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This was a pretty interesting book, and I liked how Holland mixed reporting on historical events with local color, like describing Marius' villa in Chapter 3. But I was seriously disappointed that he didn't talk about Marius' rather radical changes in the army. By taking in non-property owners (the "head count"), and having the state give them equipment, he in essence transferred their loyalties from the Roman state to their general. Marius, Sulla, Pompey and Caesar were able to use this to thei
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Nov 27, 2011
Clodia Metelli
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review of another edition
Shelves:
ancient-rome,
non-fiction
Wonderfully readable and vivid overview of the personalities and events of the tumultuous last decades of the Roman Republic.
I began this book thinking it would be about the rise of Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus and the civil war that followed. But instead I got a book detailing the different personalities of the Roman Republic that led to the emergence of these men and the supporting cast of characters associated with that era. I was not disappointed, Mr. Holland very easily keeps the complex story moving along while explaining the intricacies of the shifting political alliances so common of the times. I enjoyed
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Fantastic !!
"Crossing the Rubicon" and "The die is cast" have long been part of our modern jargon. I have known the origin of these common metaphors, but Tom Holland gives us a thorough background of the historic occasion, with a glance at the beginnings of the Roman Republic through a detailed discussion of the drama of Julius Caesar and all those other intriguing Romans (not forgetting Cleopatra and Mithridates et al) to the subtle glory of Caesar Augustus. Well written, in a distinctly modern tone.
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Oct 28, 2011
Zsa Zsa
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Todd Stromswold
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Thorlindur
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happy
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