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Later in the book I gave up and enjoyed the read. The first half was hard to get into for me as I tried to remember all the names, locations, dates, etc. I would recommend to anyone looking for a detailed account of the Gallic Conquest. First off, do not read this book with the intention of remembering the names of all of the tribes and people involved in this conquest. If you keep that in mind then this book is great.
Rendered unto the reader what is Caeser's story. Why he came, what he saw, whom he conquered.
is particularly useful (a lot of translations don't have one, and to my knowledge none have as comprehensive of one). This was the first translation of the Gallic War I read, and it is still my favorite. The index with all the tribes, forts, etc.
The good old days when power and might formed and held together the greatest empire to ever rule the known world. If the pre-christian world is where your interests are this book belongs in your collection.
But it allows us to see a very different morality to our own - Caesar naturally thought nothing of killing, ethnically cleansing or enslaving his enemies, as well as a picture of the lives of the european tribes that lived outside the Roman empire. The book is fascinating at times but is also repetitive - so many tribes gets you confused. A must for Asterix fans. De Bello Gallico - Julius Caesar third person account of his conquest of Gaul (modern day France, and large parts of Switzerland and Belgium, approximately) is well known for its opening line: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres. This military chronicle brings us back to a time when rules of engagement were very different to our own: today, Caesar would be facing charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court for wiping out the Helvetii, for example.
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