The Decline of the Roman Republic
About This Novel
This book is the first part of the "Roman Civil War Trilogy" by Professor Beasley of Columbia University. It selects specific political figures--the Gracchi brothers, Marius and Sulla--to comprehensively analyze the party struggles and wars at the end of the Roman Republic, and profoundly reveals the root causes of the decline of the Roman Republic. In the second half of the 2nd century BC, the Roman Republic swept across Italy and dominated the Mediterranean. However, the prosperous appearance of the Roman Republic could not hide its true face that was riddled with holes. Conflicts between slaves and slave owners, poor and rich, Italians and Romans intensified. The Senate was in chaos, controlled by a gang of people, and became a tool for individuals to seek power and profit. The precarious Republic called for change... Against this background, heroes and tycoons from all walks of life appeared one after another, including the loyal and courageous Gracchi brothers, Marius, who was born in a lower class, ambitious, vulgar and violent, and the "gathering of lions" Sulla who "has the nature of a fox"... A. H. Beasley, a professor at Columbia University and a leading American scholar of Roman history, describes the ups and downs of party strife and brutal wars at the end of the Roman Republic in a concise style and vivid brushstrokes, outlining a picture full of sacrifice, betrayal, disaster, intrigue, ambition, and greed. A. H. Beasley consulted the works of historians including Plutarch, Appian, Livy, Florus, Celeste, Velaius, Tacitus, Diodorus, Orosius and other historians, and interpreted a series of major historical events witnessed by the Gracchi brothers, Marius, Sulla, Sulpice, Saturninus, Drusus and others, profoundly revealing the historical background and realistic logic of party struggles, wars and its decline in the Roman Republic.
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