Tag Archives: The Battle of Pharsalus

Ancient World Now: Julius Caesar, Part III

Click here for direct link to audio podcast Episode #67. pompey's head is brought to caesar

Click here for link to previous audio podcast episodes.

Here, Caesar receives the decapitated head of Pompey the Great. The Civil War was over, but the battle for political supremacy was just beginning…

Shrewd Caesar re-erects the statues of Pompey in a bid to placate the public after the devastation of the Civil War he put them through, but the tragedy is too deep and tiny slights are nursed into monumental grievances until Caesar steps boldly into the morning light of the ides of March.

Ironically, the end of the road for Caesar was at the foot of a statue of Pompey surrounded by his many “friends.”

Check out today’s episode from Plutarch’s Lives for Boys & Girls, retold by W.H. Weston, and illustrated by W. Rainey, published in London & Edinburgh in the early 1900′s. Our final installment of our 3 part series on Julius Caesar.

Enjoy!

Ancient World Now: Julius Caesar, Part II

Click here for direct link to audio podcast Episode #66. caesar crosses the rubicon

Click here for link to previous audio podcast episodes.

Alea iacta est….The die has been cast….One of my favorite ancient texts is Lucan’s Civil War, translated by Susan H. Braund (Oxford University Press). I was lucky enough to take three of Professor Braund’s classes—Nero, Virgil, and Lucan, while she was at Stanford. Lucan’s epic describes the waves of terror loosed upon Rome by the act of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon. Lucan gives one the sense of the affectionate regard the Romans had for Pompey, while at the same time showing the decline of a great man. On the other hand, all that Caesar did in this noble epic is washed with his ambition. Read it and let me know what you think.

Today’s episode is from Plutarch’s Lives for Boys & Girls, retold by W.H. Weston, and illustrated by W. Rainey, published in London & Edinburgh in the early 1900′s.

Enjoy!