Osprey Essential Histories 43 : Caesar's Gallic Wars 58-50 BC

Caesar's Gallic Wars 58-50 BC are familiar to many who studied Latin at school and his commentaries provide us with the most detailed surviving eye-witness account of a campaign from antiquity. This book uses Caesar's own account and other surviving evidence to consider the background to the war, the course of the campaigns and the consequences of the conquest of Gaul, to the Gallic tribes, to the Roman state and to Caesar himself, one of the most ambitious and successful Roman politicians of the late Roman Republic. Caesar's conquest of Gaul took place in the context of the collapse of the Roman Republic and its slide towards civil war. The course of Caesar's campaigns was greatly influenced not only by the military situation in Gaul, but by the needs of his own political advancement, to maintain a large and loyal army and to preserve his popularity and reputation in Rome. His reputation was greatly enhanced not only by his swift conquest of Gaul, but also through the first Roman invasions, under his leadership, of Germany and Britain. Caesar's short but bloody conquest of the Celtic tribes led to the establishment of the Roman province of Gaul (modern France). Despite his reputation even today as one of the great generals of antiquity, and the accessibility of his account of the Gallic War, few works have concentrated exclusively on his military campaigns and there are none applying modern approaches to the study of war in antiquity and the effects of warfare on ancient societies. Text by Kate Gilliver.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Background to War : Building an Empire
• Warring Sides : Discipline vs. Spectacle
• Outbreak : The Migration of the Helvetii
• The Fighting : Invasion, Siege and Conquest
• Portrait of a Soldier : Caesar's Centurions
• The World around War : The Impact of the Conflict
• Portrait of a Civilian : Roman Merchants
• How the War Ended : Roman Triumphs
• Conclusion and Consequences : Pax Romana
• Further Reading
• Index