GREAT COMMANDERS:
Episode 2. Julius Caesar

Narrated by Brian Cox

“I have just started listening to The Great Commanders on Audible and then watching the films too. It is well worth it!  I remember them from Channel 4 and they are still totally absorbing. The clarity of exposition is a model of how it should be done”. Michael Attwell, ex-Chair of BAFTA UK

In a world where war proves to be just as much a part of our lives as it has been throughout history, we investigate the lives and achievements of Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant and Georgi Zhukov, all acclaimed as military ‘greats’. Filmed on location, each programme is based around one battle, using 3D computer animation to illustrate the skills, tactics and strategy of each of the Commanders. Leading experts talk about the motivation that lay behind the achievements of each Commander and examine the scale and nature of their successes.

For Caesar it is the siege of Alesia and his clash with Vercingetorix, Grant’s efforts in the Wilderness win him a place and, of course, Austerlitz is Bonaparte’s greatest success. The 45-minute programme on Bonaparte introduces us to the young Corsican, his tribulations, meteoric rise to fame and power and his eventual defeat. Austerlitz was the crowning glory of the French leader’s military successes as he was outnumbered, but fooled his Austrian and Russian enemies into attacking him and then, by brilliant leadership, utterly destroying them.

Episode 2: Julius Caesar
The Battle of Alesias

Julius Caesar, a scheming politician, used military power to dominate Rome. Massively in debt, he led his armies through a decade of conquest in a bid for wealth, glory and power. In the process he conquered Gaul and precipitated the downfall of the Celts. At the Battle of Alesia he brilliantly used technological superiority and tactical cunning against a force who outnumbered him more than 5 to 1.

Written & directed by Phil Grabsky