Classic Durant. Exhaustively detailed, delightfully opinionated. ( )

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 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to his use of the ”Roman race” throughout the book, given the original publishing date was in 1944 this suggestion very outdated thinking about the development of human societies.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. ( )

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, ( )

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. ( )