Before Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic

This new history of the last years of the Roman Republic provides a full context to the historical events and epic battles of the 1st century BC by examining the actions of the leading men and women and the relationship with family and friends. It also attempts to decolonize the history by restoring it to indigenous populations and examining the experience of subjugated populations.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Casemate Publishers

The Roman Republic's final years are explored in this new history, which places the key individuals and women in the complex social and political system of the time in the spotlight. In order to provide a complete backdrop to the historical events and epic battles of the 1st century BC, scholar Natale Barca investigates the activities of not just the primary players in the political process, but also of those with smaller roles. History is not just made up of great individuals. The relationships between the key figures and their family and friends are crucial to understanding the end of the Roman Republic. These relationships were essential in an era where ties and interactions between individuals, families, and clans constantly shaped the political process, and thus the Roman state. This account also seeks to decolonize this history, liberating it from a Romano-centric perspective and restoring it to indigenous populations. The history of a subjugated people does not begin with their conquest, and the Roman conquest was essentially a predatory practice, although it cannot be denied that Roman domination did, in some territories, lead to the transformation of the vanquished into friends and allies, and then into Roman citizens, with all that this could entail in terms of social integration. This wide-ranging narrative, examining both the actions of key individuals and the experience of subjugated populations, provides a new insight into this most important and turbulent era of Roman history.

Weight: 696g
Dimension: 161 x 236 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781636242323