Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

by Tom Holland

The central paradox of Roman society—that savage divisions of class could coexist with an almost religious sense of community—had evolved through the course of its history.

Interesting paradox

Without rivalry, they demanded, how would Rome’s greatness ever be maintained?

Interesting concept

In such brutality, unmediated by any nexus of fellowship or duty, lay the extremes of the Roman desire to be the best.

Unconstrained

Respect was all the tribute she demanded and required.

Interesting

with the bluntness of a man spoiling for a fight either to be stronger than Rome or to obey her commands.

Either be stronger or obey the commands

What the Republic fostered it also served to trammel.

Beautifully written

Roman society was full of cruel double standards.

What double standards do we live with?

But Sulla, in his pursuit of Marius, was pushing rivalry and personal hatred to new extremes. From that moment on, the memory of it would haunt every ambitious citizen—both as a temptation and as a fear.

Temptation and fear both. i suppose they can go hand in hand

This was not mere hypocrisy. If Sulla was a revolutionary, then it was very much in the cause of the status quo.

Revolution to keep status quo

soi-disant

Cool word

Instead, hallowed by that most sacred of Roman concepts, tradition, it provided a complete pattern of existence for all those who shared in

Tradition

For all the trauma of Sulla’s march on Rome, no one could imagine that the Republic itself might be overthrown, because no one could conceive what might possibly replace it.

Nothing could replace this sense of Free Rome

Both men had good reason to come to an agreement. Mithridates, knowing that the game was over, was desperate to keep hold of his kingdom. Sulla, nervous of his enemies back in Italy, was eager to head home.

Neverforget; the pther side needs something too.

Not having had to master either custom or law during his short career, Pompey could kill without respect for either.

Beware youth

Hardness was a Roman ideal. The steel required to hunt out glory or endure disaster was the defining mark of a citizen.

Tough

A deeply sensitive man, Cicero was torn between a consciousness of his own great talents and a paranoia that snobbery might prevent others from giving them their due.

Tough pairing

Cicero’s reputation was made.

Reputations are made

Genuine principle fused seamlessly with inordinate self-regard.

Smoke and fire. pure and impure

His commitment to Sulla’s legacy remained unshaken, but the way in which it had been imposed on the Republic, at the point of a sword, was an obvious embarrassment to any self-proclaimed conservative.

Agree with principe, but embarrassed by means

Like a mighty system of dykes, his legislation served to channel what had previously been unchecked.

Systems to avoid bad behavior are governance. That said, taming ambition must be a continual effort. Ambitious people have thise vasanas.

Publius Cethegus?

Similar to LBJ

The idea that power might be separable from glory in this way was mystifying to most Romans;

Wow! value of different mental models

Crassus was assiduous at cultivating men on the make.

Cultivating men on thr make

The more eminent his status, the more spectacularly he would have been encouraged to fall into debt.

Debt makes one's position weaker

that the outward trappings of glory were nothing compared to preeminence among the people in the know.

Power trumps things

In a society such as the Republic, where envy and malice always followed fast on greatness, supremacy was a perilous status. Only if it inspired fear without undue resentment could it hope to endure.

A lot of emotions greatness keads to envy and malice but fear could check this fear causes resentment but one can create fear without resentment

After all, what else had the Republic been founded on if not this single great perception—that the taste of kingly authority was addictive and corrupting?

True

It was a policy that combined shrewdness and humanity in equal measure.

Shrewdness and humanity

To people racked by the twin plagues of political impotence and lawlessness, the pirates had at least brought the order of the protection racket.

Pirates provided some value by managing lawlessness

“Always fight bravely,” he advised the parting proconsul, “and be superior to others,”

Interesting

The great achievement of Pompey’s proconsulship was to demonstrate that the concerns of business could truly be squared with the ideals of the senatorial elite.

Ideals of society could be squared with business lobby's interests

Rome’s public life was founded on duty. Defeat was no excuse for retiring from the commitments that had made the Republic great.

Duty does not allow losses to justify quitting

Unlike Pompey, he had never had any problem in distinguishing the substance from the shadow of power.

Substance vs shadow

He wanted the respect and admiration of his peers, and the supreme authority to which he believed his achievements entitled him—but

Respect from peers and authority to act unilaterally

He had a good nose for weakness and

Good nose for weakness

By testing the opportunities provided by street violence to the very limits, Clodius had blazed a trail that others were already preparing to follow.

Can do as others

“It is disturbing,” Cicero reflected, “that it tends to be men of genius and brilliance who are consumed by the desire for endless magistracies and military commands, and by the lust for power and glory.”5 An ancient insight.

Animal spirits among the gifted

Divide and rule—the policy still held good.

Team cathy vs team emma?

For the citizens of a republic such as Rome, loneliness was a bewildering, almost incomprehensible state. Only outlaws—or kings—could truly know it. This was why Pompey, no matter how violently he offended his peers, still wooed them. He had been loved too long, too ardently, not to crave and need love still.

Successful people crave approval

This was why, in carving up the Republic’s empire, the three conspirators had been so careful to interlock their power bases. By doing so they aimed to defend themselves from one another as much as from their common foes.

Power sharing agreements

The Republic was collapsing. A strongman was needed.

Loss of trust in government leads to desire for tyranny

law-abiding citizens cowered where they could.

Lawlessness

“As for advice, he would happily give it in private, if asked, and if he were not asked, then he would give it anyway in public.”

Great way to appeal to incentives

As it had always been, bet-hedging remained a politician’s wisest course.

Hedging bets is a politician's operational tool

To the cheering of pygmies who had never in their lives rallied an ambushed legion, or planted an eagle beyond the icy northern seas, or defeated in one battle two colossal hordes of barbarians, he would be forced into exile, to spend the rest of his life in the company of men such as Verres, his expectations withering to nothing in the sunshine of Marseille.

Warriors losing to bureaucrats

“By now,” wrote Petronius of the Republic’s last generation, “the conquering Roman had the whole world in his hand, the sea, the land, the course of the stars. But still he wanted more.”

Human nature. Hindus believe we act this way because we remember our infinite nagure and seek to satisfy our infinite bliss. We have forgotten we already possess it!

“In peacetime,” he wrote to Cicero, “while taking part in domestic politics, it is most important to back the side that is in the right—but in times of war, the strongest.”36

Good though cynical calculation

“I wish to see Caesar honoured in the manner which is his due, and as for Pompey, I would lay down my life for him—all the same, what really counts with me is the Republic itself.”

Republic over people

Better to die than live a slave: this was the lesson that a Roman drew in with his breath. One could submit to the dictator, and be grateful to him, even admire him—but one could never repress the resulting sense of shame. “To the free men who accepted Caesar’s perks, his very power to dole them out was an affront.”

Enlightening atitude re life under a dictator

Was it possible that the old rules, the old traditions, poisoned by civil war, had been placed forever beyond recovery?

Maybe it was no longer the person of J Caesar who destroyed republic but his actions.