The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination

Barry Strauss

Mar 2015 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Robertson Dean

About this audiobook

William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man-Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend. It was he, not Brutus, who truly betrayed Caesar. Caesar's assassins saw him as a military dictator who wanted to be king. He threatened a permanent change in the Roman way of life and in the power of senators. The assassins rallied support among the common people, but they underestimated Caesar's soldiers, who flooded Rome. The assassins were vanquished; their beloved Republic became the Roman Empire.

Ratings and reviews

This book approaches Julius Caesar's murder like a crime reporter would over a modern act of terrorism. There is enough background given to allow the listener to understand the politics of the ancient Roman Republic. The murder is covered in chronological order. The civil war the murder ignited is well covered. This is a great book.

About the author

Barry Strauss, a leading expert on ancient military history, is the author of several books, including The Spartacus War, The Battle of Salamis, and The Trojan War. He is a professor of history and classics and chair of the Department of History at Cornell University. Visit him at barrystrauss.com.

Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in almost every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won nine Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage.