Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Sallent, post: 2291899, member: 76194"]I doubt the casualties are anywhere near the actual numbers. The man was a master propagandist. He wrote his own books using third party tense for himself so he could make it seem like someone else was writing about him. I have no doubt that he downplayed the number of soldiers he had, and his own casualties, while severely overestimating the size of the enemy and the casualties they took, just so he could make the people back home in Rome believe he was the next Alexander the Great. Remember, he compared himself and his achievements to Alexander the Great on several occasions in his writings. When you read Caesar's accounts, it's probably 50%  true and 50% fiction. Was he actually there at that battle? Probably yes. Did it last as long as it did, was it as hard fought and were the numbers of enemy killed as large as he said? Probably not. There was a lot of incentive to exaggerate his own genius...turning himself into a living legend in the minds of all Romans.[/QUOTE]