Before Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic

Based on a study of ancient sources and contemporary literature, this is a fast paced and compelling new account of the tempestuous last century of the Roman Republic.

The political process that culminated in the transition from Republic to Empire in ancient Rome began with the military reform of Caius Marius in the last decades of the 2nd century BC. Following the Civil War and Sulla’s dictatorship, it developed further with the First Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, and two further civil wars. These wars, which saw Caesar pitted against Pompey, and Octavian fighting Anthony, ended in 27 BC with the rise to power of Octavian, the adoptive son of Caesar.

Before Augustus outlines a summary of the last years of the Roman Republic, weaving together the military, political, and social aspects. Scholar Natale Barca sets the protagonists within the complex societal and political system that they operated, analyzing their actions, and the epic battles that ensued.

Table of Contents

Preface

I. Caesar
II. Friends and enemies
III. Caesar favors a rapprochement between Crassus and Pompey
IV. The Triumviral Pact
V. The Julian Laws of 59
VI. Cicero
VII. Dark clouds gather
VIII. Clodius the tribune I
X. Cato is removed from Rome
X. A three-step strategy
XI. The Gallic War explodes
XII. Gang warfare
XIII. The exile’s return
XIV. The Lucca Agreement
XV. The military intervention in Egypt
XVI. The suppression of the uprising in Armorica and the conquest of the South-West
XVII. The First landing in Britannia
XVIII. A bridge over the Rhine
XIX. The second landing in Britannia
XX. A crisis explodes on the banks of the Rhine
XXI. An excellent murder
XXII. Caesar enters into friction with the Senate
XXIII. The situation turns on itself
XXIV. Crossing the Rubicon
XXV. The outbreak of the Civil War
XXVI. Pharsalus
XXVII. The Alexandrian War
XXVIII. A gruesome suicide
XXIX. Munda: The last battle
XXX. An ephebe on the victor’s chariot
XXXI. More than a dictator for life, almost a king
XXXII. Cleopatra in Rome
XXXIII. Twenty-three stabs
XXXIV. One day in March in Apollonia
XXXV. The Second Triumvirate
XXXVI. Philippi
XXXVII. New theaters of war
XXXVIII. Octavian, the winner Epilogue. Octavian becomes the princeps, the augustus

Further Reading
Index