Mortal republic : how Rome fell into tyranny /

Mortal republic : how Rome fell into tyranny /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Watts, Edward Jay, 1975- author.
Edition:	First edition.
Imprint:	New York : Basic Books, 2018. ©2018
Description:	vii, 336 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Politics and government. Rome -- Politics and government -- 265-30 B.C. Rome -- History -- Republic, 265-30 B.C. Rome (Empire) History.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11726106

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780465093816 0465093817 9780465093823
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"In 22 BC, amid a series of natural disasters and political and economic crises, a mob locked Rome's senators into the Senate House and threatened to burn them alive if they did not make Augustus dictator. Why did Rome--to this day one of the world's longest-lived republics--exchange freedom for autocracy? Mortal Republic is a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic that explains why Rome made this trade. Prizewinning historian Edward J. Watts shows how, for centuries, Rome's governing institutions, parliamentary rules, and political customs succeeded in fostering compromise and negotiation. Even amid moments of crisis like Hannibal's invasion of Italy in the 210s BC, Rome's Republic proved remarkably resilient, and it continued to function well as Rome grow into the premier military and political power in the Mediterranean world. By the 130s BC, however, the old ways of government had grown inadequate in managing a massive standing army, regulating trade across the Mediterranean, and deciding what to do with enormous new revenues of money, land, and slaves. In subsequent decades, politicians increasingly misused Rome's consensus-building tools to pursue individual political and personal gain, and to obstruct urgently needed efforts to address growing social and economic inequality. Individuals--and Marius, Caesar and Cato, Augustus and Pompey--made selfish decisions that benefited them personally but irreparably damaged the health of the state. As the political center decayed, political fights evolved from arguments between politicians in representative assembles to violent confrontations between ordinary people in the street, setting the stage for the destructive civil wars of the first century BC--and ultimately for the Republic's end"--
Other form:	Online version: Watts, Edward Jay, 1975- Mortal republic. First edition. New York : Basic Books, 2018 9780465093823

Description
Summary:	Learn why the Roman Republic collapsed -- and how it could have continued to thrive -- with this insightful history from an award-winning author. <br> <br> In Mortal Republic , prize-winning historian Edward J. Watts offers a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic that explains why Rome exchanged freedom for autocracy. For centuries, even as Rome grew into the Mediterranean's premier military and political power, its governing institutions, parliamentary rules, and political customs successfully fostered negotiation and compromise.<br> <br> By the 130s BC, however, Rome's leaders increasingly used these same tools to cynically pursue individual gain and obstruct their opponents. As the center decayed and dysfunction grew, arguments between politicians gave way to political violence in the streets. The stage was set for destructive civil wars -- and ultimately the imperial reign of Augustus.<br> <br> The death of Rome's Republic was not inevitable. In Mortal Republic , Watts shows it died because it was allowed to, from thousands of small wounds inflicted by Romans who assumed that it would last forever.
Physical Description:	vii, 336 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:	9780465093816 0465093817 9780465093823