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Command #4
Julius Caesar: Leadership, Strategy, Conflict
One of the greatest military commanders in history, Julius Caesar's most famous victory - the conquest of Gaul - was to him little more than a stepping stone to power. An audacious and decisive general, his victories over the Gauls allowed him to challenge for the political leadership of Rome. Leading a single legion across the Rubicon in 49 BC, Caesar launched a civil war which would end the Roman Republic and usher in the Roman Empire, with Caesar at its helm. This examination of the great general's life covers his great victories and few defeats, looking at the factors which lay behind his military genius.
64 pages, Paperback
First published June 22, 2010
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78 people want to read
About the author
Nic Fields
87 books22 followersDr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines. Having left the Navy, he went back to University and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School of Archaeology, Athens, and is now a lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 8, 2010
After having read lengthy biographies of Caesar, this is a bit underpowered. However, for those who want a brief overview of Julius Caesar, especially his military leadership, this will suffice.
This is part of the Osprey series, "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict." The book begins with Caesar's youth, noting that he came from a noble Roman family line. He was ambitious as he grew up, and aimed to make those ambitions come to reality. He served as a Chief Priest; he was assigned a posting as Consul. However, he and two other renowned Romans felt themselves snubbed. A triumvirate emerged--Caesar, the successful military commander Pompey, and the wealthy and successful commander (the one who ended Spartacus' revolt), Crassus. As a result of their alliance, Caesar was assigned a position as military commander of Gaul.
Thereafter, he used his Roman legions to subdue the Gauls. He also triumphed in Spain, in Egypt (where he met Cleopatra and became infatuated with her), and in Asia (although the book pretty much ignores the campaign in which he uttered the term: "I came, I saw, I Conquered."). The book describes his falling out with Pompey, his defeat of Pompey's forces at Pharsalus.
And, of course, the denouement on the Ides of March, when he met his fate.
The book does a decent job of describing his role as a leader. Good maps appear as well as photos and drawings. All in all, a solid piece of work, accessible to those who only desire a brief survey of Caesar's life and times.
This is part of the Osprey series, "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict." The book begins with Caesar's youth, noting that he came from a noble Roman family line. He was ambitious as he grew up, and aimed to make those ambitions come to reality. He served as a Chief Priest; he was assigned a posting as Consul. However, he and two other renowned Romans felt themselves snubbed. A triumvirate emerged--Caesar, the successful military commander Pompey, and the wealthy and successful commander (the one who ended Spartacus' revolt), Crassus. As a result of their alliance, Caesar was assigned a position as military commander of Gaul.
Thereafter, he used his Roman legions to subdue the Gauls. He also triumphed in Spain, in Egypt (where he met Cleopatra and became infatuated with her), and in Asia (although the book pretty much ignores the campaign in which he uttered the term: "I came, I saw, I Conquered."). The book describes his falling out with Pompey, his defeat of Pompey's forces at Pharsalus.
And, of course, the denouement on the Ides of March, when he met his fate.
The book does a decent job of describing his role as a leader. Good maps appear as well as photos and drawings. All in all, a solid piece of work, accessible to those who only desire a brief survey of Caesar's life and times.
August 9, 2025
Dr. Fields is an expert in Roman warfare that I really respect and thorougly enjoy reading his books. In this work he gives an introduction on Caesar, his life, political achievements, the dissertation about Caesar wanting or not to be Rex, classification of Caesar's characteristics of leadership using Keegan's method (prescription, kinship, sanctions, imperative of action, battle presence) that should be used in all books of this series, some battles are described like Sabis/sambre, Alesia, Pharsalus, Thapsus and Munda, and Caesar's main antagonists (Vercingetorix and pompey) have a short section.
The premises of this series are "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict", so if you are searching for a Biography of Julius Caesar this isn't your book. Try Adrian Goldsworthy "Caesar - Life of a Colossus", it's an excellent book. It would be impossible in a c. 60 page book to give a decent biography of Caesar, so Dr. Fields shouldn't had tried to do it IMHO. He gave a short description of Caesar's political evolution, his government, the controversies between his divine status, kingship vs dictatorship, etc. Obviously if Fields had 200+ pages to digress he would had made a great job - but he had 60! And he used almost a quarter of the book that should be used in the "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict" parts of Julius Caesar career. Many campaigns aren't almost mentioned, the battles should have more information, etc. With a good chronological chart the author could had saved 12 - 15 pages and focused on the military aspect (the purpose of this series).
I also believe that the author is mistaken on the meaning circumvallation and contravallation. I'm pretty sure that circumvallation faces the enemy fortification and contravalation it's an outer ring made to protect the besiegers against relieve attempts.
