A long way from Rome

Although Latin, Greek and the ancient world in general are no longer central to modern education, Julius Caesar still remains a household name. During his intensely dramatic life he was a politician, general, rebel and dictator, and still found the time to be an author and serial adulterer. Controversy surrounded him in his lifetime and has never really let up. Was he the man who destroyed the Roman Republic or the visionary who saw the need for reform? Maria Wyke’s highly enjoyable new book does not try to answer such questions. It is not so much about Caesar the man as all the many versions of him in poetry, literature, opera and drama, sometimes of politics, and more recently of cinema, television and even advertising. Hence Shaw and Shakespeare rub shoulders with Asterix, the television series Xena: Warrior Princess and Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas.

Even knowing the huge influence on western culture of the classical world, the sheer ubiquity of Caesar down the centuries is astounding.