Rubicon: the Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic Free
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FREE RUBICON: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC PDF Tom Holland | 464 pages | 10 Jun 2004 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780349115634 | English | London, United Kingdom Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic - Tom Holland - Google книги 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. 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. Rubicon is an interesting book, but it is somewhat messy and disorganized. For example, only when talking about Caesar's invasion of Gaul did Holland fleetingly mention the huge invasion of BCE Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. Inhe 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 civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome'. He has written Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic presented a number of TV documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, on subjects ranging from religion to dinosaurs. Tom Holland. 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 Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic most remarkable state in history. Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland The blurb on the inside jacket detailing the author's previous form is curiously selective. Tom Holland's past achievements have been reduced to a series of albeit excellent radio adaptations of Herodotus, Homer, Thucydides and Virgil. But the Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic of Gothic horror will know Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic as a prolific author in that genre. This unusual coyness can perhaps be put down to a fear that the disclosure that Holland is a man of eclectic interests would somehow detract from his new history of the late Roman republic. As with most academics reviewing a "popular" book, I approached Rubicon with a certain amount of trepidation. The rather hammy sub-title seemed to suggest the worst. However what is inside Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic covers is a different matter altogether. This is a well-researched, well-written overview of the Roman republic. It should serve as a model of exactly how a popular history of the classical world should be written. Of course, the subject helps. For dramatic historical narrative, the last century of the Roman republic is a real winner. This was the period when Rome was transformed from regional to superpower Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic and when the Roman elite, so proud of their regicidal heritage, ceded previously shared responsibilities and personal freedoms to an emperor. Political intrigues, dramatic interventions, big personalities, all washed down with torrents of blood: the late republic has it all. So, an easy book to write? Absolutely not. Although there have been several good books on the classical world written for a wider audience in recent years, the number is minuscule compared with other periods. This is partly dictated by audience interests, but also by the inherent problems of writing a narrative history of a period when source material is so meagre. In RubiconHolland is forced to rely for large parts of his narrative on the partial, fragmented and deeply self-serving memoirs, letters and speeches of one man, Marcus Cicero. What is more, the Roman world is not one that offers the literary historian an opportunity to write an account of the lives of ordinary Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic. A history of the Roman republic can really only chronicle the aspirations, concerns and self-image of the narrow aristocratic elite who ruled it. By candidly drawing his reader's attention to these limitations in an exhilarating introduction, Holland gives himself the intellectual space to produce a riveting study of the period. He makes no apologies for writing a straight historical narrative of how the republic was transformed from a competitive oligarchy into the rule of one man. As he rightly points out in the introduction, narrative history is back in vogue after a long period in the doldrums. However, Rubicon delivers far more than just a racy blow-by-blow exposition. Into the fabric of the melodrama, Holland skilfully interweaves some succinct and intelligent explanations of the different institutions that were being slowly dismantled by their own members. Thus he manages to avoid one of the many pitfalls that could sink a project such as this: an introduction where even the most determined reader finds their commitment sorely tested by page after stultifying page of "general background". It would have been easy, too, to make facile comparisons with Pax Americana, as many authors have done recently. However, Rubicon resists this temptation. Holland is right to alert us to the post-industrial chasm that separates us from the Romans, culturally, religiously and morally. It is often when Romans are writing about those things that are instantly recognisable to us - birth, death, sadness, elation, pain - that they seem at their most alien to us. Although the big beasts of the republican jungle dominate the book - Sulla, Pompey, Caesar et al - some of the best characterisations are of the supporting cast. One of the most poignant is of Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, the man whose speeches, letters and treatises provide much of the material for the second half of the book. Holland's portrayal is fundamentally a sympathetic one. First, he manages to capture the absolute brilliance of the man as a speaker and writer. It is always easy to laugh at the sheer pomposity of Cicero, who felt that his genius was never fully appreciated by his peers. However, Holland is sensitive enough to bring out the essential insecurity of this arriviste who had no fancy ancestors or inherited supporters. In the politics of the late republic, Cicero had little option but to become the eloquent mouthpiece of those who worked to subvert the republic that he so revered. However, this is not just a book about great men and the grand metropolis where they lived and died. It is with obvious glee that Holland reminds his readers that, beneath its glittering veneer, Rome was a city constantly in danger of being subsumed by human effluent. After hugely enjoying the first pages, I found the final chapter a slight disappointment. Augustus, the man who paradoxically set up his one-man rule around the idea that he was restoring the republic, is dealt with too cursorily. Here was a man who had really learnt the lessons of the past. He would be as clement as his adopted father Julius Caesar - but only after he had murdered all his opponents. None the less, Holland has managed to pull off a difficult task. Syme was writing his book under the shadow of Italian fascism in the 30s, and its searing condemnation of the idle and selfish senatorial elite who ceded control and dignity to the rule of one man has a polemical brilliance that would be impossible to match. Rubicon is a very different book. Holland, a non-specialist, has produced a broad-ranging, accessible synthesis of the period. The fact that Holland is not an academic is a positive strength: it has allowed him to look at his subject with a fresh and engaging eye. Though it is not a work of amazing original research, Rubicon passes the crucial "so what? Next time someone asks me why they should study Roman history, Rubicon will be one of the first books that I shall direct them to. He is writing a book on ancient Carthage. Topics Books. History books Higher education reviews. Reuse this content. Most popular. Review: Rubicon by Tom Holland | Books | The Guardian Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Rubicon by Tom Holland. In 49 B. From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life.