I recently had the opportunity to read Following Caesar, in an advance publisher’s copy before its formal release in December of 2023. The book covers an extended trip through Italy and the Adriatic by a reporter who loves Italy, Roman history, and the magnificent roads the Romans built to make and administer one of the largest empires ever created.
Keahey’s modis operendi was to rent a car and drive
the routes of three great Roman highways—The Via Appia, the Via Traiana, and
the Via Egnatia. As he proceeds along the modern roads that sometimes mirror,
sometimes parallel, and occasionally deviate from the ancient ones, he enlists
the aid of local guides to help him locate now exposed sections of the ancient
byways. At many of his stops he merely sits and contemplates the grandeur and
historic importance of past. You get the bloody stories of Julius Ceasar, Mark Antony, Brutus, Octavius,
Cicero, Hannibal, Hoarce, Virgil and other not so notables who marched along on the carefully
groomed ancient stones and made history with their footfalls.
This is not a dry academic treatise. Keahey dispenses with
footnotes and keeps the style unassuming and down to earth. He concentrates as
much on the current sights, the food, and the morning coffee he consumes en
route as he does on the history. My guess is that if you have traveled in
Italy or studied at least a bit of classical history, you will enjoy
his travel journal more. Even if
your knowledge of Julius Caesar is confined to “Beware, the Ides of March” you may still find some pleasure in this short and easy read.
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