Alex Pollok

10/10/14
HIST 3910
The Civil Wars of Julius Caesar: Annotated Bibliography
Appian. The Civil Wars. Trans. Horace White. Harvard University Press, 1912.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/home.html.
A Roman historian of Greek origin, Appian lived during the 2nd century CE. His Civil Wars
provide an account of the civil wars of the last century of the Roman Republic. These will be a useful
source as they do not just cover the wars of Julius Caesar. When studying Caesar it is important to
consider the events that led up to his rise and those that followed his assassination.
Baker, Simon. Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Croydon: BBC Books,
2007.
Simon Baker read classics at Oxford University. In 1999 he joined the BBC's History unit
where he worked on a variety of historical programs such as the companion piece to this book of the
same name. This book provides an overview of Western Roman history from Romulus and Remus to
the fall of Rome in 476. As such only the first 100 pages or so are relevant to my topic. However, those
100 pages are crucial as they cover the long buildup of history that enabled Caesar to take power. It
also covers Caesar himself and his civil war. This book uses a variety of primary and secondary sources
that ensure the information is accurate and up to date with modern scholarly understanding.
BBC. Julius Caesar (100BC-44BC). Accessed 10/10/14.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/caesar_julius.shtml.
This is a short page providing a brief overview of Julius Caesar. While the content may not be
as extensive or detailed as other sources, it is sometimes helpful to take a step back examine a shorter
more simpler source. This can be useful to remind yourself of certain facts or to keep track of time
lines.
Everitt, Anthony. Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor. New York: Random
House, 2006.
Anthony Everitt is a British academic who has studied classics while at school. He has written
numerous other biographies such as Cicero which was chosen as the best book of the year in the UK
and a national bestseller in the US. He read literature at Cambridge University and served as the
secretary general of the arts council in the UK. The text provides information on the life of Rome's first
and arguably greatest emperor, Augustus. It tells of his early life and influences such as Julius Caesar
all the way to his deathbed. This text uses reliable sources from both primary and secondary sources
that add to its credibility. While a majority of this book is not about Caesar's civil war, it does provide a
lot of information on the impacts he had both on his adopted son and Rome as a whole. It also does
provide some direct information in some of the earlier chapters.

Caesar, Julius. The Gallic War. Trans. Carolyn Hammond. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2008.
Julius Caesar is the topic of this paper and as such what better source is there to analyze but one
that can from his very own hand. Julius Caesar was a Roman politician and General who lived in the
final century of the Roman Republic and was instrumental to its transition into an Empire. He also
wrote many accounts of his campaigns often referring to himself in the third person. This book does not
cover the civil war between Caesar and Pompey but rather details his campaigns in Gaul (modern day
France). This source cannot be discounted however as it provides the buildup to the events of the civil
war and also provides the reader with a window into the mind of one of history's most famous
individuals.
Caesar, Julius. On the African War. Trans. Johan Ortiz.
http://juliuscaesar.altervista.org/en/afrwar_book.html.
This text was difficult to find. The authorship is a bit suspect as it is believed that Julius Caesar
may not have actually written it. Instead it is believed that Aulus Hirtius was the real author. Hirtius
was one of the consuls of Rome and also served as one of Caesar's Legates during the civil war against
Pompey. He This book details the campaigns against Caesar's Republican enemies in Africa. This is
directly related to my topic and should provide an interesting look at the campaign in one of Rome's
most important provinces.
------. On the Alexandrine War. Trans. Johan Ortiz.
http://juliuscaesar.altervista.org/en/alewar_book.html.
Like On the African War, the authorship of this text has been debated for quite some time.
Apparently Seutonius attributes the authorship to either Aulus Hirtius or Gaius Oppius, a personal
friend of Julius Caesar. Given that some of the other works in this collection of accounts have been
attributed to Hirtius, it seems that if Julius Caesar was not the author then Hirtius is a safe bet. This text
describes the civil wars battles in and around Alexandria as well as in the province of Asia. Again, a
primary source that provides insight into these events in the civil war will be used extensively.
------. Commentaries on the Civil War Books I-III. Trans. Johan Ortiz.
http://juliuscaesar.altervista.org/en/bellocivili.html
The authorship of this text is not disputed, Julius Caesar is the author. This text provides an
account of Caesar's civil war against the Roman Senate from just before his crossing of the Rubicon to
just after the assassination of Pompey in Egypt(49-45 BCE). As before, primary sources are an
excellent resource to have and fortunately we have a large amount of surviving works from Ancient
Rome and particularly the late Republican period. This work will provide the most valuable
information to this paper and will provide a fascinating account of one of the most impactful civil wars
in human history.
------. On the Spanish War. Trans. Johan Ortiz.
http://juliuscaesar.altervista.org/en/spawar_book.html.
The authorship of this text, like the Alexandrine War and the African War, is disputed and may
also be attributed to Aulus Hirtius as well. Details the campaigns in the Iberian peninsula and

