Julius Caesar the general - Ides of March Special

Ave Caesare!

Thank you sir, we appreciate you and your expertise

The ides of March, a day of infamy

Thank you. Although I have read and heard much about Caesar, you consistently provide insights that I had never previously heard or considered.

Just like to say I thoroughly enjoy your stuff. So I will. Keep up the good work! Might even read some of your books. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Would be good if it was Roman army based, Middle class young man making his way as a career officer. Not too much romance - just enough. I've got this amazon voucher burning a hole in me pocket!

Very appreciated , thanks

Amazing!

FUCK YEA!! ADRIAN!! ADRIAN!! ADRIAN!!

Reading your "Caesar" very good.

thinking about Rome again

I heard a podcast* some years ago (Au Coeur De L' Histoire) in which it was said that"Jules" was stabbed to death with the styli used to incise wax tablets rather than knives and daggers. Is there any evidence for that? *I downloaded it from the Europe1 site some years ago.

😮

Glad you avoided the best generals trope, it's top Trump level nonsense , I dislike hypothetical discussion, I especially hate "what ifs"

Thanks

I'm all settled in on favourable ground with a secure supply of corn to re-watch this excellent presentation.

Thank you for all these videos - thoroughly enjoy every single one.

We're so lucky to have a scholar like you produce content !!

I expect Caesar almost certainly knew a great deal about Britain, trade between Gaul and Britain had been going on routinely for centuries.

Adrian, I've purchased all of your non-fiction books, even Rome and Persia. Do you have a patreon account or another way to show support for all of this great free content??

What a gem of a channel

Mid presentation musing. Other than their shared ambition, assessing the relative military skills of historical figures like Caesar (eg, Napoleon, Saladin, Mao Zedong) who conquered to gain power to those of anointed Kings (eg, Alexander, Xerxes, Genghis Khan) who used power to gain conquests.

In the name of Rome, one of my favorite books, thank you 🙏

Caesar landed in Britain twice and both times he had to scamper back across the Channel.
According to Jules it was a brilliant success but then no one else left a contemporary account so he could present it any how he liked.
Even the Romans admit that the Britons never paid any tribute but I read in modern histories that was because the Romans couldn't be bothered to send a ship (!)
Should we not perhaps make more of this repulse of the Baddest Roman of them all?

Let’s make this simple. Harmless Gaul tribe walking around . Julius sees opportunity for victory. Chase hapless tribe into a small town fort and built ramparts around the small. Tribes come over to help. His troops had experience so defeat both charges. Gaul leader comes out from starvation.. He says hi and had him strangled. Declares victory goes to Rome and gets publicity. History continues from there.

is there any evidence of any change in Caesar's character, attitude or plans after the harsh campaign of Munda?

I'm always surprised at how many of the assassins were "friends" of Caesars! I know he was popular with the general people,but Caesar must have really really rubbed some of the elites the wrong way! Still a great Commander!

Caesar was a lucky general but as Sir Alex Ferguson used to say about Man Utd; the better we get the luckier we seem to be!

Hello Mr. Goldsworthy. Could you do a video on legion vs phalanx. Which one is better? It seems people who are pro phalanx say Rome could only beat it due to the hilly or uneven terrain but on flat ground with hypasists and cavalry on the flanks the legion would get defeated on average like against Pyrrhus of Epirus.

What's interesting about Caesar when compared to Alexander or Napoleon. Caesar was middle-aged, wasn't he? 40s? Ghenghis khan was middle-aged when he started his invasions outside of Mongolia. But even Ghenghis had been campaigning in his youth,consolidating the tribes. But Caesars military career starts relatively late! And he hits it "out of the park" so to speak! That's unusual, isn't it?

Music sounds like a US western movie. Interesting. Thank you Prof. G.

I need to purchase your book about Julius Caesar.

A great commander doesn’t risk himself and thus his army. The Homeric archetype notwithstanding.

Thank you so much for the video! I know it is off topic, but may I inquire about the title of the outro song?

❤

do a video on Quintus Sertorius..

Did Belisarius fight more than 50 pitched battles?

OMG! Só Cesar was a great writer too, the man really lived life to the fullest....

A Flashman ref - love it!

Adrian. Can’t you buy a lovely library bookcase as a backdrop in your study??😊

Roman armies did entrench every night but Caesar could also move his arse quickly with his legions if he needed to!

I feel like I would have liked Pompey a lot more than Caesar.

Pompey may have been an arrogant bastard, but at least he wasn't a phony.


Maybe that's what Labienus was on about with Caesar's "fine words."

What was Caesar doing during the Spartacus rebellion. Do we know?

I appreciate your measured and objective coverage of these details, considering how much primary sources are scanty.

You are my favorite ancient historian. Your knowledge, enthusiasm and energy is contagious. Thank you so much for making these podcasts available! It's too bad that Caesar and Pompey became enemies. Imagine an army trained, supplied, and organized by Pompey while Caesar conducted the battles - unbeatable.

I feel like this initial critique of Caesar is too harsh. Particularly this take, that he "let's you imagine what happened", just like some confirmed liar. So I went and imagined what happened.

They were likely under fire, started backing off and congested themselves. Caesar grabbed a shield, because he absolutely needed it for protection. He went forward and started calling centurions by name, because he knew which centurion commanded which unit, not because he could have recognized a guy with a face covered with a helmet. There's a reason why Hollywood insists on actors not wearing those on the screen. After panic was averted, Caesar went to do other, at this moment more important stuff.

Yes, Alexander, Pyrrus or even very occasionally Pompey did more flamboyant stuff, but they did it on horseback . There's a big difference between being stuck in close melee in an infantry battle, where you can't move, can't reach anyone, but fight for your own survival, and leading a cavalry charge. When Alexander commanded infantry, he was not doing that either and when Caesar decided to command auxillae, he was doing the Alexander thingy.


Caesar's style is characterized rather by an excess of courage (sometimes called rashness) then caution. He did risk his own life every time he made a decision to go into the enemy territory, become ambushed and barely survive. If he lost those battles, he'd not be able to run away, like Pompey at Pharsalos. He'd end up like Varus.

Cesar was a great general, politician and writer. People don’t realize how great of a writer Cesar was

Disappointed in that I waited 7 months to listen to this lecture. Julius Caesar had such a huge influence on military leaders throughout history. So many Generals tried to emulate him in the centuries that followed. Napoleon, Rommel, Patton to name just a few. He must have been remarkable for how else is he still such a studied figure.

Flashman mentioned. Video liked