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The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome
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The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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a vivid chronicle of the times, with brilliant insight and relevance for today
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This is a fascinating book, beautifully written, compellingly informative, with engrossing details and surprising accounts. It is an analysis not only of Rome's Late Republic but of the conservative and manipulative prejudices and tacky scholarship of many writers on the subject.
One reviewer here attacks Parenti for claiming to be the first to show that the conspirators killed Caesar because he was moving against their privileges. That is a false statement, as Parenti makes no such claim. Parenti explicitly notes that other scholars before him, including Arthur Kahn and most notably G.E.M. de Ste. Crois, have offered this thesis. He quotes Kahn who says however that they are just "a handful."
Also contrary to that reviewer, Parenti never said that scholars "confuse the Augustan regime with what Caesar intended to found or perpetuate." All Parenti does is note how unconcerned the senators were when their "beloved" Republic was undermined by Augustus. They readily went along with the emperor because he secured their material interests. That was their concern--their wealth and property. That's why they supported Augustus and hated Caesar--Caesar refused to leave their immense wealth and class privileges untouched. He dared to demand that they share a bit of it.
That issue, like so much else in this book is all too relevant for the conditions of today. Parenti is a remarkably versatile and powerful writer. No one so capably combines such thoughtful, engaging analysis and perspective with such interesting storytelling. |
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