Tag: BELLUM

Free Download Christopher B. Krebs, "Caesar: Bellum Gallicum Book VII "
English | ISBN: 1009177125 | 2023 | 400 pages | PDF | 7 MB
This is the first commentary on Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum to approach it as a literary text. It attempts a contextualized reading of the work through the eyes of a contemporary Roman reader, who was trained in rhetoric, versed in Greek and Roman literature, and familiar with the same political and cultural conventions and discourses as its author. In appreciating Caesar as a writer and situating the seventh book of the Bellum Gallicum within its ‘horizon of expectations’ and especially its historiographical tradition, it reveals much that rewards careful attention, including: a dramatized narrative, sustained intertextual borrowings and allusions (especially from and to Thucydides and Polybius), (in)direct speeches telling of Rome’s second-greatest speaker, and word- and sound-play telling of the leading linguist, not to mention artful technical descriptions that lack parallels in the Roman republic. Ultimately, both author and text emerge as quite different from their grossly generalized reputations.

Free Download Cynthia Damon, "Studies on the Text of Caesar’s Bellum civile"
English | ISBN: 0198724063 | 2015 | 360 pages | PDF | 2 MB
Studies on the Text of Caesar’s Bellum civile is a companion volume to Damon’s revised Oxford Classical Texts edition of Caesar’s Bellum civile, his account of his civil war with Pompey. Comprising three parts, this volume investigates the detailed philological arguments that underpin the revised edition of the text. The first part supplements the preface of the Oxford Classical Texts edition, providing an expanded background on the history of the text and a more detailed argument for the shape of the stemma. The second part is a discussion of nature and the causes of the difficulties present in the text of the Bellum civile and their consequences for the revised edition. The third part presents a series of around 75 notes on different areas of the text, exploring in depth the contentions behind the various remedies suggested in the critical apparatus of the Oxford Classical Texts edition.

Free Download Miroslav Sedivy, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum: The Italian Response to International Insecurity 1830-1848 "
English | ISBN: 370018705X | 2021 | 346 pages | PDF | 6 MB
It was not after 1848 but actually before this revolutionary year that Europe witnessed the abusive proceedings perpetrated by the great powers which undermined the functionality of the post-Napoleonic international order. Even worse, their abuse of power in European and overseas affairs provoked a feeling of mistrust, pessimism and fear and led to discussions about the disappearing justice from the world among a considerable number of Europeans. By the 1840s, under the influence of various crises and conflicts members of the educated middle and upper middle classes in particular changed the way they judged and approached issues of international politics, justice, security and nation building. This process was all the more important in Italy since the search for greater security against external threats became the driving force in the spread of the idea to unite her politically from the Alps to Sicily. This unity, along with well defensible frontiers, a strong army and navy and good material resources including colonial ones, was to ensure a more secure position within the system of European politics and thereby better prospects for a peaceful future according to the phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum. However, this power-oriented response to insecurity had devastating consequences for the generally shared desire to live in peace with other nations, represented by another aspiration deeply rooted in the national movement: to establish a better international order. To reveal this important process of pan-European dimension is the principal aim of this book, and the Italian arena of politics in 1830-1848 has been chosen to clarify this sea change in political behaviour.