him victory in 45 BC.

chapter 1|5 pages

Background to war

The First Triumvirate

chapter 2|6 pages

Warring sides

Legion against legion

chapter 3|4 pages

Outbreak

Crossing the Rubicon

chapter 4|29 pages

The fighting

Civil War

chapter 5|5 pages

Portrait of a soldier

Caesar's centurions

chapter 6|4 pages

The world around war

A Mediterranean war

chapter 7|3 pages

Portrait of a civilian

Cicero and the Civil War

chapter 8|5 pages

How the war ended

The Ides of March

chapter 9|7 pages

Conclusion and consequences

Civil wars and the end of the Republic