Synopses & Reviews
When Cacofonix the bard is taken to Rome as a present for Julius Caesar, Asterix and Obelix set out to rescue him, sailing with master salesman Ekonomikrisis, the Phoenician merchant. How do our Gaulish friends come to end up training as gladiators? The next Games in the Circus Maximus are not quite what Caesar and the Roman public expect...
Review
A cartoon drawn with such supreme artistry, and a text layered with such glorious wordplay, satire and historical and political allusion that no reader should ever feel like they've outgrown it.--TIME OUT
Review
The Asterix books represent the very summit of our achievement as a literary race. In Asterix one finds all of human life. The fact that the books were written originally in French is no matter. I have read them all in many languages and, like all great literature, they are best in English. Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, Asterix's translators since the very beginning, have made great books into eternal flames.--THE TIMES
Synopsis
Oh no! The Romans have captured Cacofonix as a gift for Caesarand#151;and the Emperor plans to throw him to the lions. Thereand#8217;s only one way for Asterix and Obelix to rescue their bard: they have to become gladiators themselves.
About the Author
Rene Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, and spent most of his childhood in Argentina, before eventually moving to Paris in 1951. He died in 1977. Albert Uderzo was born in 1927 in a small village in Marne, France. He met Rene Goscinny in 1951 and on 29 October 1959 their most famous creation, Asterix, made his first appearance on page 20 of Pilote. ASTERIX THE GAUL, their first album, was published in 1961 and there have now been 35 Asterix albums.