On the bright side this is an excellent place to start reading about Caesar, you also get good art by Peter Dennis (although he can do better), very good pictures, great information on Caesar's capabilities as leader (with lots of examples taken from different sources). Recommended.
The premises of this series are "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict", so if you are searching for a Biography of Julius Caesar this isn't your book. Try Adrian Goldsworthy "Caesar - Life of a Colossus", it's an excellent book. It would be impossible in a c. 60 page book to give a decent biography of Caesar, so Dr. Fields shouldn't had tried to do it IMHO. He gave a short description of Caesar's political evolution, his government, the controversies between his divine status, kingship vs dictatorship, etc. Obviously if Fields had 200+ pages to digress he would had made a great job - but he had 60! And he used almost a quarter of the book that should be used in the "Leadership, Strategy, Conflict" parts of Julius Caesar career. Many campaigns aren't almost mentioned, the battles should have more information, etc. With a good chronological chart the author could had saved 12 - 15 pages and focused on the military aspect (the purpose of this series).
I also believe that the author is mistaken on the meaning circumvallation and contravallation. I'm pretty sure that circumvallation faces the enemy fortification and contravalation it's an outer ring made to protect the besiegers against relieve attempts.
On the bright side this is an excellent place to start reading about Caesar, you also get good art by Peter Dennis (although he can do better), very good pictures, great information on Caesar's capabilities as leader (with lots of examples taken from different sources). Recommended.
August 18, 2019
Julius Caesar a fost cel mai faimos și talentat general al Romei, spaima galilor și celților, învingătorul de la Alesia și Pharsalus; a rămas celebru în istorie pentru că s-a ocupat personal de moștenirea sa literară, scriind câteva opere în campanie, despre cum a cucerit Galia, dar și datorită Marelui Will Shakespeare care i-a imortalizat asasinatul într-una din cele mai faimoase piese ale sale. Alții, mai puțin estetici și mai plastici, ar spune că Divinul Iulius a fost doar virgula aducătoare de moarte între două războaie civile romane. Și n-ar fi departe de adevăr.
Editura Osprey ori a găsit rețeta secretului pentru cărțile de istorie militară ori sunt doar teribili de încâpățânați: pentru fiecare dintre seriile lor au un calapod fix de la care nu se abat cu niciun pas. Din fericire, mai toate cărțile publicate de ei au multe imagini, planșe detaliate cu hărțile de campanie precum și artă originală creată de un artist profesionist, care, ca un bonus, mai este și corectă dpdv istoric. Cartea aceasta despre Caesar nu face nici ea excepție de la acest model universal: ne sunt prezentate bătăliile cele mai importante ale sale, modul său de gândire, scurte biografii ale inamicilor săi prinicpali (Vercingetorix și Pompei cel Mare), dar și ce a făcut spre finalul vieții. Autorul are un stil detaliat și informativ, fără a fi uscat, cititul venind de la sine. Bineînțeles, cartea este un excelent punct de plecare, oarecum comprimat, despre viața și bătăliile generalului care a spus cu atâta convingere: "Și tu, fiul meu!".
Editura Osprey ori a găsit rețeta secretului pentru cărțile de istorie militară ori sunt doar teribili de încâpățânați: pentru fiecare dintre seriile lor au un calapod fix de la care nu se abat cu niciun pas. Din fericire, mai toate cărțile publicate de ei au multe imagini, planșe detaliate cu hărțile de campanie precum și artă originală creată de un artist profesionist, care, ca un bonus, mai este și corectă dpdv istoric. Cartea aceasta despre Caesar nu face nici ea excepție de la acest model universal: ne sunt prezentate bătăliile cele mai importante ale sale, modul său de gândire, scurte biografii ale inamicilor săi prinicpali (Vercingetorix și Pompei cel Mare), dar și ce a făcut spre finalul vieții. Autorul are un stil detaliat și informativ, fără a fi uscat, cititul venind de la sine. Bineînțeles, cartea este un excelent punct de plecare, oarecum comprimat, despre viața și bătăliile generalului care a spus cu atâta convingere: "Și tu, fiul meu!".
October 7, 2023
1.5 stars
boring, like a history essay but longer and worse. the author didn't even try to say something about him it's just a copypaste from a few historical sources and that's it.
I don't even know why I read this, just to tick it off my TBR I guess
boring, like a history essay but longer and worse. the author didn't even try to say something about him it's just a copypaste from a few historical sources and that's it.
I don't even know why I read this, just to tick it off my TBR I guess
January 8, 2014
I got received this book as part of a book package covering ancient military history. I found this book interesting in terms of leadership and leadership skills - even though I tend to be more interested in cultutral contexts of military history rather than the strictly strategic issues, it was a good read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews