Mortal Republic, Edward J. Watts
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Mortal Republic
How Rome Fell into Tyranny

Author: Edward J. Watts

Narrator: Matt Kugler

Unabridged: 10 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 11/06/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Learn why the Roman Republic collapsed -- and how it could have continued to thrive -- with this insightful history from an award-winning author.

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.

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.

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.

Author Bio

Edward J. Watts is Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Endowed Chair and Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego. His books include Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny, The Final Pagan Generation, and Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher.

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