I, Julius Caesar: A Graphic History of an Extraordinary Destiny

by Alfred de Montesquiou, NEVIL (Illustrator)

A bold and immersive first-person retelling—and a brilliantly compelling graphic history—of Roman ruler Julius Caesar’s epic, eventful life

Few people have made a bigger mark on history—and lived such an adventurous life—as Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE). A sickly orphan boy who would climb to the top of the Roman Empire, his life was nothing short of legendary. How could Julius, a scrawny, penniless teenager, become Caesar, the most powerful man in the world? How could he vanquish every enemy who crossed his path, only to be assassinated by men he called friends? To tell this story, there’s no one better than Caesar himself—and thanks to extraordinarily intensive research, he can do so here.

Brought to life through striking illustrations, this is a chronicle of the man who was a triumphant general, shrewd politician, and tyrannical dictator. Beginning with his humble roots in Suburra, Caesar brings readers along for bloody battles against his rival, Pompey, and into heated debates on the floor of the Roman Senate. He recounts the campaign that led him into Egypt—and to an affair with Cleopatra—and his reforms in Roman society, from the calendar to a census. And in his own words, Caesar narrates his own death on March 15, 44 BCE—the Ides of March.

Award-winning journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker Alfred de Montesquiou interviewed over thirty of the world’s most eminent historians of ancient Rome, many of whom specialize in different periods of Caesar’s life, which made it possible to pull off a stupendous feat—to write this graphic history based exclusively on documented facts. Accompanied by masterful artwork by Névil, I, Julius Caesar is history like you’ve never experienced it before.

Genres: Comics, History, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 11, 2026

Reviews

[Lawrence Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for advance access.

I am a student of history, and I enjoy graphic novels. This seemed like a great marriage of those two interests of mine. Ultimately, the work, as a whole, was bland and depthless. In the end, it felt like a recitation of facts loosely collected without any sort of narrative hook to draw them all together into a satisfying story.

The art was engaging, but many of the characters sort of blend together. Background art build a great sense of environments.

The end of the graphic novel includes extensive historical notes to further flesh out some of the information in the panels throughout the graphic novel.

This is a review of the English version of the graphic novel; the Spanish version is the only one on Goodreads at this time.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot I liked about I, Julius Caesar, but I also found it surprisingly difficult to get through.

I really like the framing device: Caesar is telling the story of his life at a dinner party on the night before his assassination, surrounded by some of the most famous people in Rome,including several of the people who are about to conspire against him. It’s a clever perspective, and I especially liked seeing Caesar tell his own version of his life.

The artwork is also really interesting. There are some great visual details, including the triumph, and some scenes draw on famous paintings and other works of art (I particularly noticed this with the Catilinarian conspiracy and Cicero). Unfortunately, the military campaigns really dragged for me. The Gallic Wars go on and on, but so do the other campaigns, with many pages that look quite similar to one another. I often found myself slogging through rather than enjoying the book.

I also think the Caesar-centered perspective creates some problems. We hear plenty about Caesar’s accomplishments and glory, but not nearly as much about their cost to Rome or why the conspirators believed they needed to act against him. That makes the assassination feel somewhat less complicated than it really was. I also found it interesting that Octavius never appears, given how important he will become almost immediately afterward.

The other issue is the treatment of sources. I appreciated that the book includes notes pointing readers toward its historical sources, and I think this could actually make the book really useful in a classroom. But Caesar’s life is already heavily shaped by myth, legend, propaganda, and conflicting ancient accounts. Because the book presents everything through Caesar’s narrative, there isn’t much room to explore those complications or the process of turning messy ancient evidence into a coherent historical story. I also think the book might be difficult for someone who doesn’t already know much about Caesar’s life.

Ultimately, I’d still recommend this to students, and I could see myself using portions of it in class. The source notes could make for a really fun assignment where students track down the sources for particular scenes and compare different ancient accounts. As a whole, though, I found it too slow and repetitive to be a particularly enjoyable read.


