Caesar: Life of a Colossus
Welcome to the complete Julius Caesar - and to the end of the Roman Republic
The astute observer will note that there has been a glut of Caesar-related books and biographies in recent years. A simple search for "Julius Caesar" on Amazon.com reveals 2,876 results under "Biographies and Memoirs." So, upon the release of Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus, the most obvious quesiton that comes to mind is "Why another one?"In short: because this one is different. Better. More comprehensive. Any one of countless superlatives can be applied to this book, from "immensely readable" to "filled with useful context and information."
To better answer the "why," why not let author Adrian Goldsworthy, an Ancient Historian who lives in Wales and specializes in military history and the Classics, and a man with whom I was fortunate enough to speak just last week, address the question himself?
The more I looked at [the military side of Caesar's career], the more I thought, "Well, it's all very well seeing that in isolation, but the Romans wouldn't have done that. So, I wanted to write a biography that covered all of Caesar's life, and I didn't really see one out there.The characters do indeed come to life in Goldsworthy's biography, which not only focuses on the complete man - the serial womanizer (who was often accused of being homosexual) and massive debtor, the political genius with the flair for drama and showmanship, and with the excessive concern for style and fashion, and the incredibly successful military leader - that was Caius Iulius Caesar, but on the context surrounding the Republic immediately before his birth, during his periods of maturation and of magistracies, and after his death.
There are some very good books on Caesar, but they tend to cover either the politics or the military side of things; they don't look at both. And, whereas today we divide them, that just wasn't there in the Roman Republic. As a Roman Senator, you'd go off and command an army, you'd come back and you were a magistrate in the city, you'd do each of those things in turn, and the two would feed off of each other - so I think, to understand it properly, then you really need to look at the man's life in the full.
The other thing was to try and bring it to life. I do believe that, in some of the other books on Caesar, he and the people around him sort of become representations of political ideas. They don't become living, breathing human beings; they don't become living, breathing human beings, and it's such an incredible story that it's just worth telling that way.
Written in extremely clear British prose, Adrian Goldsworthy's biography contains enough information to please a Classicist or scholar of Ancient History, while also being readable enough, and including enough basic background information, that the casual reader will not be turned off by excessive details, technicalities, or "AcademicSpeak."
The narrative begins with a contextual recounting of Caesar's birth and the state of the decaying Republic at that time - a period which, in the wake of the Gracchi reforms, was experiencing ever-increasing upheaval, including the bloody civil war (and subsequent proscriptions) which resulted in Rome's first dictator since the mythical Tarquinius Superbus of the 6th century BC - a general named Sulla, who killed off the most talented and exceptional of Rome's leaders, weakened the power of the plebeinan tribunate, and doubled the size of the Senate to 600 men (packing it largely with his own men), before he voluntarily gave up his dictatorial powers.
The book follows Caesar's rise to public prominence, relying on the many ancient sources still available from the period which Goldsworthy refers to as "one of the best-documented in Roman history." Cicero, Suetonius, and even Catullus are called upon in this narrative, although, once Caesar received, and departed for, his gubernatorial assignment in Gaul, the most complete source available is that which he himself wrote: De Bello Gallica or the Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. Known at the time for the deeds which they recounted, Caesar's Commentaries are perhaps best known now for their simple, straightforward Latin prose (which any student who has gone on to translate Cicero, Tacitus, or Livy grows to look back on with fondness and nostalgia).
Goldsworthy, though, parses the Commentaries for the insights they provide not only into the military activities they describe, but also into the man himself - both of which are masterfully illuminated by the military historian author. Campaigns are effortlessly described, and individual battles are paired with maps for easier understanding.
Caesar's successes in his nine-year campaign in Gaul form the middle third of the book, with the remaining space saved for his crossing of the Rubicon river, the ensuing civil war, his assassination, and the final war which resulted in the Principate of Augustus - the beginning of Imperial Rome. While a scholar of ancient history may yearn for more elaboration on the end of the Republic, that is not the main subject of the book, and Goldsworthy takes care to cover everything which could be reasonably included in a biography of Caesar.
Any reader - from layperson to professional Classicist - can be edified and enlightened by this fact-filled, immensely readable work, and can gain unprecedented insight into the man who killed so many in Gaul, but spared so many in Rome; who rose to prominence in Sullan Rome, after barely escaping death in the proscriptions, and spurning an offer of marriage alliance to the dictator; and who was a demanding and amazingly successful military leader, shown amazing loyalty by his men, many of whom were promoted, regardless of birth, to positions usually reserved for the sons of Rome's elite.
