Short Synopsis
The exciting, dramatic story of one of history's most famous events—the death of Julius Caesar—told from an original, fresh perspective, now placed in full context of Rome's civil wars by eminent historian Barry Strauss.

Full Synopsis
William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man—Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend. It was he, not Brutus, who truly betrayed Caesar.

Caesar's assassins saw him as a military dictator who wanted to be king. He threatened a permanent change in the Roman way of life and in the power of senators. The assassins rallied support among the common people, but they underestimated Caesar's soldiers, who flooded Rome. The assassins were vanquished; their beloved Republic became the Roman Empire.

"Strauss takes us deep into the psyche of ancient history in an exciting, twisted tale that is sure to please." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"This stupendous book has all the pace and action of a top-quality thriller---murder, lust, betrayal and high politics---yet it's all true, and comes from the pen of the world's senior academic expert in the field." ---Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon: A Life

"Robertson Dean's subtly dark, intimate tone gives Strauss's account of Caesar's assassination a sense of the urgency and danger of those days." ---AudioFile

"[T]he book is particularly strong in its description of military organization and engagements." ---Library Journal Audio Reviews

Kirkus Review