The Roman Revolution is a profound and unconventional treatment of a great theme - the fall of the Republic and the decline of freedom in Rome between 60 BC and AD 14, and the rise to power of the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Augustus. The transformation of state and society, the violent transference of power and property, and the establishment of Augustus' rule are presented in an unconventional narrative, which quotes from ancient evidence, refers seldomly to modern authorities, and states controversial opinions quite openly. The result is a book which is both fresh and compelling.

This book studies the way the Roman army changed in the last eighty years of the Republic, so that an army of imperial conquest became transformed into a set of rival personal armies under the control of the triumvirs.

This volume collects twenty-six previously unpublished studies on Republican history by the late Sir Ronald Syme (1903-1989), drawn from the archive of Syme's papers at the Bodleian Library. This set of papers sheds light on aspects of Republican history that were either overlooked or tangentially discussed in Syme's published work. They range across a wide spectrum of topics, including the political history of the second century BC, the age of Sulla, the conspiracy of Catiline, problems of constitutional law, and the Roman conquest of Umbria. Each of them makes a distinctive contribution to specific historical problems. Taken as a whole, they enable us to reach a more comprehensive assessment of Syme's intellectual and historiographical profile. The papers are preceded by an introduction that places them within the context of Syme's work and of the current historiography on the Roman Republic, and are followed by a full set of bibliographical addenda.

Coins of the best-known Roman revolutionary era allow rival pretenders to speak to us directly. After the deaths of Caesar and Cicero (in 44 and 43 BC) hardly one word has been reliably transmitted to us from even the two most powerful opponents of Octavian: Mark Antony and Sextus Pompeius - except through coinage and the occasional inscription. The coins are an antidote to a widespread fault in modern approaches: the idea, from hindsight, that the Roman Republic was doomed, that the rise of Octavian-Augustus to monarchy was inevitable, and that contemporaries might have sensed as much. Ancient works in other genres skilfully encouraged such hindsight. Augustus in the Res Gestae, and Virgil in Georgics and Aeneid, sought to flatten the history of the period, and largely to efface Octavian's defeated rivals. But the latter's coins in precious metal were not easily recovered and suppressed by Authority. They remain for scholars to revalue. In our own age, when public untruthfulness about history is increasingly accepted - or challenged, we may value anew the discipline of searching for other, ancient, voices which ruling discourse has not quite managed to silence. In this book eleven new essays explore the coinage of Rome's competing dynasts. Julius Caesar's coins, and those of his `son' Octavian-Augustus, are studied. But similar and respectful attention is given to the issues of their opponents: Cato the Younger and Q. Metellus Scipio, Mark Antony and Sextus Pompeius, Q. Cornificius and others. A shared aim is to understand mentalities, the forecasts current, in an age of rare insecurity as the superpower of the Mediterranean faced, and slowly recovered from, division and ruin.

From a Europe convulsed by revolutions to an assassination plot and international secret diplomacy, to conflict between major European powers which changed the strategic power-balance, to the American civil war and finally to Custer’s Last Stand, this tumultuous vista is told through the life and times of a comparatively little-known but indomitable revolutionary. This book provides an account of the life of a little-known nineteenth-century revolutionary, Charles do Rudio, narrating the revolutions and insurgencies of nineteenth century Europe 1840 to 1870 and of the United States to 1880 in which di Rudio was involved, offering through his biography a unique perspective on the revolts and insurgencies that took place during this period and placing both his life and these revolts in the wider context of European history. A fascinating narrative of a turbulent nineteenth century with analysis-in keeping with the author’s speciality – of the revolts and insurgencies, taking the lessons of history relevant to our own times. This book will appeal to all those interested in the Age of Revolution and politics and society in the nineteenth century.

On March 15th, 44 BC a group of senators stabbed Julius Caesar, the dictator of Rome. By his death, they hoped to restore Rome's Republic. Instead, they unleashed a revolution. By December of that year, Rome was plunged into a violent civil war. Three men--Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian--emerged as leaders of the revolutionary regime, which crushed all opposition over the next decade. In time, Lepidus was removed, Antony and Cleopatra were dispatched, and Octavian stood alone as sole ruler of Rome. He became Augustus, Rome's first emperor, and by the time of his death in AD 14 the 500-year-old republic was but a distant memory and one of history's greatest empires had been born. Rome's Revolution provides a riveting narrative history of this tumultuous period of change. In addition to chronicling the drama of aristocratic rivalries, author Richard Alston digs beneath the high politics of Cicero, Caesar, Antony, and Octavian to reveal the experience of the common Roman citizen and soldier. Portraying the revolution as the crisis of a violent society--both among the citizenry and among a ruling class whose legitimacy was dwindling--Rome's Revolution provides new insight into the motivations that drove men to march on their capital city and slaughter their compatriots. An enthralling story of violent politics, social upheaval, and personal betrayal, Rome's Revolution is a brilliant new history of an epoch which still haunts us today.

The Roman Revolution is a profound and unconventional treatment of a great theme - the fall of the Republic and the decline of freedom in Rome between 60 BC and AD 14, and the rise to power of the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Augustus. The transformation of state and society, the violent transference of power and property, and the establishment of Augustus' rule are presented in an unconventional narrative, which quotes from ancient evidence, refers seldomly to modern authorities, and states controversial opinions quite openly. The result is a book which is both fresh and compelling.

Recipient of the Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit from the American Philological Association in 1975. The Goodwin Award is the only honor for scholarly achievement given by the Association. It is presented at the Annual Meeting for an outstanding contribution to classical scholarship published by a member of the association within a period of three years before the ending of the preceding calendar year. ""A remarkable and valuable achievement, balanced in judgment and attractively presented."" Journal of Roman Studies, ""This book is a reissue of the important 1972 work on the development of Greek and Latin oratory and rhetorical theory... Many students of the classics, and people interested in later European literatures as well, will find themselves turning to it again and again."" The Times Literary Supplement George A. Kennedy is Paddison Professor of Classics, Emeritus, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an elected Member of the American Philosophical Society, and Fellow of the Rhetoric Society of America. Under Presidents Carter and Reagan Dr. Kennedy served as member of the National Humanities Council. He was earlier President of the American Philological Association and of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric. He is author of 15 books, including Classical Rhetoric and its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times, New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism, Comparative Rhetoric: An Historical and Cross-Cultural Introduction, Aristotle On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, and Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition, as well as numerous articles and translations into English from Greek, Latin, and French.