Episode 52. The Dictatorship and the Ides: Caesar Against the Republic, Part Four

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Works CitedPrimary Sources

Appian. Civil Wars, Book 2. The systematic political account; useful for the sequence of events in the dictatorship period and the aftermath.
Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 43–44. The most detailed account of the political sequence in 45–44 BCE; useful for the tribune incidents and the accumulation of honours.
Cicero. Letters to Atticus, Books 14–15. Real-time reaction to the assassination; Cicero's initial exhilaration and its rapid deflation as he realises the conspirators have no plan. The “courage of men, strategy of children” formulation is from these letters.
Nicolaus of Damascus. Life of Augustus. A near-contemporary account with some unique material on the Ides.
Plutarch. “Life of Antony.” For the Lupercalia scene; Plutarch's account of Antony's role is the most detailed.
Plutarch. “Life of Brutus,” chapters 1–20. The formation of the conspiracy from Brutus's perspective; essential for the recruitment of Brutus and Cassius's role.
Plutarch. “Life of Caesar,” chapters 57–69. The dictatorship, the Lupercalia, the conspiracy, and the killing. The Ides scene is here in full.
Suetonius. “Life of Julius Caesar.” Essential for the dictatorship period, the reforms, the personal details, and the conspiracy. The satirical Senate notice and the epilepsy detail are both from Suetonius.

Secondary Sources

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar: Life of a Colossus. 2006. The most comprehensive modern biography; pragmatic and military-focused.
Holland, Tom. Rubicon. 2003. The most readable popular account of the whole period; the Ides chapter is particularly strong.
Meier, Christian. Caesar. Translated 1995. The most analytically ambitious treatment; Caesar as improviser rather than planner.
Parenti, Michael. The Assassination of Julius Caesar. 2003. A provocative class-based reading that corrects some of the hagiography around the conspirators.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. 1939. Caesar as revolutionary monarch; the indispensable framework even where one disagrees.

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