ABSTRACT
Bellum Civile II also diers from BC I in style and tone. e rst book, as has been shown, focuses on Caesar and his complicated relationship with the senate and serves to present Caesar’s image at the beginning of the war. e tone is personal and emotional in relating Caesar’s accusations and personal claims. It is a Caesar-centred book, in which he shows himself in the best possible light in every scene, politically and militarily. In the second book the main focus is not on Caesar, who principally plays the part of the overall observer rather than the competent general of BC I. is gives him the opportunity to expand his perspective and relate the deeds of his legates in more detail.1 e Curio episode is tensely dramatic and oers as much psychology as military assessment and suggests Caesar was possibly attempting to write a monograph. e overall style is similar to BC I, but the emphasis on Curio’s tragedy gives him the opportunity to break his own more restricted prose guidelines.
