Veni, Vidi, Trucidavi: Caesar the Killer
A Man Who Destroyed Nations So He Might Be King
Caesar was stabbed twenty-three times in the most dramatic and spectacular assassination in all recorded history. Dennis Sullivan makes it twenty-four, with a compelling account of the man and his many crimes. He brings Caesar to life as his fans and apologists have never been able to do. Learning to do justice to the great villains of history can help us cast a cooler eye on the malevolent leaders who have swarmed onto the world stage in our time. — James J. O'Donnell, Arizona State University
In “Veni, Vidi, Trucidavi: Caesar the Killer,” Dennis Sullivan convenes a grand jury and invites every reader to serve as a juror. The text is a compilation of evidence presented to the jury about Caesar’s acts of violence during his life especially during his near-decade appointment as governor of Gaul. The impaneled jurors are asked to determine to what degree Caesar was, and remains, guilty of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his continuing series of massacres—first against the “uncivilized heathen barbarian” and then against his fellow citizens during a civil war he started as an insurrectionist. “Veni, Vidi, Trucidavi” is for every student and teacher of Latin, the Classics, and the culture of ancient Rome.