Thanks you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Superisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hay personajes históricos de los que creemos saber prácticamente todo. Julio César es uno de ellos. Todos hemos oído hablar de la conquista de la Galia, del cruce del Rubicón, de Cleopatra o de los idus de marzo. Sin embargo, este cómic ha conseguido algo que no esperaba: hacer que dejara de ver al personaje histórico para empezar a conocer a la persona.

Me ha gustado muchísimo la forma en que está contado. La historia comienza la noche anterior a su asesinato y es el propio Julio César quien, en primera persona, va recordando toda su vida hasta regresar a ese mismo instante. Sabemos desde el principio cómo terminará todo y, aun así, el interés no desaparece en ningún momento. Al contrario, hace que quieras seguir leyendo para entender cómo llegó hasta allí.

Lo que más me ha sorprendido ha sido descubrir al Julio César más humano. Siempre había pensado en él como un general brillante, un político extraordinario o uno de los personajes más importantes de la Historia. Aquí, en cambio, he encontrado a una persona con aspiraciones, con ambición, con una enorme capacidad para sobreponerse a las dificultades y también con muchas contradicciones. Alguien que luchó por destacar, que tomó decisiones muy duras cuando creyó que debía hacerlo y que terminó encontrando la muerte, no entre sus enemigos, sino entre quienes consideraba de los suyos.

Mientras avanzaba la lectura hubo una idea que no dejaba de rondarme la cabeza. Han pasado más de dos mil años y, sin embargo, las personas seguimos sintiendo muchas de las mismas cosas. El dolor por perder a una hija, a una madre o a un ser querido, la ambición, el miedo, la traición… Quizá en aquella época aprendían a convivir con el sufrimiento de otra manera, pero seguía siendo sufrimiento. Y creo que esa ha sido una de las reflexiones que más me ha gustado llevarme del cómic.

A nivel de guion me ha parecido un trabajo impresionante. Se nota el enorme trabajo de documentación que hay detrás y entiendo perfectamente que haya tan pocas licencias narrativas. La propia vida de Julio César ya es tan apasionante que apenas necesita añadidos. Quizá por eso se acerca más a una gran biografía ilustrada que a una novela gráfica histórica al uso. Personalmente, sí he echado un poco de menos una mayor carga emocional, pero también entiendo que esa elección forma parte de la forma en que los autores han querido acercarse al personaje.

El dibujo también me ha gustado mucho. Me parece un acierto que no intenten convertir a Julio César en una figura perfecta o casi mitológica. Lo muestran como una persona más. Y si tuviera que quedarme con algo serían los paisajes. Especialmente el mar. Hacía tiempo que un cómic no conseguía transmitirme una sensación tan física. Había viñetas en las que casi podía sentir el oleaje, el olor a sal y la humedad del ambiente.

He terminado el cómic con la sensación de haber conocido mucho mejor al ser humano que había detrás del personaje histórico. Y creo que ese es, precisamente, el mayor logro de esta obra.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. I’m not a big history person and thought this would be a fun way to take it in, but it didn’t really land for me. There were too many characters to keep track of, and while the art was clearly skilled, it just wasn’t my style.

The story itself had some wild moments though. Him marrying an older woman, then a younger one, then getting pulled into all this drama about divorcing… all at like 18?? And yeah the whole selling-his-body-for-ships-and-gold situation… I was like okay wait lol maybe this is interesting. He’s messy.

The reading experience itself was rough. I couldn’t read it on my phone at all, which is usually how I consume digital comics, and even on my computer I couldn’t zoom properly. I ended up on my iPad and still had to zoom in constantly. Not sure if it was the reader I used but it made it frustrating. And honestly I wish there was just less text overall. It felt dense and dragged for me.

Usually I fly through graphic novels but this one took me way longer than it should have.

