Julius Caesar was quite simply the most famous Roman who ever lived. His influence endures in our ‘Julian’ calendar of 365.25 days, which he introduced; in the geographical entity we call France, whose boundaries he established; and, thanks to his ‘invasion’ of 55 BC, his is virtually the earliest familiar name in the history of Britain. This book explores his complex character - his vanity and vitality, his charisma and cruelty and sets his astounding career and accomplishments against the background of the violent and destructive world of the late Roman republic in which he grew up. It also traces in detail the sources of his phenomenal rise to power and the deep unpopularity which ultimately made him ‘one of the loneliest men alive’ and pays particular attention to the details of Caesar’s murder on the Ides of March 44 BC (see cover image by Poynter: The Ides of March).