Caesar and Christ

O Will e a Ariel possuem uma prosa e uma habilidade para escrever história que mesmo depois de duas mil páginas (Nossa Herança Oriental e Nossa Herança Clássica) eu ainda me sinto disposto de encarar mais outras mil. Olha que eu sou um leitor de pouco fôlego e que história seja talvez um interesse menor meu, em comparação com ficção e outras coisas.

É, sobretudo, a personalidade deles, o método e a maneira de avançar nos tópicos que faz um livro de história da primeira metade do século passado ter tanto frescor. O Will com certeza se inspira nos historiadores antigos — Heródoto e Tucídides —, e a ajuda da Ariel faz com que ele não caia em muito dos problemas de outros historiadores antigos no trato das raças, do show more gênero, da sexualidade e, principalmente, do papel feminino na história. Desde o primeiro livro isso fica claro.

Para fazer A História da Civilização, por exemplo, "o casal Durant empregou a maior parte de seu tempo de trabalho (oito a quatorze horas diárias) ao livro ", e a dedicação foi tanta que "Para se prepararem melhor para a obra, Will Durant e a mulher viajaram pela Europa em 1927, deram a volta ao mundo em 1930, para estudar o Egito, o Oriente Próximo, índia, China e Japão, e novamente circularam a Terra em 1932, para visitar o Japão, a Manchúria, Sibéria, Rússia Europeia e Polônia.

Outro ponto que talvez me faça lê-los com tanto vigor é o método e o objetivo que eles possuem. O primeiro: escrever a história como "o estudo das principais fases da vida, do trabalho, da cultura [e da arte] de um povo, entrosadamente." Isso pauta muito do conteúdo. A gente lê muito sobre todo tipo de arte, trechos de literatura, referências a estatuária e a pintura, entre outros. O segundo ponto: eles enxergam o estudo da história como uma iluminação dos dias de hoje "[Will] nos recorda que os ditadores sempre usaram o mesmo métodos" e que fenômenos e acontecimentos antigos são atuais, como "agências bancárias, de fundos destinados a melhoramentos com fins políticos, depressão econômica, projetos e regulamentações governamentais, socialismo do Estado, planos prioritários de tempo de guerra, corrupção eleitoral, grupos de pressão, associações de classe e outros (...) e existem há pelo menos dois mil anos.

Agora, nesta entrada da série: a história de Roma e Cristo. O drama do maior império da história, que nenhum poeta conseguiria replicar ou fabricar. De uma aldeia de encruzilhada à dominação do mundo; e, então, a queda. show less

A little village on an inconsequential river eventually expands to command the entire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe creating an economical and cultural exchange while their homeland disintegrated allowing their conquests to eventually rule over them in politics, culture, and religion. Caesar and Christ is the third volume of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series focusing on the rise of the Roman Empire and it’s conquest from within by Christianity.

As with the previous two volumes, Durant began the book with a prologue of sorts this time focusing on the Etruscans and other early Italians that would be subsumed by Rome. Covering roughly a millennium of time from the reputed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the show more reign of Constantine, Durant covered all aspects of the development of Roman society from government to architecture to religion and philosophy to military conquest to societal and economical interplay. Once on the verge of the Christian era, Durant begins alluding to the conditions in Roman society and religion that would allow Christianity to grow before focusing on the development of Christianity from Jesus’ ministry to Constantine’s conversion. Though comprehensive in his material Durant’s phrasing was problematic due to his use of the ”Roman race” throughout the book, given the original publishing date was in 1944 this suggestion very outdated thinking about the development of human societies. Another important analysis from Durant’s description of the spread of Christianity was the Church’s absorption of practices from other religions that would come to the fore 1200 years later.

Caesar and Christ details the most impactful political and religious institutions that still resonate today in the West. show less

Early Steps of European Civilization
The formation of Roman Empire and it's evolution are exposed in a clear and fluent narrative by Will Durant. His easy prose and irony provides the reader/listener a well informed testimony about ancient time. The book examines a pivotal moment of European and west civilization: the formation and early development of Roman Empire (II century BC to III century AD) and the advent and beginnings of Christianity (till it's adoption by Constantine).
The ideas and the main events of the period, besides some gossips and debates, are examined in a way that enables the reader to grasp the historical background of the period. The part of the book reserved to Christianity, though, could be more complete. This is show more a book worth reading (or listening). It enhances our knowing of European history. show less

This is volume III of the "Story of Civilization" series, and definite proof that the series was going to be far more than a tired trot through the same old themes. While the outline of the empire's events is relatively well known, the look at primitive Christianity is readable and apparently objective. There is a useful sketch of the religious environment of the times, which is usually missing from the usual treatment.

A major milestone...finally finished "Caesar and Christ", book three of Will Durant's "The Story of Western Civilization" series. Although there have been significant advances in knowledge of the Roman Empire since this book was written, this is still the work of a master historian. His clear-eyed analysis, subtle humor, biting wit and clever turn-of-phrase make it a worthwhile read even today.

Classic Durant. Exhaustively detailed, delightfully opinionated.

Will Durant sings high praises of Caesar. Also is able to kill him off in 2 sentences. Can't find enough good to say about the guy, which I pretty much agree with.

Read the sections on the Stoic philosophers Seneca, Cicero.
Marc Antony & Cleopatra.

The piece on the Paul the Apostle was interesting, esp regarding early Christian's ongoing relationship w Judaism.

Plotinus was very thought provoking,