[Bungaku Shoujo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite being one of the most famous people in western history, works of fiction focusing specifically on Julius Caesar are not as common as you might think. While widely depicted, many works where he appears are Shakespeare adaptations, ensemble casts, or Cleopatra stories, and almost all such narratives focus on the last five years of his life. De Montesquiou is therefore walking on largely untrodden terrain in attempting to tell the story of his life from birth to death.

He does this via a framing device of Caesar recounting his life story to a motley crew of his peers, ranging from Servilia to Servius Sulpicius Galba, at the dinner party he attended at Lepidus’ house the night before his death. His narration is accompanied by text boxes providing further historical context (though if you thought that would stop the As You Know Bob-ing in the text, you’d be wrong), putting the book is a similar “semi-fictionalized ‘graphic biography’” category as Kristina Gehrmann’s Bloody Mary. While Caesar begins by lying about his birth, and sometimes seems to be tailoring his story to the tastes of the people in the room (such as when he recounts returning home to his wife, who he is depicted as genuinely loving, but still saying that “of course, Servilia, my dear, you were still the loveliest woman of all”), he otherwise seems to be a reliable narrator, which kind of squandered a lot of potential in having him be the narrator; it’s not like his real life writing is prized for its honesty. There was, for example, one scene where Plutarch’s claim that Caesar couldn’t sleep after losing at Dyrrachium, which is not found in Caesar’s own account of the war, was shown; De Montesquiou had the opportunity to have Caesar say something like “despite my losses, I remained strong and determined” only to show his restless night, but he passes it up. I also found it unclear how much of what was being depicted was meant to be an actual visualization of what Caesar was telling the group, especially the Nicomedes episode, where he really does have an affair with him.

The marketing heavily played up the book’s alleged historical accuracy, even claiming that it was “based exclusively on documented facts”. In commitment to the bit, the final pages are notes explaining where De Montesquiou got his information from and where he exercised his artistic license. Given that so many authors trumpet their allegedly deep research that isn’t all that apparent in the final product, I was skeptical. While De Montesquiou includes numerous easter eggs for knowledgeable readers, and the book is far from the most egregious offender of historical inaccuracy, it certainly isn't exclusively based on facts, and not all of the changes are mentioned in the notes. While some of these were minor (Caesar says he had to “earn a living” through his work as a lawyer, but Roman lawyers couldn’t legally receive direct payment for their advocacy; Cleopatra’s family is darker-skinned than they probably were), others were more fundamental (the politics operating under the outdated theory that “optimates” and “populares” were analogous to modern political parties; the debt revolt is set a year after it occurred). While De Montesquiou has every right to invent things from a fiction perspective, the book is also meant to be educational, and so the errors might mislead readers less in the know.

The book’s biggest flaw, I feel, is its length. Caesar’s dramatic life warrants an epic, but this book is only 254 pages long (including the notes), which, limited in turn by its comic form, leads the book to sprint through it. Several important episodes in Caesar’s life, like his almost successful speech arguing against the execution of the Catilinarian conspirators, are omitted, which doesn’t even make sense if it’s assumed that Caesar is only mentioning the things that make him look good. The political situation, even outside of the aforementioned anachronistic party politics, is hugely oversimplified, and even Caesar’s consulship is narrated very sketchily. Most of all, the brevity means that, while there are still some good and fun scenes and interesting ideas (like one at the beginning where Caesar’s sisters are visibly hurt by their mother’s blatant favoritism towards their brother), there was hardly any emotional pull. While De Montesquiou gives underrepresented individuals like Gnipho and Labienus their due, there wasn’t any time to develop most of the characters; I especially struggled with De Montesquiou's Cleopatra, who really wasn’t all that despite Caesar’s consuming love for her. This lack of emotion was not helped by the fact that hardly any of the characters hearing the story are shown reacting to it, even when the narrative concerns them (like Servilia telling Caesar that Brutus is his son; though, of course, there’s still the ambiguity of whether Caesar is saying or merely remembering this). Even Caesar himself, shown rather unsympathetically, is pretty opaque, and De Montesquiou misses the opportunity to show off his personality outside of his ambition, such as his fondness for luxury, his interest in grammar, or the care he showed his friends, many of whom (like Balbus, Oppius, and Matius, the latter of whom could easily have fulfilled the confidant role Gnipho occupies) are never mentioned. When he says, with a haunted look, that he did everything he could to avoid civil war despite little evidence of this being shown, the reader is left unclear at whether this is a deliberate contrast between his words and his deeds or the result of underdeveloped plot threads.

