Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic Paperback – Illustrated, 8 Mar. 2005

This very good "narrative history" tells the story of the last hundred years or so of the Roman Republic, from the rabble-rousing of the Gracchi in the 120s BC to the return of Octavian from the East after crushing Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 29 BC, at which point the Republic, while still existing in name, had been effectively destroyed and replaced with Augustus's new empire. In just under 400 pages it covers all the major convulsions that shook the Republic in that time, and paints a clear picture of the ultimate causes of its fall - vanity, decadence, pride, ambition, and greed: the vanity of those who couldn't stand to be anything other than the centre of attention and so made corruption and bribery, which were already bubbling along at a low level in Roman elections and justice, acceptable, or if not acceptable then at least expected, to a much higher degree; the decadence of vast slave-worked estates supporting a tiny aristocracy in splendour while depriving hard-working commoners and retired soldiers of the opportunity to work their own land, thus driving them to the cities and ultimately to The City where their favour could be bought and sold by powerful mob leaders; the pride of powerful men who bore grudges unto the death, making politics ever more factional as family feuds took precedence over good governance, and who looked down on honest toil and commerce; the unchecked ambition that rose from that vanity and pride; and the greed that it fuelled and that was required so that the lavish bribes needed to win elections could be paid.It has clearly been thoroughly researched, with a substantial number of quotations from and references to contemporary or near-contemporary authors, although I make my usual complaint that these would be better provided as footnotes at the bottom of the page in which they appear, rather than directing the reader to a ghetto of references at the back of the book. This weakness is made more obvious by those few places where there are footnotes - there's not many of them, but they generally serve to point out either an authorial opinion acknowledged to be not fully supported by classical sources or where, in one particular case, the author makes it clear where he's making stuff up to fill in a trivial gap in the sources. It is perhaps an unavoidable consequence of being so thorough that it can sometimes be hard to keep track of which magistrates and senators hated each other and who was plotting and scheming and back-stabbing and double-crossing whom. There are so many of them, some of them household names to us but many not, and the alliances shift so often, that you almost feel that you need a diagram. I leave implementing such a complex diagram in print to others :-) but animation would be the ideal tool for this job. I do hope that the electronic edition has just such a beastie embedded in it!By concentrating on politics to the exclusion of just about everything else - whenever any other aspects of peoples' lives are touched upon, it's always in the context of their political aims and positions - there is a danger that the reader will get a dangerously one-sided view of some of the players. Cicero in particular falls victim to this. His political vaccilation and flip-flopping makes him seem weak. I suppose that if you were to only consider his political life (which Cicero himself would probably have thought to be the most important part of his career) then this is true. However, in other matters he truly was a great man. His philosophical works, in particular On The Nature Of The Gods, are important, playing a significant role in the Enlightenment of the 18th century - Voltaire was a particular fan. However, I can't fairly fault a book about the fall of a form of government for concentrating on politics!One final niggle is that so much of the story relies on peoples' shifting and conflicting emotions and loyalties, yet in the introduction the author tells us of the grave difficulty in accurately pinning those down and rendering them in English. In particular he talks about the difficulty in translating honestas - it means both "moral excellence" and "reputation", and that confusion, perhaps, is an excellent summary of why the Republic crumbled.I strongly recommend reading this book. It's not only good for those with an interest in the classics per se, but like so many of the best writings of antiquity will be useful for any student of our own society, literature and history, which is very much built on Greek and Roman foundations.

This is a review of the audiobook, an abridged version of Tom Holland's original print publication, read by Andrew Sachs. For a review of the book and its content I refer readers to the other excellent reviews - I just wanted to comment on the audiobook specifically.I purchased the audio version of Rubicon for a long drive, never having managed to carve out the time to read the book sitting on my shelves at home. It is my first experience of an audiobook and one that I am glad to say that I will be repeating.It consists of five CDs. Each contains a number of chapters, and the chapters are clearly introduced. When each disk ends, Sachs clearly indicates this, so you know that it's time to reach for the next one. As I have not read the book itself I don't know how it has been abridged for the audio version, but I could detect no gaps or any form of discontinuity.Andrew Sachs is a multiple award-winning actor, narrator and reader and in Rubicon he does a marvellous job of picking up the nuances, dry humour and verbal twists and turns in Tom Holland's rich and vibrant introduction to the staggering story of the Roman Republic. The combination of Tom Holland and Andrew Sachs is perfect, the latter effortlessly bringing the former to vivid life. Holland's writing is very rich and involving, very visual. This comes over superbly on the CD version.Between Holland and Sachs I was able to visualize that far off world as though it was here today, like having a DVD player in my head. A truly enjoyable experience.For the trip home I have Persian Fire (also Tom Holland and Andrew Sachs) ready to go.As an aside to other drivers, I was worried that the DVD might be a distraction when driving, being rather more involving than the radio. I would imagine that it depends very much on the individual, but in my case whenever the driving required particular attention (overtaking, roundabouts, following road signs, weaving my way round potholes, avoiding idiots etc) I automatically edited out the CD and then had to back-track to the start of the previous track. It meant that I did hear a few bits rather too many times, but it's a small price to pay!

The title refers to the decisive moment in Roman history when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the fate of the Roman Republic was sealed. The phrase crossing the Rubicon is now part of our everyday language meaning passing a point of no return. That is an apt analogy for this book because it is hard to put down!As well as being a classically trained scholar, Tom Holland is also an accomplished novelist and this explains why this book is so compelling. He weaves a narrative that reflects his award winning history writing ability with that of a storyteller. He combines the research skills and erudition of a specialist with the dramatic prose of a fine writer to create a dramatic and compelling narrative. In this regard he is perhaps more akin to Antony Beevor than Mary Beard.I would recommend this book as an entry point for everyone. If you wish to probe further, Holland's extensive bibliography will help you find what you need. It is detailed and useful. He is adept at bringing characters to life which have been studied and wrote about for over 2000 years whether by Herodotus or Shakespeare, or in big screen epics or TV series. These people matter to us and this books brings a fresh lease of life to them. If you enjoy the USA TV show House of Cards then this book is for you as there are numerous similarities - only the names seem to change as plots and conspiracies abound, loyalties change at a moment's notice while the quest for power plays out.There are plenty of colour and black and white illustrations and the maps are clear if lacking a little detail. Holland keeps us interested from start to finish and is the type of author you then want to read everything else they've written.A great read and would make a good gift.