RUBICON

Tom Holland needs no introduction. One of the most versatile writers on antiquity out there. His grasp of historical events and their interpretation across the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire are enjoyable to read and impressive in their coverage of the issues.

What can you say about Tom Holland- extraordinaire and more you attempt to define his writing, more you are intrigued by his works - his flair for writing, his vivid imagination and beyond doubt his innate ability to weave tapestries and tons of it is peerlessly. He is one author who has through this book, which is a supposedly a historical narrative,has not only entered and dwelled superlatively the minds and machinations of several Roman protagonists of the ilk of Sula, Marius, Caesar, Pompei, Cato, Cicero,Crassus, Antony etc but his recanteur skills are so engrossing and enterprising that as a reader, you are utterly fascinated by the subjects, you can feel their pulse and you are no more partisan but like a chameleon keep on alternating, as the narrative gets grimmer, rosier, more melodramatic and like a delectable serving you don't want it to end. Your curiosity and certainly your fascination for ancient Romans and their flair for war, barbarity, politics, infighting, rhetoric has been unimplicably ignited and with the characteristic narrative flowing ebblessly along with the characters, you invariably tend to sketch the potraits of several events that have been magisterially described by the author, as if he is describing the contemporary events , stretching the scanty historical information to its limits. Highly recommended for all even if it is the start of your journey into the times of ancient Romans, let this be it and mind it, you will not regret having expended time reading it for there is no doubt once you have read few more tomes of that era , you would revert to an encore.

For someone with limited or no knowledge of Roman history; this book is an eye opener. Its written like a thriller and covers the fall of the Roman Republic. The book doesn't expect you to have any prior knowledge of the subject however a parallel wiki search now and then enhances the experience.

Very good book. Gave rare insights about Ancient Rome, so much so I am reading it again. Would love such books.

Astoundingly well written. Superb blow by blow telling of events that always seemed like a faint cry from far back in history, but thanks to Tom Holland, these towering historic figures come to life, and are figuratively in front of you. That is how good his portrayal of people from Scipio Africanus, to Marius and Sulla, and onwards on to Pompey, Crassus and Caesar. If there's one book you need about the Roman republic, it need be only this.

Not suitable for Noobs into Roman history, i lost interest by 147th page. His rest of the books are great, this was the only boring book of Holland i have read

"Narrative History", so nennt man den Stil von Tom Holland (und anderen) wohl. Das wird von Hardcore-Historikern und Puristen sicher nicht ernstgenommen oder sogar abgelehnt. Aber sei es drum, das nehme ich gerne in Kauf. Bei Holland wird der Alltag römischer Politiker in den letzten ca. 100 Jahren der Republik bis zu deren Ende unter dem ersten Kaiser Augustus (Octavian) lebendig. Fast meint man, die Protagonisten in der Toga über das Forum schlendern zu sehen. Trotzdem (oder vielleicht deswegen ?) werden die Ereignisse historisch und wissenschaftlich korrekt wiedergegeben. Vielleicht mag man Holland die teilweise plakative Erzählweise, die hin und wieder zu drastischen Schilderungen greift (Crassus' Untergang gegen die Parther ist ein gutes Beispiel...) krummnehmen, mir hat das Lesen mehr Spass gemacht, als wenn ich mich durch die sonst übliche, staubtrockenen Aufzählung von Ereignissen, Kriegen, Schlachten etc. hätte durchkämpfen müssen. Holland gelingt es dabei, alle Winkel und Ecken des politischen Lebens in der römischen Republik zu durchleuchten. Plötzlich tauchen Figuren auf, deren Namen man zwar mal gehört hat (Catilina z.B.), mit denen man aber sonst nicht viel anzufangen wusste und gewinnen an Profil. Andere, die sonst prominent abgehandelt werden - wie bspw. Cäsar - bleiben, wie in der damaligen Realität auch, erst einmal verschwommen, um dann mit politischen Schachzügen und Intrigen Farbe und Charakter zu gewinnen. Besonders gut ist das Holland bei Octavian, Cäsar und Pompeius gelungen. Das Leben anderer - z.B. Cicero - zieht sich hingegen wie ein roter Faden durch einen Großteil des Buchs. Alles in allem ein wahres Feuerwerk und mit viel Vergnügen und Spannung lesbar !

Uno de los mejores libros sobre Roma que he leido. Ha llegado rapido y en perfecto condicion.

I say layman and beginner only because the obvious texts for those serious about Roman history are the likes of Plutarch, Livy, etc. I just don't understand why there are people on here holding Tom Holland to that standard. there are reviewers here complaining about a lack of detail or depth, or his touristy language of Roman history that reads more like a novel than history. those reviewers should stick to Plutarch and leave T.H. alone. he never proposes that his work is a textbook. it's stylized ancient history, and in writing it so well he proves that ancient history doesn't always have to come from a textbook and taste like an old graham cracker. This book would have no merit if it were in any way embellished, but it isn't. The facts he provides are well-researched and demonstrate his impressive command of the history. Each chapter is an unfolding of decades of important Roman history delicately tied together to seem like one great big narrative. I can see where historians would have a problem with this aspect of the book, however. he does tend to connect events and figures loosely at times, but look at what we're working with. I say WE because the nature of Roman history is stunted by what little facts we have that have survived and so it is always a daunting task to hook together events that happened 30 or 40 years apart by what little we know. Tom Holland deserves accolades for how he managed to do this by using slight elements of suspense and other novelist's tools to make the reader very willing to suspend chronology in favor of a broad understanding. He shines when he muses about the personal lives and emotional makeups of his characters, whom he treats like real people, because they were. He avoids sounding like a novelist here only because the personal inclinations of his characters are only offered as a means for understanding their actions and trends within the times. For instance, he goes on about the villas of Sulla, Marius, etc., and their various interests in oyster farming, for instance, not because he thinks that by understanding Gaius Marius as an oyster farmer we will sympathize with his character interpretation, but because it was a crucial fact worth pointing out that wealth and power were displayed in this way and that Marius, though history remembers him as a blood-spattered golden boy of Rome, was also a political entity with public relations and images to uphold. It makes his rivalry with Sulla seem more like a modern jockeying for power that we can wrap our minds around, and less like a Charlton Heston movie. I think it speaks to the quality of this work that I, a seasoned veteran of Roman history with years of study under my belt, still found this book utterly enchanting, despite knowing almost every story before he got to it. If you love it as much as I, you should by all means read his second book, Persian Fire. It's almost just as good.

I am interested in Roman History and found this book to be a very satisfying and informative read. I shall be looking to purchase more books by Mr. Holland.

Loved the details and the broad sweep. He makes the drama clear but manages to convey a good deal of information