Sons Of Caesar Cl

by Matyszak,Philip

• ISBN13: 9780500251287
• ISBN10: 0500251282
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-17
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Summary

The story of one of the most colorful dynasties in history, from Caesar's rise to power in the first century BC to Nero's death in AD 68. This engaging new study reviews the long history of the Julian and Claudian families in the Roman Republic and the social and political background of Rome. At the heart of the account are the lives of six men--Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero--men who mastered Rome and then changed it from a democracy to a personal possession. It was no easy task: Caesar and Caligula were assassinated, Nero committed suicide, and Claudius was poisoned. Only Augustus and Tiberius died natural deaths--and even that is uncertain. The Julio-Claudian saga has a host of other intriguing characters, from Cicero, the last great statesman of the Republic, to Livia, matriarch of the Empire; the passionate Mark Antony and the scheming Sejanus; and Agrippina, mother of Nero and sister of Caligula, who probably murdered her husband and was in turn killed by her son. Set against a background of foreign wars and domestic intrigue, the story of Rome's greatest dynasty is also the story of the birth of an imperial system that shaped the Europe of today. 80 illustrations.

Table of Contents

JULIO-CLAUDIAN FAMILY TREE	8	(1)
PREFACE	9	(3)
1 INTRODUCTION: FROM REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE	12	(6)
2 FAMILY FORTUNES	18	(18)
3 JULIUS CAESAR; FROM A RENEGADE TO A GOD	36	(40)
4 FROM OCTAVIAN TO AUGUSTUS: CAESAR'S DEADLY LEGACY	76	(49)
5 TIBERIUS: EMPEROR BY DEFAULT	125	(37)
6 GAIUS CALIGULA: FEARAND LOATHING AT THE IMPERIAL COURT	162	(36)
7 CLAUDIUS: THE UNEXPECTED EMPEROR	198	(44)
8 NERO: THE DEATH OF A DYNASTY	242	(32)
9 EPILOGUE	274	(8)
CHRONOLOGY	282	(2)
GLOSSARY	284	(3)
FURTHER READING	287	(3)
CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	290	(1)
INDEX	291