culminates in the Battle of Munda, the final engagement of Caesar's civil war. It is a primary source
detailing an important event in the civil war. Due to the nature of these Commentaries, it may be
difficult for many readers to understand without some sort of prior knowledge of the ancient world,
specifically the names of cities and towns as well as the names of certain tribes of people.
Dio, Cassius. Roman History XXXVII-XLIV. Trans. Earnest Cary. Harvard
University Press, 1914. Web.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html.
Cassius Dio was a Roman Consul and historian who wrote an 80 volume history of Rome
beginning with the arrival of Aeneas from Troy up to around 229 CE. The selected books in this
collection detail the Mithridatic war and the rise of Pompey up to Caesar's assassination. The
information contained within will be of great help in further detailing the information surrounding this
period of history. It will also be interesting to compare and contrast what different sources say about the
same events.
"Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus," The Biography.com.
http://www.biography.com/people/julius-caesar-9192504. (accessed Oct 11
2014).
This is a short biography on Julius Caesar. It provides a good amount of information on his life,
his origins, and military campaigns. It will be a useful source to cross examine with others to provide
context and clarity to some of the more complex sources I have cited. No sources are cited, as such it
will be important to double check any material that seems suspect in order to maintain a credible paper.
Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
Adrian Goldsworthy received his doctorate in ancient history from St. John's College, Oxford.
He has authored many books about Roman history such as The Punic Wars, How Rome fell, and The
Roman Army at War. Caesar is a biography that covers nearly everything you could ever want to know
about Julius Caesar. It begins with his early years and, naturally, ends with his assassination. This book
provides historical context and analysis into Caesar's life and decisions. Short of reading Caesar's own
writings, this is probably one of the best books out there. The book is rather lengthy but is not too
difficult to comprehend. Goldsworthy utilizes a variety of sources both primary and secondary. Some
of these include the writings I have listed above as well as others by Plutarch and Cicero. This will be
one of my most used sources due to the reliability and volume of information contained within.
------. In the Name of Rome: The Men who Won the Roman Empire.
London: Phoenix, 2003.
This book, also by Adrian Goldsworthy, provides a military analysis of some of Rome's most
iconic and influential leaders from Scipio Africanus to Belisarius. Naturally there are a number of
chapters dedicated to both Julius Caesar and Pompey Magnus. For Caesar it contains information into
his Gallic campaign as well as his war against Pompey. Gaining insight into these campaigns as well as
those of Pompey will better allow us to examine and understand the decisions made during these key
years in Roman history. Again, a collection of primary and secondary sources are used making this a
very reliable book for historical research.
------. Roman Warfare. London: Smithsonian Books, 2002.

