On this particular book, "The Sons of Caesar" is a very readable informative collection of biographies of six important Julio-Claudians - namely Julius Caesar and the first five emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. His books are well suited for the beginner and general audiences. Turns out, Matys is a very competent, if unremarkable, purveyor of Ancient Rome in its many aspects. All the people who mentioned him and his books sung nothing but high praises, but then he is a member of that particular forum, so I was naturally skeptical. I first heard about Philip Matyszak while browsing an Internet forum devoted to Ancient Rome. 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. 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. Only Augustus and Tiberius died natural deaths and even that is uncertain. ![]() It was no easy task: Caesar and Caligula were assassinated, Nero committed suicide, and Claudius was poisoned. ![]() At the heart of the account are the lives of six men-Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Neromen-who mastered Rome and then changed it from a democracy to a personal possession. 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.
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