From 58 to 50 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar waged a terrible war in Gaul. Ambition and the pursuit of profit were the main motives behind Caesar's actions, which faced significant opposition in the Roman Senate. However, the military strategist was also a master of political tactics. In this situation, he wrote his famous Commentarii de bello Gallico, which are now part of world literature but at the time served primarily as a sophisticated justification directed at the Roman public. Markus Schauer presents a well-researched, nuanced, and engaging introduction to this timelessly significant work. He illuminates the crisis-ridden political situation of the late Roman Republic that enabled careers like Caesar's and explains how Caesar's war against Gaul came about.