Books
War
Caesar’s Civil War
49–45 BCE
Caesar’s Civil War began in 49 BC after Caesar crossed into Italy with his army and challenged the authority of the Senate and Pompey. The conflict spread across Italy, Greece, Egypt, Africa, and Spain. It ended with Caesar’s victory over his major opponents, though the political crisis did not end with the fighting.
The war mattered because it made clear that republican politics had become inseparable from military command. Caesar defeated Pompey and other senatorial forces, but his dominance created new fears of monarchy and tyranny. The civil war led directly to dictatorship, assassination, and further conflict.
Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series, Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome, Robert Harris’s Cicero trilogy, and Steven Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa novels all draw on the crisis from different angles. In fiction, Caesar, Pompey, Cato, Cicero, Cleopatra, shifting loyalties, exile, naval movement, battlefield decision-making, and the collapse of republican compromise can move to the foreground.
Related people for Caesar’s Civil War
Arsinoe IV of Egyptc. 68/63–41 BCE Augustus64 BCE–14 Caesarion47–30 BCE Cato the Younger95–46 BCE Cicero107 BCE–44 BCE Cleopatra70 BCE–31 BCE Cleopatra Selene II41 BCE–6 BCE Clodiaborn 96 BCE Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus86 BCE–44 BCE Gaius Cassius Longinus83 BCE–43 BCE Herod the Great75 BCE–5 BCE Julius Caesar101 BCE–45 BCE Marcus Aemilius Lepidusc. 90–13 BCE Marcus Junius Brutus86 BCE–43 BCE Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa64 BCE–13 BCE Mark Antony83–30 BCE Octavia the Youngerc. 69–11 BCE Pompey106–48 BCE Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator63 BCE–48 BCE Publius Clodius Pulcherc. 90s BCE–53 BCE Sallust87 BCE–36 BCE Sullac. 138–78 BCE Vercingetorixc. 82–46 BCE
Non-Fiction
7 Best Non-Fiction Books About Caesar’s Civil War
Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.
