Caesar - Gallic War 3

Caesar – Gallic War 3 (1982) by H. E. Gould and J. L. Whiteley – Macmillan – Good Condition – Ex-School Copy

Nothing livens up a school day quite like Julius Caesar explaining, in his own carefully polished Latin, why yet another part of Gaul had unfortunately required conquering.

Caesar – Gallic War 3, edited by H. E. Gould and J. L. Whiteley, presents Book III of Caesar’s De Bello Gallico, the famous account of his campaigns in Gaul. Written by the man commanding the armies, it is military history, political autobiography and exceptionally confident public relations all rolled into one extremely influential piece of prose.

Caesar famously writes about himself in the third person, which is an impressive literary achievement if you can carry it off without sounding ridiculous. Thus Caesar marches here, Caesar orders that, Caesar defeats somebody else, and Caesar remains remarkably fortunate that the historian responsible for recording Caesar’s achievements is also Caesar.

Book III takes the campaign beyond the more familiar opening invasions and into further conflicts across western Gaul, including operations against the Veneti, a powerful maritime people of Brittany who made the tactical error of possessing ships, independence and a reluctance to accept Roman authority. Caesar, unsurprisingly, regarded this as a situation requiring administrative attention of the heavily armed variety.

There are campaigns, sieges, naval warfare, shifting alliances and repeated demonstrations of Rome’s preferred diplomatic procedure: first issue demands, then explain afterwards why the resulting conquest was entirely necessary.

For generations, Caesar’s Gallic War was a staple of Latin education, partly because his prose is famously direct and structured and partly because classical schooling once considered translating military reports about massacres, fortifications and tribal revolts an entirely wholesome activity for teenagers.

This 1982 Macmillan edition, prepared by Gould and Whiteley, is very much part of that tradition. It is designed for students working through Caesar’s Latin with the sort of supporting notes, explanations and guidance intended to make the ancient text marginally less alarming at 9:15 on a Wednesday morning.

And this particular copy has actually been there.

It is an ex-school book from Old Palace School in Croydon, giving it a pleasing extra layer of educational history. At some point it presumably occupied a classroom shelf, library cupboard, desk or schoolbag while pupils confronted ablative absolutes, indirect statements and Caesar’s seemingly limitless supply of tribes who had decided that this year would be an excellent year to rebel.

It also comes with a protective plastic sleeve, suggesting that somebody, somewhere, once took the preservation of Caesar’s Gallic campaigns extremely seriously. The sleeve has evidently done its job, because the book remains in Good condition despite decades of potential encounters with school desks, satchels, adolescent handwriting and whatever unspeakable substances traditionally accumulated at the bottom of school bags.

As an ex-school copy, it may naturally show signs of institutional ownership or previous use, which is arguably part of its charm. A completely untouched school Latin book would raise more questions than it answered.

ISBN 0333096932.

Ideal for students of Latin, collectors of classical school texts, readers interested in Roman history, former Latin pupils wishing to discover whether any of it has remained lodged in the brain, or anyone fascinated by the remarkable ability of Julius Caesar to invade somebody else’s country while presenting himself as the reasonable party throughout.

Sold by Crappy Old Books — where former schoolbooks are granted parole, protective plastic is respected, and Caesar is still explaining why the Gauls brought the whole thing upon themselves.

Keep browsing: See more Ancient Classics books Other books by HE Gould and JL Whiteley