Where histories of the Roman Empire must cover a millennium and
more, Rubicon restricts itself to the lifetime of the Republic only
- a mere 541 years, from 590 BC, when the monarchy fell, to 49 BC,
the fateful year when Caesar, standing by the river that defined
the limits of Rome, took the momentous decision to lead his army
across, and declared himself sole ruler. Not that Republican Rome
was ever a democratic paradise, of course. Tom Holland shows how
'freedom and egalitarianism, to the Romans, were very different
things... for a citizen, the essence of life was competition,
wealth and votes the accepted measures of success'. Slavery was the
norm, and with it the bloody spectacle of gladiatorial combat. Poor
Spartacus found himself alone among his followers in imagining a
better world, as 'no one objected to the hierarchy of free and
un-free, merely his own position within it'. Holland brings to life
the names of a thousand schoolbooks - Crassus, Pompey, Cicero,
Caesar - and gives them both personality and relevance. Indeed, the
similarities with modern Western democracy extend beyond political
structure and personality cults to lifestyle, fashion and food
fads. Yet 'parallels can be deceptive'. The social and sexual mores
of the Romans were vastly different, and we have no slavery, nor
gladiatorial arenas, to speak of. Moreover, what appears to be a
well-documented period in history is, Holland reminds us, the
exclusive preserve of the powerful and privileged, as if a history
of the Second World War 'relied solely upon the broadcasts of
Hitler and the memoirs of Churchill'. His achievement is to set the
chronological history of the Republic and its dominant figures
against a vivid background of Roman life, as experienced by
everyone, from the bottom up, albeit in markedly different ways.
His prose is insightful and sardonic, fluid and authoritative. This
is recommended reading for anyone interested in the ancient world.
(Kirkus UK)
'The Book that really held me, in fact, obsessed me, was Rubicon .
. . This is narrative history at its best. Bloody and labyrinthine
political intrigue and struggle, brilliant oratory, amazing feats
of conquest and cruelty' Ian McEwan, Books of the Year, Guardian
'Marvellously readable' Niall Ferguson The Roman Republic was the
most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community
of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the
known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the
climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the
catastrophe of its fall. It is a story of incomparable drama. This
was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to
glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero,
whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of
Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of
Cleopatra, the queen who did the same. Tom Holland brings to life
this strange and unsettling civilization, with its extremes of
ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire. Yet alien as it
was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were
obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets;
they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they
toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two thousand
years may have passed, but we remain the Romans' heirs.
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