Overall, while this book offers a well illustrated glance at Caesar’s life, it is unfortunately not as extraordinary as its subject.

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review: I, Julius Caesar by Alfred de Montesquiou, illustrated by Névil

Apparently what the story of Julius Caesar has been missing all this time is the chance for him to narrate his own life in graphic novel form, and surprisingly, it works rather well. Presenting Caesar’s rise and fall as a first-person graphic autobiography is an appealing concept, especially for anyone who might find traditional historical prose intimidating or distant. I should note that my own familiarity with Caesar’s story previously extended little beyond William Shakespeare’s dramatized version and what a public school education typically covers, so I approached this as someone encountering the broader historical narrative more fully for the first time. The format makes major events of the late Roman Republic accessible and immediate, and it’s easy to see how this approach could invite people of many ages into historical subjects they might otherwise avoid. The artwork style feels particularly well suited to young adult and adult audiences, balancing clarity with enough sophistication to support the gravity of the subject.

What stands out most is the book’s commitment to portraying Caesar not only as a sequence of campaigns and political milestones, but as a person shaped by alliances, ambition, and self-presentation. Framing the narrative as Caesar’s own voice naturally emphasizes relationships and turning points, particularly his ties to Pompey and Crassus. This autobiographical angle underscores how reputation, loyalty, and rivalry defined Roman public life, which feels especially appropriate for a story about power and legacy.

At the same time, the autobiographical framing also raises expectations. When a historical work adopts a first-person perspective, one may hope to encounter the full texture of a life: uncertainty, private motivations, social context, and the contingencies behind success. Because of the graphic format’s necessary compression, some of that breadth feels abbreviated. Complex political dynamics and lesser-known episodes sometimes appear only briefly or not at all, which can make Caesar’s ascent feel more linear and inevitable than it was historically.

Overall, I, Julius Caesar succeeds in what it most clearly sets out to do: make a foundational historical life vivid, approachable, and narratively coherent through a contemporary medium. The division into 11 parts makes the story digestible and engaging, and it works well as an introduction and as an example of how biography can evolve beyond conventional text. Those seeking exhaustive historical depth may want to supplement it with prose history, but as a gateway into Caesar’s world, it is thoughtful and compelling.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[East of Reality · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, an old Julius is hosting a dinner party so he can talk about his life. It’s a nice framing device, allowing Julius to be as flattering to himself as possible, to ignore anything he isn’t proud of, and it almost works. You can even see, IC, why he wouldn’t go into details about … almost everything, because these are people who know him, who already know the scandals, the politics, the highs and lows of his life, so they’re just listening to their host talk about how amazing he is.

But as a story, it also leads to — what’s more superficial than superficial? — the most boring recitation of a handful of facts with neither character nor depth. People don’t like him? Why? His politics are controversial? Why? This person wants to kill him? Why? Why, why, why? There will never be an answer, never anything in the novel to explain … anything. It turns Julius into a windbag and Rome into the blandest city in the world. All the politics are just people being mean to poor Julius.

I try not to talk about my personal taste of a novel’s art overly much when reviewing graphic novels because … everyone has a different taste. I try to be objective about color, flow, character design, backgrounds and if panels were easy to read, especially in action scenes. The color palette used here is a little monotonous, and many characters share very common design elements which makes it hard for any one of them to stand out. There’s even a scene where someone comments that a a young Julius is fragile and effeminate …which is at odds with the doughy frat boy in the pictures.

