The Assassination of Julius Caesar

A People's History of Ancient Rome

By: Michael Parenti

Narrated by: David Stifel

"A provocative history" of intrigue and class struggle in ancient Rome - "an important alternative to the usual views of Caesar and the Roman Empire" (Publishers Weekly).

Most historians, both ancient and modern, have viewed the Late Republic of Rome through the eyes of its rich nobility - the one percent of the population who controlled 99 percent of the empire's wealth. In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti recounts this period, spanning the years 100 to 33 BC, from the perspective of the Roman people. In doing so, he presents a provocative, trenchantly researched narrative of popular resistance against a powerful elite.

As Parenti carefully weighs the evidence concerning the murder of Caesar, he adds essential context to the crime with fascinating details about Roman society as a whole. In this book, we find reflections on the democratic struggle waged by Roman commoners, religious augury as an instrument of social control, the patriarchal oppression of women, and the political use of homophobic attacks. The Assassination of Julius Caesar offers a whole new perspective on an era thought to be well-known.

©2003 Michael Parenti (P)2022 Tantor

Fantastic history and its modern influences

Michael has done a better job of explaining whay happened and why it happened than any prior lexicon or historical series I've had pleasure to experience. His economic perspectives and inferences make the subject relevant to today's economies as well.

Parenti knows best!

What a great book and enjoyable listen. Parenti is the best and I highly recommend

Super easy listening & very engaging

In college courses Parenti’s obvious emphasis on class relations begged to be identified as the driving force of Antiquity & Roman History. Why all my Professors refused to address class relations directly was a clear indication of their biases. Parenti has written a serious yet entertaining book and the narration is outstanding and engaging.

Refreshing

The narrator was lacking a bit but the content is outstanding and very informative. Thanks!

Ancient history made timelessly relevant.

This book doesn’t just teach history, it teaches the value of historical curiosity. Easily my favorite Parenti book, and my favorite book on Ancient Rome.

A Clear Vision of Roman Society

A Clear Vision of Roman Society

Parenti pulls no punches in explaining the inequalities of Roman society, and helps us understand just what conditions were at the time of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

David Stifel delivers an excellent narration of this fine book.

An amazing work

both the performance of this book and the material itself are amazing. The book is a great look into how Rome is made to seem like a pleasent dream when the reality is it was just as corrupt and self dealing as modern society.

Parenti is amazing

Very eye-opening. Thank you Michael Parenti! As an actor who has performed the play, it is fascinating to hear a different side of history

Open your mind

a brilliant, staggering expose of what Parenyi he refers to as "gentleman's history," or history told by the victors, the powerful, the owners of capital. He sheds a light on the facts of Caesar's assassination, and how it was entirely tied to his efforts to improve the lives of the poor, the working class, the Forgotten and maligned of rome. Put aside what you think you know about this historical event and era, and open your mind to the idea that history may not be as objective and impartial, or that the practices, prejudices, and peccadillos of the era are in any way as irrelevant today, as we might think.

Michael Parenti is one of America's greatest

Michael Parenti is one of America's greatest living thinkers and historians. He does so even against sanctioning popular narratives; not as a contrarian, but as an incorruptible mind.

I've always hated the depiction of the mob knowing that I was the mob. The language is deprecating and elitist. Earlier depictions of the mob for me were experienced when talking about the French Revolution and American History. Take the French Revolution; it's commonly taught as if French Society was doing fine until the mob went crazy and started cutting everyone's heads off. There's obviously something missing. There's obviously something willfully left unspoken. Kings are not the way Disney would have you view them. They're an evil sort of thing. The horrors of Monarchy are left unexpressed. This is done so willfully that most people having graduated high school and studied it, couldn't tell you what Feudalism is. We don't understand the fundamental differences between Social Orders. An infantilized narrative is reproduced so that people think all of History is capitalist.

This book seeks to break that. Rome was a Slave Society. The Senators were Slavers. Rome wasn't a free Republic with a few slaves here and there. It was a Slave Society, yet nobody understands that part of history. It isn't told, and it's willfully untold. Why did Rome welcome Caesar as a Liberator? It's because he was a Liberator. Why did Rome scorn his assassins? It's because they were Slavers.