The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic

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At the time, everyone thought that just one more push for their personal agenda would win the day. Collectively, they ended up pushing the republic over the edge.

The Storm Before the Calm by George Friedman | Perlego [PDF] The Storm Before the Calm by George Friedman | Perlego

Saturninus, on the other hand, was the first to show the demagogues of the future generations just how far cynically manipulated mob violence could push a man’s career forward.” This was an exceptionally well written and concise outline of the history of the Roman Republic from the period of the Gracchi brothers to the death of Lucius Sulla. The author did a masterful job of describing to the reader in an organized fashion the myriad of events, personalities and issues. The Roman Republic was an extremely bloody, dynamic and complicated place where political questions were often settled through assassination and war. It would be very easy for a reader to get lost especially with many similar names reappearing over multiple generations. The author brings us along with sufficient detail so I never felt that I did not have a grasp what was going on. Many people are familiar with how the Roman Republic ended when Gaius Julius Caesar formed the First Triumvirate in 60 B.C. with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. That informal alliance led to a civil war that destroyed the republic and resulted in Caesar’s nephew, Gaius Octavius, gaining control of the state and becoming Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome. But the civil war and Augustus’ rise to power didn’t happen overnight. They were a long time in coming, fueled by changes in Roman politics and society that began decades before in 146 B.C. Mike Dunan’s well written and highly readable The Storm Before the Storm recounts the events that led up to the First Triumvirate and Augustus’s takeover of Rome.According to Roman tradition Aemilianus then quoted a line from Homer: “A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish, And Priam and his people shall be slain.” Aemilianus knew that no power endures indefinitely, that all empires must fall, and that there is nothing mortals can do about it.” The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. After its founding in 509 BCE, Rome grew from an unremarkable Italian city-state to the dominant superpower of the Mediterranean world. Through it all, the Romans never allowed a single man to seize control of the state. Every year for four hundred years the annually elected consuls voluntarily handed power to their successors. Not once did a consul give in to the temptation to grab absolute power and refuse to let it go. It was a run of political self-denial unmatched in the history of the world. The disciplined Roman republicans then proceeded to explode out of Italy and conquer a world filled with petty tyrants, barbarian chieftains, and despotic kings. But the very success of the Republic proved to be its undoing. The republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome ruled. Bankrolled by mountains of imperial wealth and without a foreign enemy to keep them united, ambitious Roman leaders began to stray from the republican austerity of their ancestors. Almost as soon as they had conquered the Mediterranean, Rome would become engulfed in violent political conflicts and civil wars that would destroy the Republic less than a century later. The Storm Before the Storm tells the story of the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic–the story of the first generation that had to cope with the dangerous new political environment made possible by Rome’s unrivaled domination over the known world. The tumultuous years from 133-80 BCE set the stage for the fall of the Republic. The Republic faced issues like rising economic inequality, increasing political polarization, the privatization of the military, endemic social and ethnic prejudice, rampant corruption, ongoing military quagmires, and the ruthless ambition and unwillingness of elites to do anything to reform the system in time to save it–a situation that draws many parallels to present-day America. These issues are among the reasons why the Roman Republic would fall. And as we all know, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan – eBook Details If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. I did not quite follow how one of his opening themes fit into his theories. In the beginning, Duncan stated that rising income inequality contributed to the political upheavals. I was interested in this assertion but I failed to see much support throughout the book. It seemed to me the question of Italian citizenship was far more consistent and divisive within the warring factions. I also did not understand the alternative type set in certain words such as "technically" and "ethnic". I was not sure why that was done but it appeared often enough that I know it was intentional.

The Storm Before the Calm by George Friedman: 9781101911785 The Storm Before the Calm by George Friedman: 9781101911785

This book tells that story, beginning with the Gracchi brothers and moving through Marius and Sulla. So much happened here - all Italians gain citizenship, the office "dictator for life" is given (though Sulla lays down the office after one year, which Caesar later called a mistake), more and more people ignore the ancient traditions. If you like history, especially the history of Rome, definitely read this book. Starting with the end of the Third Punic War and covering until the death of Sulla, Duncan covers the political and military battle between the populares and optimates of Rome. Duncan creates a narrative that follows not only the political history of the time but also a political science review of not only the political maneuvering within Polybian constitution (see Book 6 of Polybius' history) but also the formation of political alliances through coalition building and creating cleavages.Reflecting on the recurrent civil wars of the Late Republic, Sallust said, “It is this spirit which has commonly ruined great nations, when one party desires to triumph over another by any and every means and to avenge itself on the vanquished with excessive cruelty.” Accepting defeat was no longer an option.63” I had the chance, on a recent trip, to listen to to some of his The History of Rome episodic series and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not much of a podcast listener because the time I would devote to that is devoted to reading, but if I was still traveling, like I used to, I could see how they would become a pleasant diversion from boredom. The 2020s are a unique focal point where these two cycles converge, he posits, creating the cultural environment we are in today. Yet, what lay beyond, and how he presents we get there, is fascinating, and potentially hopeful.​ of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan