COM: Lesson - Reading Caesar in Translation

Reading Caesar in Translation

Before reading and translating the works of Julius Caesar, it is important to have a good idea of the context of his work and his style. To do this, we are going to read selections from the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, in translation. Below you will find the English selections that you need to read, along with a reading log to take notes. Additionally, the audio book version is available below, but even if you choose to listen, read along with the prepared text.

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Purpose of the Commentarii de Bello Gallico

As you read the selections from Julius Caesar's time in Gaul, think carefully about the purpose of his writing. Caesar was a master of self-promotion, and his Commentaries are a prime example of this motivation. He wrote them in the third person, to give the account a sense of distance - in other words: he was just reporting what happened, rather than giving a personal reflection. But it was a personal reflection, often tuned carefully to put Caesar in the best possible light. In other words, Caesar's Commentaries were propaganda. But why did Caesar feel this propaganda was necessary? Caesar saw his Commentaries as a way of reminding the people back in Rome about his abilities - Caesar felt that being forgotten would be the worst possible end to his public career, and so did everything he could to stay in the forefront.

Caesar also needed to be able to justify his activities in Gaul. No Roman general previously had taken such an ambitious route in their post-consular years, and Caesar's actions were often opposed by the Senate in Rome. The optimates in Rome were growing ever more fearful of Caesar and even planned to prosecute him for abuse of power, due to his campaign in Gaul. To keep his post and to keep people on his side, he sent these glowing reports of all the "good" he was doing in Gaul, along with fascinating glimpses of the barbarians whom he was encountering. Being able to paint the Gallic people as other - with all the strange behaviors and uncivilized policies - was an important goal of his Commentaries. Book VI in particular focuses on all the "oddities" of Gallic and German culture. Read these accounts cum grano salis (with a grain of salt - critically) - Caesar may not be giving the most fair report of the people he is reporting on, though his account is one of the only views we have of the ancient Gauls.

One last note to consider here: Caesar is portraying himself as a hero in his accounts. He claims everything he does is for the Roman people. But the end result was genocide - he wiped out entire tribes of Gauls during his campaign. Be clear: Caesar was an effective killer of human beings, and his efforts to portray this "conquest" as anything other than outright depopulation is why this account is classified as propaganda. Also note: many of those who were not killed were subjugated and sold into slavery. Only those who were willing to obey Rome entirely, from the outset, were allowed to remain, and those tribes and leaders gained massive power under Caesar's favor.

Reception in Rome

The other question you should ask is: did this propaganda work? When the Roman people received these tales of daring from their former consul, did they believe him? At this point, think back to Caesar's biography, according to Suetonius: when Caesar does return from Gaul, and wages war on the Roman senate, initiating a civil war, the people broadly supported him. This would indicate that Caesar's accounts heavily influenced the populares in Rome, and gave him a large enough base of support that he was able to execute his take over of the Roman system, eventually being named Dictator for Life by a weakened and conquered senate. Picture yourself as a Roman during the age of Caesar as you read these Commentaries: would you have been influenced by his reporting?

Audio Files

Note: Book 7a and 7b - the reader for the audio book names them as Book 20 and Book 21 - this is just an error: they are in fact the first two recordings for Book 7.

**Commentarii de Bello Gallico - Audio Book Files**
Book 1	Book 6	Book 7
Book 1a Book 1b Book 1c Book 1d Book 1e	Book 6a Book 6b Book 6c	Book 7a Book 7b Book 7c Book 7d Book 7e Book 7f