Julius Caesar was a brilliant politician who became sole ruler of a Roman empire increased in size by his own military exploits. As a military strategist he never lost a campaign; he was also a considerable speaker and historical writer. A lavish spender, who at the outset of his career was often hugely in debt, he had by his death amassed by various means a personal fortune estimated as equal to one-seventh of the entire Roman treasury. His influence was profound and his sexual habits were the scandal of the age. Antony Kamm provides a fresh account, for the general reader and the student, of Caesar's life, set against the historical, political, and social background of the times, with new translations from classical sources. Also featured are key figures such as Marius, Sulla, Cicero, Catiline, Pompey, Cato, Crassus, Clodius, Mark Antony, Servilia and her son Brutus, Gaius Octavius, who became the emperor Augustus, and his sister Octavia, Calpurnius Piso and his daughter Calpurnia (Caesar's wife), and Cleopatra, as well as the politicians who supported or opposed him and the military men who fought for and against him. For those people interested in the end of the Roman republic and the growth of the Roman empire, and the great figures of Roman history, this new look at an extraordinary man will be indispensable. - Back cover.