Killing for the Republic: Citizen-Soldiers and the Roman Way of War by Steele Brand (review)

Frank Kalesnik

Marine Corps History, Volume 6, Number 1, Summer 2020, pp. 76-77 (Review)

Published by Marine Corps University Press

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. BOOK REVIEWS Frank Kalesnik, PhD

Killing for the Republic: Citizen-Soldiers and the Roman Way of War. By Steele Brand. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hop- kins University Press, 2019. Pp. 392. $34.95 cloth and e-book).

Steele Brand’s Killing for the Republic: Citizen-Soldiers nians at Pydna (168 BCE); and another clash between and the Roman Way of War examines the impact Ro- Romans at Mutina (43 BCE). Each battle is covered in man culture and society had on military operations. detail in a distinct chapter, in which the political and The virtues and values of the Roman Republic pro- social situation is also described, placing the events in duced yeoman farmers who were also citizen-soldiers the context of the overall growth and decline of the willing to kill, and if necessary, to die for Rome. Dis- Roman Republic. ciplined and rugged, Rome’s warriors also exercised This approach has both strengths and weakness- initiative and a sense of honor, putting their comrades es. The author relies on ancient sources, which he cites and the state above self-interest. Brand argues that and comments on. In this regard, the book is useful Rome’s armies triumphed repeatedly despite occa- for its insights into classical scholarship. This can go sional setbacks, eventually establishing an empire that too far, however. In the chapter on Mutina, Brand de- dominated the Mediterranean world. After centuries scribes Cicero’s role in the events following Caesar’s of success against foreign enemies, Rome’s warriors death at great length, particularly his efforts to rally succumbed not to external enemies but to themselves key personalities to a coalition committed to preserv- in a series of fratricidal civil wars following the death ing the Roman Republic. While interesting from a po- of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. The empire established by litical and social standpoint, one wonders if the troops Augustus preserved the trappings of the old Roman actually fighting even knew who Cicero was. The fol- Republic, but Rome’s soldiers were no longer citizen- lowing chapter on Philippi pays much more attention soldiers; they were professionals committed to a life- to the common soldier, many of whom (on both sides) time of service to the emperor. were Caesar’s veterans. Citing Appian’s Civil Wars, Brand uses five battles to trace the growth and de- the author describes the particularly brutal nature of mise of the Republican army, starting with Sentinum the fighting, in which both the defeated command- (259 BCE) and concluding with Philippi (42 BCE). The ers, Brutus and Cassius, committed suicide, the latter first battle was fought against a coalition of Rome’s prematurely when the results of the battle were still enemies (Gauls and Samnites), while the second was a not conclusive. Brand concludes the chapter: “There clash between legions supported by foreign allies and was no longer a republic and no need for republican auxiliaries. Other battles include the capture of New soldiers. The men who would now serve the emperors Carthage (209 BCE) by Scipio Africanus in Spain dur- had not merely killed their fellow Romans; they had ing the Second Punic War; the defeat of the Macedo- killed their own nature as citizen-soldiers” (p. 312). Brand notes the influence of Roman history on Dr. Frank Kalesnik is chief historian of Marine Corps History Division, the United States’ own founding fathers. The follow- Quantico, VA. He has taught at several institutions, including the Vir- ing passage is worth quoting in full: ginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY, and has worked as a command historian for In an attack on his dreaded enemy, both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps. Thomas Jefferson said that Alexander

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Hamilton adored Julius Caesar. The presses a longing for the United States to return to its story is that while the two were serv- own days of the citizen-soldier instead of the profes- ing under [General George] Washing- sional volunteer (he himself interrupted his academic ton, Jefferson was hosting a dinner at career to serve as an intelligence officer in the U.S. his own home. Hamilton had noticed Army), arguing that voters might be less inclined to three busts, but in his ignorance, he support wars they themselves would be called on to did not know who they were. Jeffer- fight. son told him that they were Francis In conclusion, Killing for the Republic is worth Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke, reading for those interested in Roman history, par- which he considered his “trinity of ticularly the interplay between its cultural, military, the three greatest men the world has political, and social aspects. While the book does ever produced.” Hamilton was said to provide interesting insights into the influence of Ro- have summarily dismissed such silly man history on the United States’ founding fathers, sentiments and responded that “the this reviewer does not fully accept the idea that the greatest man that ever lived was Julius United States needs to return to a reliance on citizen- Caesar” (p. 201). soldiers. The American military still relies largely on people serving in the Reserves and National Guard The United States was modeled on the Roman with competent professionalism. Also, active duty Republic, with its living constitution, separation of personnel are typically deployed overseas for months, powers, and system of checks and balances. Neverthe- not the years their Roman predecessors could expect, less, this passage shows that even a founding father even in the days of the Republic. Nevertheless, this currently held up as a pop-culture icon could admire book is recommended, particularly to those with an and potentially emulate a tyrant bent on crushing the interest in ancient history and its relevance today. very values America’s founders embraced. Brand ex- • 1775 •