In the end, Goldsworthy accomplishes with this book exactly what he set out to do: it "looks at the man's life in the full," and it "brings it to life" - and it does both in absolutely outstanding fashion.
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Abracadabra: "The Prestige" brings real magic to the big screen
"Are you watching closely?"
From the opening phrase to the closing image, The Prestige is a film that requires the viewer to keep that question in the forefront of his or her mind at all times.
Set in London at the turn of the 20th century, The Prestige is a tale of dueling magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), an American expatriate in search of his dream of succeeding at stage magic, complete with roaring crowds and public adulation, and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), a poor Londoner who performs for the enjoyment and income rather than hopes of grandeur.
A tragedy about two gifted men who, but for their jealousy and hatred toward one another, could be the greatest magicians of their age. The Prestige's plot, though simple enough on its surface, is rife with twists and temporal shifts, and nothing is what it seems, be it people, events, or relationships.
The men's onetime friendship is turned by tragedy into a dangerous game of obsession, sabotage and one-upmanship, and one of the movie's many shocks is that, when it comes to the main characters, there really is no black and white, no "protagonist" – there are only shades of gray, which vary from event to event.
The film opens with Cutter (Michael Caine), an ingenuer – a man who makes the tools magicians use for their illusions – performing a trick for a young girl, while in voiceover explaining:
Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called “The Pledge.” The magician shows you something ordinary – but of course, it probably isn't.Beyond simply describing a trick, Cutter here is instructing the audience in how to watch the film – for it in itself is structured much like that great magic trick of which he speaks. Every detail must be watched, and watched correctly, for, in The Prestige, the devil is very much in the details, and in the nuance.
The second act is called “The Turn.” The magician makes this ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret – but you won’t find it, because you don’t really want to see it.
Now, anybody can make something disappear. The real trick, though, is bringing it back again.
That’s why there's a third act, called “The Prestige.” This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance – and you see something shocking that you've never seen before.
The grudge between Angier and Borden builds throughout their unfortunate but mutually-extended relationship, growing to such a degree that personal achievement in magic becomes almost secondary in importance not only to sabotaging each other’s performances, but to inflicting physical damage and injury upon each other and, by extension, upon those around them, as well.
The rivalry grows when Borden performs an illusion which is so astounding that it drives Angier into a fit of total obsession with finding out how it is performed. Committed to discovering the secret whatever the cost, Angier travels to Colorado Springs, in search of scientist Nikola Tesla (David Bowie), whom he believes can assist in replicating the trick
Both instruction and plotline clue, Tesla’s question to Angier regarding the possibility of helping him – “Have you considered the cost?” – is one of many double-entendres in the film, and reflects a deeper meaning and significance to their actions, methods, and desires which neither of the feuding magicians manages to comprehend.
A brain-teaser that makes the viewer actively engage with the story and try to penetrate its elegant sleight-of-hand, The Prestige offers just enough clues to make some twists recognizable and predictable – while, through this, blinding the audience to other, far bigger surprises. Though not seen chronologically, the film reflects a screenwriter’s version of the three parts of Cutter’s great magic trick – from the setup, through the amazing event (or, in this case, series of events), and culminating in the even more amazing conclusion, where characters may or may not be who they appear, where the viewer’s sight and memory are called into question, and where even something as final as death may not be what it seems.
Rich in theme and cinematography and delightfully acted, The Prestige brings to the screen the same type of act – and trust – that stage magic offers. The audience’s compact with the magician – the agreement to believe in something that seems impossible, and the acknowledgement that, while there is the desire to know how a trick is accomplished, finding out would be a disappointment – is simultaneously as crucial to the success of the film as it is to a magician’s act, and as involuntarily given by the film’s audience as it is my a live audience at a magic show. As Borden says in the film, “The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything.”
And the tricks involved in this film, from Pledge, to Turn, to the Prestige itself, are both deep and dazzling, and the finale has the potential to shock viewers, impress them – or leave them scratching their heads. Missed clues will certainly be sought for; a rethinking of almost everything that was seen is inevitable.
However, like a good magic trick, the answer – as far-fetched or as mundane as it may be – is right before your eyes the whole time. You merely have to watch closely – and you have to really want to see it.
