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GRILLO, L., The Art of Caesar's Bellum Civile. Literature, Ideology, and Community. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015. 1st paperback ed. 221p. Paperback. 'As Grillo states in his introduction, 'two artificial divisions (...) have hindered the understanding of the Bellum Civile (...) one division separated Caesar the writer from the orator, intellectual, politician and general, and the other separated the work’s style and content' (p.10). The Art of Caesar’s 'Bellum Civile' - a pallid if accurate title - seeks to reconnect the severed parts, working to situate Caesar in the intellectual stew of his times. Along the way, Grillo uses a variety of approaches including, among others, a careful analysis of word choice and meaning, narrative structure, prose rhythm, and focalization to reveal how Caesar persuades. 'The Bellum Civile' is a special work in which 'the cooperation between the narrator and the general creates multiple possibilities for magnifying the authority of the former and the mastery of the latter' (p.9). The rhetorical methods by which Caesar achieves this, however, have only recently drawn greater scrutiny as the implications of the highly self-aware, literary history-writing practiced by the Romans has become a lively topic of study. (...) Caesar was recognized in the ancient world for both his personal and literary style. The style of a work of scholarship is seldom praised (and perhaps seldom deserves to be), but this book is a pleasure to read. The touch is light, the glosses on concepts concise and clear, and there are brief references to other sources that call Caesar’s various claims into question or confirm them. These external touchstones keep in mind the sometimes contentious problem of what really happened. By keeping in focus both the techniques of representation and what is at stake in them, the author shows the substance behind the rhetoric and demonstrates why historiography matters.' (AISLAINN MELCHIOR in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2013.01.30). € 32.50 (New) ISBN: 9781107470675