Stephen Dando-Collins
The Ides
Caesar's Murder and the War for Rome
New Yersey 2010
Stron XV+269, format: 16x24 cm
Książka bez śladów używania
Sixty killers, wearing tke purple-trimmed togas ol Roman senators, unskeatked tkeir kidden daggers to stak tke most feared and powerful man in tke Empire. Hundreds ol tkeir colleagues ran screaming from tke Tkeater ol Pompey tke Great, proclaiming tke kloody deed to tke tkousands of citizens wko clogged tke streets outside. It was tke most puklic of crimes. Yet, two millennia after tke murder of Julius Caesar, many Questions remain unanswered. ^Vas Brutus a treasonous villain or a kero ol Rome? Were tke killers motivated by noble sentiment or vena lity? Wky did so many of Caesar s formerly loyal lieutenants take part in tke murder?
In 7/ie Ides, celekrated autkor and classical researcker Stepken Dando-Collins transports vou to tke streets, palaces, and gatkering places of ancient Rome to experience a rickly detailed, convincingly accurate, and stunningly suspenseful accou nt of C aesar s final days. He traces tke conspiracy tkat k rou gkl tke conqueror down, from a surprising koliday meeting ketween Cassius and Brutus to its ckaotic conclusion and keyond.
Drawing deeply from ancient manuscripts, Dando-Collins documents Caesars campaign to persuade tke Senate, wkick kad already declared kim a living god, to appoint kim king of Rome kefore kis planned departure on a military mission on Nlarck 19, 44 B.C. He reveals wky many Romans already considered Caesar a tyrant and wky Brutus, wko may well kave keen Caesar s illegitimate son, felt a special okligation to depose tkis man wko would ke king.
Tk is compe lling k istory follows tke mercurial Cassius and even-tempered Brutus as they care-lullv feel out potential co-conspirators, knowing tkat one wrong ckoice could ke tkeir last.
It reveals the dramatic length s to which Brulus s wife Porcia went to prove he could trust her with his secret; why Caesar, even as the tillers paced in restless anticipation of his arrival, canceled the Senate session he had called; and how a close associate convinced him to change his mind.
Complete with a thoughtful analysis of why the plotters failed in their aim to restore the Republic and a chilling account of the deadly power struggles that continued for years after Caesar s death, The Ides is must reading for anyone fascinated with the Roman Empire, military history, and an incredibly good tale well told.
CONTENTS
Atlas xi
Author's Note xv
Introduction 1
Part One The Conspiracy
i January 26, 44 b.c.: Seven Weeks before the Assassination 7
ii February 15, 44 b.c.: The Lupercalia 12
iii February 22, 44 b.c: The Caristia Reconciliation 18
iv February 24, 44 b.c.: Pressuring Brutus 28
v March 1, 44 b.c, The Kalends of March: Dictator for Life 30
vi March 2, 44 b.c.: Recruiting Fellow Assassins 41
vii March 7, 44 b.c: A Visit from One of Caesar's Generals 45
viii March 9, 44 b.c: Porcia's Secret 50
ix March 14, 44 b.c., Afternoon: Cleopatra and the Equirria 54
x March 14, 44 b.c., Evening: The Best Sort of Death 58
Part Two The Murder
xi March 15, 44 b.c.: The Ides of March: Caesar Awakens 67
xii March 15, 44 b.c.: The Ides of March: In the Dark before Dawn . 69
xiii March 15, 44 b.c., The Ides of March: Caesar Must Suffer Caesar's Fate 80
xiv March 15, 44 b.c., The Ides of March: The Crime 89
xv March 15, 44 b.c: The Gathering Storm 95
Part Three Aftermath and Retribution
xvi March 16, 44 b.c: Pleading for the Republic 105
xvii March 17, 44 b.c.: The Jostle for Control 107
xviii March 18, 44 b.c: The Liberators Gain the Advantage 115
xix March 19, 44 b.c: Caesar's Will 118
xx March 20, 44 b.c: Caesar's Funeral 122
xxi March 21, 44 b.c: Antony Consolidates His Grip 127
xxii March 24, 44 b.c: Enter Octavius 130
xxiii March 27, 44 b.c: The Name of Caesar 132
xxiv April 7, 44 b.c: Wise Oppius 134
xxv April 10, 44 b.c: Caesar's Heir 136
xxvi April 11, 44 b.c: Octavian Meets with Antony 138
xxvii April 14, 44 b.c: The Aedile's Refusal 141
xxvm April 22, 44 b.c.: Octavian Seeks Cicero's Support 143
xxix May 11, 44 b.c: I Don't Trust Him a Yard 145
xxx May 18, 44 b.c.: Undermining Antony 148
xxxi May 31, 44 b.c.: Reforming the Praetorian Cohorts 149
xxxii June 2, 44 b.c: Antony Outsmarts the Senate 152
xxxiii June 7, 44 b.c: No Plan, No Thought, No Method 155
xxxiv July 13, 44 b.c: The Last Day of Brutus's Games 161
xxxv July 20, 44 b.c: The Liberators' Manifesto 163
xxxvi July 28, 44 b.c: Cicero's Departure 167
xxxvii August 16, 44 b.c: Like Hector the Hero 169
xxxviii August 30, 44 b.c: Cicero Returns to Rome 171
xxxix September 15, 44 b.c: The Liberators Reach Greece 173
xl September 23, 44 b.c: Octavian's Nineteenth Birthday 175
xli September 28, 44 b.c.: The Plot to Assassinate Antony 177
xlii October 9, 44 b.c.: A Dreadful State of Affairs 179
xliii October 18, 44 b.c.: Antony Joins His Legions 182
xliv November 4, 44 b.c.: Octavian Recruits an Army 185
xlv November 18, 44 b.c.: The Road to War 187
xlvi November 27-30, 44 b.c.: Anthony's Legions Rebel 190
xlvii Early December 44 b.c.: The Rise of the Liberators 194
xlviii Second Half of December 44 b.c.: Antony Makes His Move 198
xlix January 1-4, 43 b.c.: Debating Antony's Fate 202
l Late December 44 b.c.-Early January 43 b.c.: The First Assassin to Fall 205
li February 4, 43 b.c.: State of Emergency 207
lii April 14-26, 43 b.c.: The Mutina Battles 209
Liii May 7, 43 b.c.: Cassius Overruns Syria 211
liv May 30, 43 b.c.: Lepidus's Betrayal 213
lv August 19, 43 b.c.: Octavian Charges Caesar's Murderers 216
lvi Early November 43 b.c.: The Triumvirate and the Proscription 218
lvii December 7, 43 b.c.: Killing Cicero 220
lviii October 1-21, 42 b.c: The Battles of Philippi 222
lix Judging the Assassins and the Victim 226
Notes 231
Bibliography 253
Index 257
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