The Assassination of Julius Caesar
by Michael Parenti

$16.95

A People's History of Ancient Rome

A people's history should be not only an account of popular struggle against oppression but an exposé of the anti-people's history that has prevailed among generations of mainstream historians. It should be a critical history about a people's oppressors .... Here is a story of latifundia and death squads, masters and slaves, patriarchs and subordinated women, self-enriching capitalists and plundered provinces, profiteering slumlords and urban rioters.

The question that informs this book is, why did a coterie of Roman senators assassinate their fellow aristocrat and celebrated ruler, Julius Caesar? The prevailing opinion is that the senatorial assassins were intent upon restoring republican liberties by doing away with a despotic usurper.

Parenti presents an alternate explanation: The Senate aristocrats killed Caesar because they perceived him to be a popular leader who threatened their privileged interests. Parenti's introduction is titled: "Tyrannicide or Treason."

Provocative and eloquent. —Howard Zinn

Scintillating storytelling and deeply examined historical insight ....An important alternative to the usual views of Caesar and the Roman Empire.—Publishers Weekly

New Press, Softcover, 260pp, Appendix, Index, Notes

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