statesman, and nation-builder:
Caesar or Pompey?
Few people have had as many words written about them down through
the centuries as Julius Caesar-the brilliant general who made Queen Cleopatra
of Egypt his mistress. He has captured the imagination of playwrights,
historians, soldiers, and emperors.
Little has been written about his ally, son-in-law, and eventual
enemy Pompey the Great, who crashed onto the Roman scene as a victorious
twenty-three-year-old general and who, at the height of his career, was arguably
more famous, more popular, and more successful than Caesar.
Caesar Versus Pompey tells the parallel life stories of
Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, as their lives and loves became intertwined and
interdependent, as they grew from rivals to partners, then from joint rulers to
warring foes. One strove to preserve the Roman Republic, the other destroyed
it.