Warlords of Republican Rome: Caesar Against Pompey

351 Pages·2010·6.4 MB·English

by  Nic Fields

Contents
Acknowledgements
Chronology
The Careers of Pompey and Caesar
Key to Forenames
Key to Legionary Titles
Maps
Prologue
1. Republican Legions
2. The Forerunner
3. The Rise of Pompey
4. Pompey at War
5. The Rise of Caesar
6. Caesar at War
7. Pompey versus Caesar
8. Caesar’s Triumph
9. Caesar’s Legacy
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
To Esther
Without you
Who am I
But a simple, ordinary guy
Acknowledgements
Like many other small boys of my generation I soon grasped that ‘the Romans
were top nation on account of their classical education, etc.’ I consider myself
fortunate to have had a classical education, albeit as a ‘mature’ student, and in
particular I owe a debt of gratitude to Jeremy Paterson for illuminating the rather
tortuous political life of the late Republic. Though I still treasure the wit and
eloquence of Sellar and Yeatman, I now appreciate that Caesar did more than
just land ‘at Thanet’.
I offer my thanks and appreciation to Rupert Harding of Pen & Sword for his
enthusiasm, encouragement and, above all, heroic patience. Likewise to all those
students who had to endure my boisterous zeal for the subject during the course
of my brief academic career at Edinburgh, with special thanks being offered to
Brian Marshall for his professional help and continued friendship. Finally, my
greatest thanks go to ma femme (d’esprit), Esther, who has been with me on this
project all along the way.
Chronology
During their official year, which was named after them, the two consuls were
irresponsible and irremovable. Originally the consular year had begun on the
Ides of March (the month named for Mars, the god of war), resulting in the
consuls remaining in office for the first few months of the following year, but
from 153 BC the beginning of the civil year was altered from 15 March to 1
January. Numerals in brackets after a name signify whether the man held the
consulship before, while the abbreviation cos. suff. denotes consul suffectus, a
consul elected to replace another who had either died in office or resigned before
completing his term.