Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Dec 18, 2007 - History - 464 pages
A vivid historical account of the social world of Rome as it moved from republic to empire. In 49 B.C., the seven hundred fifth year since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar crossed a small border river called the Rubicon and plunged Rome into cataclysmic civil war. Tom Holland’s enthralling account tells the story of Caesar’s generation, witness to the twilight of the Republic and its bloody transformation into an empire. From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life. Combining verve and freshness with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a uniquely resonant portrait of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, intrigue, war, and world-shaking ambition.
 

Contents

THE PARADOXICAL REPUBLIC
1
THE SIBYLS CURSE
31
LUCK BE A LADY
59
RETURN OF THE NATIVE
82
FAME IS THE SPUR
108
A BANQUET OF CARRION
150
THE DEBT TO PLEASURE
179
TRIUMVIRATE
212
THE WINGS OF ICARUS
250
WORLD WAR
297
THE DEATH OF THE REPUBLIC
338
Timeline
379
Bibliography
392
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About the author (2007)

Tom Holland is a historian of the ancient world and a translator. His books include Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman RepublicPersian FireIn the Shadow of the Sword and The Forge of Christendom. He has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Virgil for the BBC. In 2007, he was the winner of the Classical Association prize, awarded to “the individual who has done most to promote the study of the language, literature and civilization of Ancient Greece and Rome.” He lives in London with his family.
Visit the author's website at www.tom-holland.org.

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