Julius Caesar's conquests in Gaul in the 50s BC were bloody, but the cultural revolution they brought in their wake transformed forever the ancient Celtic culture of that country. After Caesar, the Gauls exchanged their tribal quarrels for togas and acquired the paraphernalia of civilized urban life. The Romans also left behind a legacy of language, literature, law, government, religion, architecture and industry.

Each chapter of Caesar's Footprints is dedicated to a specific journey of exploration through Roman Gaul. From the amphitheatres of Arles and Nîmes to the battlefield of Châlons, where Flavius Aetius defeated Attila the Hun, Bijan Omrani – an exciting new voice in Roman history – explores archaeological sites, artefacts and landscapes to reveal how the imprint of Rome shaped France – and thereby helped to create modern Europe.

 

Bijan Omrani is a classicist and historian. He read Classics and English at Lincoln College, Oxford, before going on to write and research on the history of Afghanistan, the Silk Road and Central Asia, as well as Roman history and the development of Greek thought. He has taught Classics at Eton College and Westminster School, and currently edits the Asian Affairs Journal. He also writes Latin and English verse; his Horatian Ode on the London 2012 Olympics was endorsed by the Mayor of London and covered in the Evening Standard.