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Julius Caesar By Alfred Duggan

Julius Caesar by Alfred Duggan

Alfred Duggan’s book “Julius Caesar: A Great Life in Brief” is an excellent piece of work for general people who want to explore about Julius Caesar. I chose this book to review keeping in view its simple way of explanation. Alfred Duggan sketched the whole life of Caesar, his political origin, his invasions and his last days have been covered so beautifully by the author that the reader can’t stop reading and exploring the book.
Caesar's political origin began before he was born. When Caesar was born the leading man in Rome was a man named Caius Marius, who had saved the Roman republic for several years and elected Consul a record seven times. (Duggan 25-6) Marius' connection with the Julius family was very close; Marius was married to the sister of Caesar's father. As a result, Caesar belonged to an influential family who had political ties. In July 100, when Marius' was in his sixth term as Consul, Caius Julius Caesar was born in Rome. All Romans had three names, the first was to distinguish the person, the second was the clan name and the third was given to a particular Julius clan to help distinguish them from other Julius'. (Duggan, 26-7) Because Caesar was the only son; he was named after his father. Caesar's father also had his hands in the political arena, in the year 92 he was elected praetor, which was equivalent to a magistrate who administers justice. He was also known to be the governor of Asia Minor.

Summary & Outline of the Book
The book covers all major incidents which took place in Julius Caesar’s life quite efficiently. According to Duggan, in 91, the "Social War" broke out; this was a war that was against Rome's Italian allies demanding greater citizenship rights. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Caius Marius, and Pompey Strabo crushed the rebellion, but the allies eventually received enhanced rights. After the rebellion was crushed, King Mithridates VI of Pontus attacked many Roman sites and killed many of the...