Mike Duncan

This book tells of events and personas that preceded the fall of the Republic. The book focused on political corruption and social unrest mostly fomented by Gaius Marius and Sulla. It was a very dramatic book for a non-fiction history. There seemed to me, although not an expert in this area, that there were pieces missing: slave revolts, economic troubles, movement of farmers to the cities, and the decline of the military which allowed the Vandals at the gate. Perhaps the author focused on just a few major points for brevity's sake. 287 pages 3*

A quote for me to ponder--"When the Republic began to break down in the late second century it was not the letter of Roman law that eroded, but respect for the mutually accepted bonds of mos maiorum". I had to look up "mos maiorum", but it seems to translate to those customs and traditions that were adhered to that stabilized society--more the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. It was the interpretation of the law per the ancestors........… (more)

This was a fast paced and well written account of the crucial decades leading up to the end of the Roman Republic. To someone who both had studied and has a particular interest in this area of history, most of the content was already quite familiar, but Duncan does a very good job at taking the complex political, social and economic issues from the period and tying them together into a cohesive ‘storyline’. I felt that the underpinning of the entire narrative with the collapse of the mos maiorum and the interweaving of relevant references to digestible excerpts of ancient sources was especially well done. There was unavoidably some simplification of certain events and relationships, and I did feel the treatment of certain elements was a little bit dated, such as the ‘optimates’ and ‘populares’ division. Overall though, a solid telling of some of the most underrated years of Roman Republican history, and an enjoyable read.… (more)