Caesar agains the Celts

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klewlis
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Caesar agains the Celts

Post by klewlis »

I just picked up this book "Caesar against the Celts" by Ramon L Jimenez. I've only read the first chapter so far and it is very good... engaging and well-written. Has anyone else read this?

MDS
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Post by MDS »

I have read it, I thought it was very good as well. However, its at home so I can't refresh my memory of it plot-wise.

From what I can remember it was a very solid plot but it was the precise writing and character development that got me.

Does anyone know if Jimenez has written other books?

The best fiction book I've ever read about the Roman invasion of Britannia is The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge (better known for her Egyptian books). It takes the invastion from the Celtic point of view and although it is fictional it seems to be very solid historically. Kinda like a Colleen McCullough. So it you were interested in Casesar Against the Celts you might also want to look into this one.

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klewlis
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Post by klewlis »

it's not fiction! it's just a history.

:)

MDS
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Post by MDS »

Oh yes, I know Caesar against the Celts isn't fiction. Re-reading my post it might have been unclear. I only meant that if you were interested in reading a good fiction book on the same topic I thought of one that would suffice.

bingley
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Post by bingley »

Then there's this: http://www.sankey.ca/caesar/archive.html

JC's recently discovered weblog. 8)

Skylax
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Post by Skylax »

Remember : we don't know what happened, we know almost only what Caesar said, and often we can see that he said only what was good for him. For example, when he says that he captured an oppidum swiftly, he don't say how big it was. If he captured a big oppidum, he don't say how much time it took to do it. He says here that the Helvetii wanted to move from their territory because they were unable to make war as easy as they wanted to do it, but he says there that these Gauls are continuously fighting against Germans.

About Britain, Caesar could have said "I came, I saw, I left". The operation was destined to impress the Romans (This operation was indeed as amazing as a landing on the Moon), but it had no concrete results.

After all, I'm not sure that Caesar was "Against the Celts" : he was first of all "For Himself". And his cavalry, even during the Gallic War, was almost constantly made up of Gauls, except at the very end, when he enlisted... German horsemen!

Note also that "the Celts" didn't form a coherent political or military organisation. Each Gallic state (civitas) felt free to act according to its own interests, even against other "Celts", except during the Vercingetorix episode.

I think that Caesar was a filou

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