Appian's 'The Civil Wars' provides the only surviving continuous narrative of Rome's internal conflicts between 133-35 BC, covering pivotal events like Catiline's conspiracy, Caesar's rise, and the fall of the Republic. John Carter's translation offers a clear and annotated version of this crucial historical text, emphasizing the political turmoil and moral compromises that shaped Rome's transition to imperial rule.
This book provides an insightful and original exploration of Roman Republic politics through forty contributions from leading academics. It covers institutionalized loci, political actors, values, rituals, and discourse, offering a new and comprehensive view of the Roman Republic's political world. The book includes case studies and sections on the history of interpreting political life in the Roman Republic.
Il volume raccoglie contributi sul rapporto tra storiografia e potere politico nell'antica Roma, esaminando come la memoria storica veniva plasmata e strumentalizzata tra I secolo a.C. e I secolo d.C. Attraverso un approccio multidisciplinare, gli autori indagano le dinamiche di selezione, rappresentazione e manipolazione degli eventi storici a fini ideologici, con particolare attenzione alla dialettica tra verità fattuale e narrazioni politiche.
David Stockton's work examines the lives and reforms of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, focusing on their political battles and the socioeconomic tensions of late Republican Rome. The book critically analyzes ancient sources like Appian and Plutarch while exploring the Gracchi's agrarian reforms and their role in Rome's constitutional crisis. It emphasizes legal and political aspects over narrative storytelling, making it particularly valuable for academic study.
This book presents a selection of eight lives from Plutarch's works, focusing on key figures of classical Rome such as Julius Caesar and Pompey. It offers insights into the interplay of character and political action, providing historical value and narrative charm. The translation is accompanied by an introduction and explanatory notes.
This volume analyzes how crises influenced the development and functioning of the Roman Empire across different historical periods. It includes contributions from leading scholars on topics ranging from military challenges and administrative reforms to social transformations during critical junctures like the fall of the Republic and the third-century crisis. The work emerged from a 2006 workshop of the Impact of Empire network and serves as both a scholarly analysis and a tribute to historian Lukas de Blois.
Suzanne Dixon's study analyzes Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus and mother of the revolutionary Gracchi brothers, as a paradigm of Roman aristocratic womanhood. The work explores how Cornelia navigated political turmoil through her roles as patrician daughter, statesman's widow, and mother of reformers, while examining her cultural legacy as a symbol of maternal devotion and intellectual refinement in Roman historiography.
In 'Rome and the Making of a World State, 150 BCE - 20 CE', Josiah Osgood provides a comprehensive overview of Roman history during the Late Republic. The book explores Rome's development into a coherent empire with systematic provincial administration, cultural and intellectual advancements, and significant changes in citizenship practices. It extends beyond the conventional narrative of the Republic's fall, portraying Romans as innovative leaders rather than disreputable figures.
Catherine Steel's "The End of the Roman Republic" examines the period of political instability and violence that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic. The book explores the social, economic, and political factors that contributed to this tumultuous era. It analyzes the rise of powerful individuals like Marius, Sulla, Caesar, and Pompey, and their roles in shaping the course of Roman history. Steel's work provides a comprehensive overview of the events and personalities that defined the end of the Republic. The book offers insights into the complexities of Roman politics and the challenges of maintaining stability in a rapidly changing world.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus whose names are entwined with the end of Rome's Republic and the rise of the Roman Emperors. As tribunes, they brought popular reforms to the Roman Republic at the end of the 2nd century BC. Tiberius (c163-133BC) brought in land reform so every soldier could have his farm, while Gaius (c154-121BC) offered cheap grain for Romans and targeted corruption among the elites. Those elites saw the reforms as such a threat that they had the brothers killed: Tiberius in a shocking murder led by the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest, in 133BC and Gaius 12 years later with the senate's approval. This increase in political violence was to destabilise the Republic, forever tying the Gracchi to the question of why Rome’s Republic gave way to the Rome of Emperors.
With
Catherine Steel
Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow
Federico Santangelo
Professor of Ancient History at Newcastle University
And
Kathryn Tempest
Lecturer in Roman History at the University of Leicester
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Appian (trans. John Carter), The Civil Wars (Penguin Classics, 2005)
Valentina Arena, Jonathan R. W. Prag and Andrew Stiles, A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), especially the chapter by Lea Beness and Tom Hillard
R. Cristofoli, A. Galimberti and F. Rohr Vio (eds.), Costruire la Memoria: Uso e abuso della storia fra tarda repubblica e primo principato (L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2017), especially ‘The 'Tyranny' of the Gracchi and the Concordia of the Optimates: An Ideological Construct.’ by Francisco Pina Polo
Suzanne Dixon, Cornelia: Mother of the Gracchi, (Routledge, 2007)
Peter Garnsey and Dominic Rathbone, ‘The Background to the Grain Law of Gaius Gracchus’ (Journal of Roman Studies 75, 1985)
O. Hekster, G. de Kleijn and D. Slootjes (eds.), Crises and the Roman Empire (Brill, 2007), especially ‘Tiberius Gracchus, Land and Manpower’ by John W. Rich
Josiah Osgood, Rome and the Making of a World State, 150 BCE-20 CE (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Plutarch (trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert and Christopher Pelling), Rome in Crisis (Penguin Classics, 2010)
Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield, ed. Philip A. Stadter), Roman Lives (Oxford University Press, 2008)
Nathan Rosenstein, ‘Aristocrats and Agriculture in the Middle and Late Republic’ (Journal of Roman Studies 98, 2008)
A. N. Sherwin-White, ‘The Lex Repetundarum and the Political Ideas of Gaius Gracchus’ (Journal of Roman Studies 72, 1982)
Catherine Steel, The End of the Roman Republic, 146 to 44 BC: Conquest and Crisis (Edinburgh University Press, 2013)
David Stockton, The Gracchi (Oxford University Press, 1979)
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In Our Time: History 
