Holland

rubicon: last years of the roman republic by tom holland (2003)

Beginning in 100 BC, this book tells the story of how the four-hundred-year-old Roman Republic became the Roman Empire. The first two chapters introduce the culture, its ideals, traditions, and attitudes. They explain what the average Roman thought of himself and what those in power thought of them. Chapter three begins the main narrative.

Holland chooses the year 100 as a starting point because the main actors for the fall were either already active or were born around this time. Rubicon starts off with the rivalry between Marius and Sulla. Their struggle for control gave the next generation, which includes Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar, purpose, motivation, experience, and most importantly precedence, to continue the decay of the Republic.

This is a very good book. The story of the fall of the Republic is effectively told. Rubicon is well-researched and uses modern language and styles for the narrative. Holland is a Classical scholar, but his writing career began with historical fiction and that skill becomes handy here. While talking about complex political plots and palace intrigues, his narration is neither lofty nor snooty. He seems to understand that the story is already complex enough, that he doesn’t need to make it harder on the reader by showing off as some historical writers like to do. His audience is the casual reader, not his peers—or at least that how this book comes off.

The most obvious way Holland lightens the load on the reader is with names. Ancient Roman naming systems were complex; names would change depending on the circumstances. In many cases, several people were known simply by their family names. Octavian, for example, changed his name many times before becoming Augustus (at one point he even called himself Julius Caesar!). This book has three Pompeiuses, three Catos, three Claudiuses, and two Caesars. It can and does get confusing. Fortunately, Holland realizes this and uses the common English names for the more famous people such as Pompey, rather than Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. With the younger Caesar, Holland mercifully calls him Octavian throughout. I think the publishers should have put a person list in the appendix to help the reader keep everyone straight, but that’s really the only thing wrong with the book. It does include a timeline in the back, however, to help keep track of events and where everyone was at a specific time.

The title refers to Julius Caesar’s fateful act of crossing the small Rubicon stream in northern Italy in 49 BC. To Romans, this tiny creek marked the northern border of Rome. To cross it with an army was considered an invasion. For a Roman general to this was treason. Caesar absolutely knew what he was doing and knew the consequences of failure. It changed Rome forever. The event reverberated through history and is now a metaphor for a major life-altering decision of which the consequences could be dire. Holland treats Caesar’s act as the point-of-no-return — before this the Republic was probably salvageable, but from this point the Republic was effectively dead.

Alea iacta est. “The die is cast.”