Literary works of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (100BC-44BC) was considered during his lifetime to be one of the finest orators and authors of prose in Rome; even Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's rhetoric and style; among his most famous works were his funeral oration for his paternal aunt Julia (Marius's widow) and his Anticato, a document written to blacken Cato's reputation and respond to Cicero's Cato memorial. Unfortunately, the majority of his works and speeches have been lost.
The most famous of his surviving works are: - The Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War), campaigns in Gallia and Britannia during his term as proconsul; and
- The Commentarii de Bello Civile (Commentaries on the Civil War) [1], events of the Civil War until immediately after Pompey's death in Egypt.
Other works historically attributed to Caesar, but whose authorship is doubted, are: - De Bello Hispaniensis (On the Hispanic War) [1], campaigns in modern Spain;
- De Bello Africo (On the African War) [1], campaigns in North Africa; and
- De Bello Alexandrino (On the Alexandrine War) [1], campaign in Alexandria.
These narratives, apparently simple and direct in style – to the point that Caesar's Commentarii are commonly studied by first and second year Latin students – are in fact highly sophisticated advertisements for his political agenda, most particularly for the middle-brow readership of minor aristocrats in Rome, Italy, and the provinces.
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