Caesar, Cicero & Cleopatra

CAESAR COMES ALIVEArthur Paone, attorney and author, has taken a memorable period in the history of Western Civilization and brought it alive on the page for the modern reader in a vivid and completely engaging narrative. The reader will find quite caught up in it, and enjoy both the story and the refresher course on this critical period in Roman history, as Paone stays close to known historic facts.Most impressive is his skillful treatment of his principle protagonist, Julius Caesar. Considering his legendary status in western history, and the fact that books about him would fill a large library, developing him as a quasi-fictional character was a risky and courageous undertaking. But Paone pulled it off, and he did it with style. Caesar truly comes alive here as an understandable and very human individual. Paone shows Caesar as a civic leader, a politician, a husband and lover, a father, a military strategist, and as a hero and a visionary. But he does even more than this. He also shows us, in a most persuasive way, the emotional, intellectual, and moral qualifies that made him such a legendary figure; that made him that rare and extraordinary human being whose accomplishments would live on for many centuries beyond his own relatively short life.The reader will come away from this actually understanding the man Caesar, and also how he achieved his greatness. The supporting actors, Cicero and Cleopatra, likewise come alive for the reader. The story also has a robust contemporary echo. The popular reformer who threatens the entrenched interests of the privileged elite certainly has powerful echoes in today's poisonous political environment.It is no small accomplishment on Paone's part to be able to capture the essence of such an extraordinary character and get it down on the page in narrative form in such a believable and engaging way.