I’m sorry but the art was a bit muddled for me. Everyone looked like everyone else. The backgrounds were nice, though, with attention to detail in how houses were laid out, what clothes were worn, how they ate, danced, or handled battles. But the character design really didn’t work for me.

Overall, as someone who loves Roman history of this time (I, Claudius by the BBC, watch it!), this is a solid, solid pass. It’s bland and tasteless, and just not fun to read. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Peregine · Rating 2 out of 5]

based on a Netgalley ARC

This is a Graphic History, which I guess means that it is supposed to be a non fiction book and not a novel. It is a bad fit in my opinion. The biggest problem is the lack of a dramatic narrative. The book attempts to cover his whole life and to a certain extent cover various interpretations. This means sometimes the narrator points out that it happened differently, sometimes footnotes point out that it was different, and sometimes the differing interpretations are discussed in the notes at the end of the book. However, this overlooks a lot of the issues, especially because all sources on Caesar's life are problematic. The book is also a lot of telling and very little showing, despite its graphic format.

The book uses Caesar telling his life story at a dinner party as a framing device. However, this format has problems and is sometimes forgotten. Caesar should be telling his life how he wants his friends to see it. Instead, he reveals shameful deeds and sometimes points out he is lying. The information is also shallow, for example his politics aren't explained. Most of the dialogue is on the nose and the framing device results in a lot of "you remember when" The few moments of drama are sudden, without set up.

There are possibly some translation problems, because some lines seem odd. There are a lot of notes at the end, which cite sources and are very helpful. However, there reveal a certain creative license. For example, a primary source that talks about how tough Caesar was, becomes the cliche of a general winning the respect of his men by walking on foot. A graphic novel focusing on one aspect of Caesar's life would have been better or a straightforward biography with pictures.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book (paperback version) is huge, I mean literally in terms of its physical format. It's more like a coffee table book. This allows for the beautiful, detailed illustrations to take centre stage. I liked how the book is structured in various significant time periods and chronologically. As others have noted, the narrative isn't the easiest to follow and the dialogue is quite stilted and unnatural. The sudden shifts in events are sometimes quite jarring. I wouldn't say you get into Caesar's head too much (it's a graphic novel, to be fair)--he just comes across as a power hungry, ruthless guy but his mark on history is undeniable and the book reinforces that. Overall, an entertaining and visually impressive read and I learned things about Caesar/Ancient Rome that I didn't know before. Also made me want to visit Italy one day (bucket list item).

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advance readers copy of I, Julius Caesar.

This book is a such a good and approachable way to learn about Julius Caesar's life. The graphic novel is narrated by Caesar, progressing from his youth until his death. This story has many moving parts and don't slow down, but the author does a great job bringing the reader along. I appreciated that the author stayed true to historic terms and gave footnotes to explain their meaning to the reader. My main criticism for the book is the author sometimes doesn't let the artwork speak for itself, and narrates over areas that have clear imagery, which I found to take away from the illustrations a bit.

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beware the Ides of March! Since today is my birthday and I happened to have a Julius Caesar-themed birthday party this year, I thought there was no better day to read this than today! I wish that I had loved it, but it was missing something. This is a good overview of Julius Caesar’s life, but I wish there was at once more exposition AND more of the images speaking for themselves. (Does that make sense? I would like those things at different times, to be clear!) Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Evonne Fuchs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the framing — Caesar narrating his own story over a feast. It's a great concept. The artwork is beautiful but occasionally confusing. The historical detail is impressive, but this isn't a gripping narrative — it reads more like Caesar reciting his own Wikipedia page. It covers the highlights but doesn't dig deep enough for anyone who already knows the story i would suggest it to anyone who doesn't want to read the book but wants to know the story. Basically, entertaining if you're new to Roman history. Probably not the book for someone who already knows Caesar well.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Julius Caesar tells his life story at a dinner party on the night before his assassination.