This book is very similar to In the Name of Rome. Where it differs is it provides a more general
overview of the workings of the Roman military machine. This will provide important understanding
into the maneuverings of armies and the decisions of generals during Caesar's wars. Even with the
more generalized nature of this book, there is some more specific information into famous battles such
as Julius Caesar's own Siege at Alesia. In classic Goldsworthy fashion, a variety of primary and
secondary sources have been used.
Hickman, Kennedy. Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus. AboutEducation. Access
Date10/10/14.
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswarsto1000/p/pharsalus.htm.
Kennedy Hickman received his BA in history and political science at Pennsylvania State
University. He received his MA in history from the University of Delaware with a certificate in
museum history. He has worked in various historical societies and museums including the US military
history institute and the USS Constellation museum. This article provides an overview of arguably the
most important battle in Caesar's civil war, the Battle of Pharsalus. This battle marked the final defeat
and eventual flight of Pompey and solidified Caesar as the master of Rome. The article is easy to read
and informative. Hickman cites three sources for this overview. Two are secondary sources while the
third is derived from the works of Cassius Dio. This will be a useful look into one of the most
important battles of ancient history.
Holland, Tom. Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. New York: Anchor
Books, 2005.
Tom Holland was awarded the top degree at Cambridge University and has written a number of
fiction and non fiction history books. He is the presenter of BBC 4's Making History where he has
written a number of TV documentaries. The vast majority of Rubicon covers the last century of the
Roman Republic. It details the civil war of Sulla and Marius all the way to Octavian being granted the
honorific title Augustus. Like some other books I will be using, this book will provide an immense
amount of historical context into the events of Julius Caesar's civil war. Examining Sulla is paramount
in understanding the state of the Republic that Caesar emerged into and this book does a great job at
doing just that. Tom Holland uses a variety of primary and secondary sources adding to the credibility
of his work.
Infoplease. Julius Caesar. Accessed 10/10/14.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/caesar-julius-civil-war.html.
This is a rather brief overview of Julius Caesar. There are other similar examples in this
bibliography. This is due to the comparison and contrasting of information used as well as to gain
another viewpoint into events that have transpired. This is a good source to use in order to get a general
idea of the events of Caesar's life.
The Online Medeival and Classical Library. Pharsalia (39-65 CE).
http://omacl.org/Pharsalia/
Lucan was a Roman poet born in the 1 st century CE. His Civil War provides an account of the

civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. It is important to remember that Lucan was a poet not a
historian like Plutarch or Seutonius. While this text may not be as useful as some other primary
sources, that there is likely still some historical merit in his work that will definitely be worth
examining.
Plutarch. Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library, 1920. Web.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/home.html.
Plutarch was a Greek historian born in the mid 1 st century CE. Parallel Lives is one of his most
famous works. It chronicles the lives of a number of famous men and analyzes their moral virtues and
vices. It is a biography dedicated to Julius Caesar but also includes individuals such as Marc Antony
and Pompey. These two are incredibly important during the Republic's last century. Antony was a close
fiend and Legate under Caesar who later fought Octavian for control of the Republic. Pompey was also
a friend of Caesar before being convinced by the Senate of Caesar's ill intentions. This book also
includes a biography on Alexander the Great who was a major influence on many Roman generals most
famously on Pompey who later took the title of Magnus or Great. There are many other examples of
Pompey (and others) styling themselves after Alexander.
Parenti, Michael. 2003. The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of
Ancient Rome. New York: New Press.
Michael Parenti received his PhD in political science from Yale University. He has authored
over 20 books and many articles. He has held frequent lectures in the US as well as internationally.
This book will be an important look into the assassination of Julius Caesar. Parenti's central thesis is
that the assassination was due to wealthy elites wanting to block Caesar's reform. He also argues
against some of the other views held by historians such as the favorable view of Cicero. This will be
interesting to consider and should provide a useful contrast to other sources that I have cited.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library, 1913. Web.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/
Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#4.
Suetonius, a Roman historian, lived during the late 1 st century CE of the Roman Empire. He has
supposedly been credited with the first accounts of Julius Caesar's possible epilepsy. He wrote many
accounts of Roman daily life and politics. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars provides a history of Julius
Caesar and the first 11 emperors of Rome. This will be a good source to have as it provides a
secondhand account of Julius Caesar and those who followed him. Like some of my other sources, I
believe it is good to include information on the before and after to provide context to the world Caesar
lived in as well as to examine the effects he had on it.