Conclusion

Overall, I think Caesar was a little hard to get through. I really love action, but when I'm reading it, it's not as influential as when I'm seeing or experiencing it. I definitely prefer the Aeneid, but I don't think that this was completely unbearable. I also wish I did this with more time to focus and enjoy it, because I probably would have liked it a lot better if I didn't put it all off.
At this point, my top two topics are the Roman Army, and Caesar: Facts vs. Propaganda, because I'm not really as into the speech topic as I was thinking I would be in the beginning. I found a lot more information on those two topics, even though my Facts vs. Propaganda topic turned into a Caesar psychological evaluation topic. There are plenty of examples and evidence for me to write a strong paper about both, and at this point, I'm still not entirely sure what I'd pick.
The Roman Army is a cool topic, but I see on the blog list that a lot of other students are doing the same topic. Seeing as this is what the book is mainly about, I would have to make my paper a little interesting and talk about something like morality, or ethics on the battlefield, or the psychological structure of the army itself. They differ from other armies in the book in many ways, and I could also do a comparison thing if I chose to. I think I got the wrong impression of the army from the introduction, because I figured them to be a little more bloodthirsty and less restrained, but I know in some ways, they were that way, because you probably can't win a war with a heart a mile wide. I think the thing that really got me though was their obedience, and that was what made them so successful.
Caesar is interesting to look at because although the book in written in third person, he is writing about himself. This could make the information a little biased, and maybe even a little fictional, because he wants to make himself look good. Readers in the past and present probably interpret this approach different ways, and finding all of the ways that you could look at Caesar would be something I'm interested in. Just like you could with the army, you could also compare him to other leaders in the book and show how that makes him look better or worse in his leadership tactics. You have to look at him as an author AND a character, and I think that's what makes this topic so cool.
The hardest thing for me when reading was keeping all of the names straight. I kept forgetting who was with who, and who was from where, and that made it the hardest to follow. So I'd have to keep my topic simple so I wouldn't confuse myself, but I'd still get a deeper understanding of the text. I'll do my best on this paper, but I'm definitely looking forward to May, where I get to chose my own topic:)