Labels: Reviews
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24: Another season in the books
By Jeff Emanuel
May 23, 2006
The roller coaster fifth season of the hit show 24 came to a close Monday night with plotline closure; however, it ended with a series cliffhanger which harkened dedicated fans back to the season before, when hero Jack Bauer had a near-fatal run-in with the Chinese government.
Eighteen months had passed since the previous "day", which ended with Special Agent Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) of America’s elite Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU) having to feign his own death to escape retribution from the Chinese for accidentally killing their consul in an embassy raid.
Season 5 featured an incredible number of subplots and layers upon layers of storylines featuring action, romance, good guys who go bad, bad guys who go good, red herrings, and a terrorist plot that goes all the way to the White House. The day begins with the murder of two characters who had been on the show since the first season, including former President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), and the wounding of a third—not coincidentally, three of the only people who knew that Bauer was still alive. At the same time that Bauer is hustling back to Los Angeles to deal with the situation, the Russian president is arriving in the U.S. to sign an arms agreement treaty, and Russian terrorists are seizing "Sentox" nerve gas for use in an attack on an American airport.
The plot twists and turns from there, with action-packed sequences which involve giant explosions and base treachery, from new (and startlingly weak) President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) giving the Russian leader’s motorcade route to the terrorists in concession to their threat of launching a nerve gas attack on civilians, to the capture (and apparent suicide) of presidential aide Walt Cummings (John Allen Nelson) for conspiring with the terrorists, to a nerve gas attack on the super-secret CTU headquarters itself, to the largest revelation of all: that the president himself was secretly behind all of the events of the day in a narcissistic effort to secure his own legacy by thwarting a terrorist attack which he had secretly planned.
The two-hour season finale had been expected to wrap up as nicely and neatly as the previous four. Having foiled the final terrorist plot—an attempt to strike American population centers with submarine-based surface-to-surface missiles—Bauer heads back to Los Angeles to confront the president. Working with the chief of staff and a Secret Service agent whom Logan had sought to have killed (because he knew the truth), Bauer hijacks his second aircraft of the series, Marine One, and attempts to force a confession from the president. Although he does not succeed, Bauer manages to slip an audio transmitting device into Logan’s pen while searching him for weapons.
Using this to record a later conversation between Logan and his wife, an ally of Bauer’s in CTU is able to alert the attorney general to the president’s guilt, and Logan is arrested for treason.
Just when everybody is feeling good about the conclusion of the season—the guilty president is being led away, Bauer is released from custody and is able to resume his romance with co-worker Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), and is hopeful of the opportunity to reunite with his estranged daughter Kim—there is a sudden twist, and Bauer is lured into a trap set by the Chinese, who have "long enough memories" not to have forgotten his run-in with them 18 months before. The season ends with Bauer a captive of the Chinese, being held in the cargo hold of a ship from Shanghai which is putting to sea.
24 is an easy show to get drawn into, with a fast tempo and the voyeuristic feel of getting an inside look at America’s covert counter-terror operations. Needless to say, whatever factual elements are involved are interspersed with an equal or greater amount of fictional weapons, technology, tactics, and organizations. However, the entire tapestry that is 24 is woven so intricately, elaborately, emotionally, and consistently that the details, be they strictly authentic or not, appear not only plausible, but probable. More than that, the show is so elaborate and well thought out that its screen authenticity greatly outweighs its dubious real-world authenticity.
Rampant speculation that this would be the final season of 24 was cut off at the knees with the announcement that Sutherland had signed on for three more years in a deal that would not only give him more control over the show, but would also have 20th Century Fox Television paying overhead costs for his own production company. If this season is any indicator, then the franchise will be going strong for at least three more years, providing the same action, excitement, and drama people have grown to love during its first five seasons.
Season Five of 24 is now in the books, having been an unqualified success. Regardless of the truth or fiction at the heart of this drama, it is a comforting thought to millions of Americans that there may just be someone like Jack Bauer out there—a man who is willing to go to greater lengths than humanly imaginable to fight the global terrorist threat, and to ensure that Americans are able to sleep safely and soundly in their beds at night.
Jeff Emanuel, a Special Operations military veteran, studies Classics at the University of Georgia. He is also a contributing editor for conservative web log RedState.com, and is a columnist for the Athens, GA Banner-Herald newspaper.
Copyright © 2006 Townhall.com
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