Editing Julius Caesar (section)

==Literary works==
[[File:Julii Caesaris quae exstant.tif|thumb|upright|''Julii Caesaris quae exstant'' (1678)]]
[[File:Commentarii de Bello Gallico.jpg|thumb|A 1783 edition of ''The Gallic Wars'']]
During his lifetime, Caesar was regarded as one of the best orators and prose authors in Latin{{snd}}even Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's rhetoric and style.<ref>Cic. ''Brut.'', [http://attalus.org/cicero/brutus3.html#252 252].</ref> Only Caesar's war commentaries have survived. A few sentences from other works are quoted by other authors. Among his lost works are [[Laudatio Iuliae amitae|his funeral oration]] for his paternal aunt [[Julia (aunt of Caesar and wife of Marius)|Julia]] and his "[[Anticato]]", a document attacking [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] in response to Cicero's eulogy. [[Poems by Julius Caesar]] are also mentioned in ancient sources.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Courtney |editor-first=Edward |title=The fragmentary Latin poets |date=1993 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-814775-9 |oclc=25628739 |pages=153–55, 187–88}}</ref>

===Memoirs===
* The ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'', usually known in English as ''The Gallic Wars'', seven books each covering one year of his campaigns in Gaul and southern Britain in the 50s BC, with the eighth book written by [[Aulus Hirtius]] on the last two years.
* The ''[[Commentarii de Bello Civili]]'' (''The Civil War''), events of the Civil War from Caesar's perspective, until immediately after Pompey's death in Egypt.

Other works historically have been attributed to Caesar, but their authorship is in doubt:
* ''[[De Bello Alexandrino]]'' (''On the Alexandrine War''), campaign in Alexandria;
* ''[[De Bello Africo]]'' (''On the African War''), campaigns in North Africa; and
* ''[[De Bello Hispaniensi]]'' (''On the Hispanic War''), campaigns in the [[Iberian Peninsula]].

These narratives were written and published annually during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front". They were important in shaping Caesar's public image and enhancing his reputation when he was away from Rome for long periods. They may have been presented as public readings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiseman |first=T P |chapter=The publication of ''De bello Gallico'' |title=Julius Caesar as artful reporter: the war commentaries as political instruments |date=2009 |editor-last=Welch |editor-first=Kathryn |editor-last2=Powell |editor-first2=Anton |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=978-1-905125-28-9 }}</ref> As a model of clear and direct Latin style, ''The Gallic Wars'' traditionally has been studied by first- or second-year Latin students.