Book description
Unraveling the many mysteries surrounding the murder of Julius Caesar
The assassination of Julius Caesar is one of the most notorious
murders in history. Two thousand years after it occurred, many
compelling questions remain about his death: Was Brutus the hero and
Caesar the villain? Did Caesar bring death on himself by planning to
make himself king of Rome? Was Mark Antony aware of the plot, and let
it go forward? Who wrote Antony's script after Caesar's death? Using
historical evidence to sort out these and other puzzling issues,
historian and award-winning author Stephen Dando-Collins takes you to
the world of ancient Rome and recaptures the drama of Caesar's demise
and the chaotic aftermath as the vicious struggle for power between
Antony and Octavian unfolded. For the first time, he shows how the
religious festivals and customs of the day impacted on the way the
assassination plot unfolded. He shows, too, how the murder was almost
avoided at the last moment.
A compelling history that is packed with intrigue and written with
the pacing of a first-rate mystery, The Ides will challenge
what you think you know about Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire.
Stephen Dando-Collins is an Australian-born historian and
award-winning author who has spent more than three decades studying
the individual legions of the Roman army of the late Republic and the
empire of the Caesars. He is the author of Caesar's Legion: The Epic
Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome,
Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable Fourteenth
Legion, Cleopatra's Kidnappers: How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt
to Rome and Rome to Caesar, Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third
Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor, and Blood of
the Caesars: How the Murder of Germanicus Led to the Fall of Rome.
