Ultimately, Henige sees the "Commentarii" as a very clever piece of propaganda written by Caesar, built to make Caesar appear far grander than he was. Henige notes that Caesar's matter-of-fact tone and easy-to-read writing made it all the easier to accept his outlandish claims. He sought to portray his fight as a justified defense against the barbarity of the Gauls (which was important, as Caesar had been the aggressor contrary to his claims). By making it appear that he had won against overwhelming odds and suffered minimal casualties, he further reinforced the belief that he and the Romans were protected by the gods and destined to win against the godless barbarians of Gaul. Overall, Henige concludes that, "Julius Caesar must be considered one of history's earliest and most durably successful 'spin doctors'". Gilliver also calls Caesar a "spin-doctor", noting that he realized the importance of keeping up appearances in Rome.