7.8 /10 1 Votes
Date of publication 1976 Followed by Obelix and Co. Date 1979 | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language French Originally published 1976 Series Asterix Illustrator René Goscinny | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Writers Pierre Tchernia
René Goscinny
Albert Uderzo Artists credited to Uderzo,
thought to be Albert's brother Marcel Uderzo Preceded by Asterix and the Great Crossing Similar René Goscinny books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asterix Conquers Rome (French: Les 12 Travaux d'Asterix, literally "The 12 Tasks of Asterix"), first published in 1976, is the comic book adaptation of the animated Asterix film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix and "unofficially" the twenty-third Asterix volume to be published. The comic follows the movie very exactly. It has very rarely been printed and is not widely known even amongst Asterix fans. The English translation has only been printed as part of a one-off comic book annual, the Asterix Annual 1980. It is thus often excluded from "canonical" lists of Asterix volumes with the subsequently published Obelix and Co. typically being listed as the "official" twenty-third volume.
Contents
Plot summary
After a Roman centurion is continually defeated by the Village of Indomitable Gauls, he concludes that they must be gods. Julius Caesar sets twelve tasks that only gods could perform, similar to the twelve tasks of Hercules, to prove that the Gauls are mere mortals. If the Gauls succeed, he will admit defeat and let the Gauls become the rulers of Rome, but if they fail, they will become his slaves. The challenge is accepted and Asterix and Obelix are chosen to represent the village, eventually succeeding in all tasks. At the end Caesar admits the Gauls' superiority. He is shown living in retirement married to Cleopatra, although it is explained that the ending is what it is because it's just a cartoon film, so "anything goes".