This book's greatest sin is that it's just plain boring, which is no mean feat since it's a book about Julius Caesar—the man conquered a huge chunk of Europe, ruled Rome, and was even kidnapped by pirates, FFS!

The storytelling is very much "telling" and feels cursory, like Caesar is merely reading the bullet points of his life.

The art is bland and I often found myself mixing up characters because they mostly look alike.

Received via NetGalley.

[Ibone García · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es evidente que toda la historia de César no cabría en un solo tomo y menos si es un comic. Sin embargo faltan algunos eventos importantes de la vida de César como el juicio contra Dolabela o la conspiración de Catilina. Pienso que falta contexto sobre la política romana y los “personajes secundarios” o las personas más allegadas de César aparecen y desaparecen de forma un tanto confusa. No obstante, es un buen resumen de la vida del dictator.

[RoF · Rating 4 out of 5]

This giveaway arrived fast. Thank you Goodreads and The Experiment !
I have read it quickly after its arrival because I love History and had heard many things about Julius Caesar's legend.

The character is front and center with his reckless ambition and sometimes it's difficult to identify his friends and foes.

The book could share more information about his legacy in terms of politics and warfare.

[marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

très sympa mais dommage qu'ils n'aient pas mentionné la théorie selon laquelle César et Vercingétorix auraient eu une liaison et que le V était un agent double depuis le début (aucune idée si la théorie se tient mais deux profs différents dans deux licences différentes m'en ont parlé donc je me dis qu'il doit y avoir des sources quand même)

[David Selva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una buena novela gráfica sobre la vida de Julio César, muy bien documentada y sin caer en una visión mitificada. Todo es correcto en ella, aunque, por una parte, le falta un poco de personalidad y alma; y, por otro, intenta abarcar toda la vida de César, lo que le obliga a no profundizar demasiado en nada.

[Bastien Innocenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le travail de recherche derrière ce livre est fou et les illustrations sont magnifiques. Le fait que ce soit écrit à la première personne par César donne un côté humain, loin des cours d’histoire. On plonge dans les complots, les mariages arrangés, sa rivalité avec Vercingétorix, sa relation avec Cléopâtre… Très bon roman historique.

[Manuel Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que ganas tenía de leerlo.
Algunas partes un poco liosas por todos los enemigos que va teniendo y las batalla que libra pero en general se entiende perfectamente y te hace tener una buena idea de la vida de Julio César, que era el objetivo de la lectura de este libro.

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely detailed and interesting depiction of the life of Julius Caesar. Honestly, I didn't know much about him until I read this, but putting it in a visual form like this made it immersive and easy to understand and remember.

[Chris Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible. The research os impeccable. This one time classics major is impressed on every level.

Everything you need to know about Gaius Julius Caesar in a fun and accessible way.

I will be purchasing this one!

Thank you, NetGalley for providing this book.

[Ciudadano Romano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha sido increíble de leer. Julio César, el más grande de la historia, le seguiría al fin del mundo. Gran obra este libro.

[Yago Parra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obra bien documentada respecto a otras de la misma naturaleza. El ritmo en ocasiones es tan rápido que echas en falta algunos episodios clave. Muy buen dibujo.

[Águeda Pereira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super ameno y bien documentado, da gusto leer así

[Booksarethebest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy resumido pero entretenido

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Packed with historical info on Julius Caesar's life. It kind of came across as a list of incidents rather than a story though. So it was just OK. Same with the art. It's fine.

[Yordi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las notas son el 40% del libro xD

"Un gran linaje humilla más que ensalza a aquellos que no saben defenderlo."

"Hay traidores en todas partes incluso entre los traidores.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only critic I have is that it's not detailed enough, I would have loved more details on war plans and more maps. otherwise it's an excellent book. I recommend