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Product Description
Book Description
About the Author
The biography of Marius is one of the least satisfactory of Plutarch's Roman lives from the historian's point of view. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for the closet Romaphile,
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This review is from: Penguin Classics Fall Of The Roman Republic (Mass Market Paperback)
Plutarch is not a historian often seen in the diluted cirriculum of the modern American High School, but I would argue that his love of the dramatic, moving battle scenes,and relatively easy-to-comprehend style would do much do endear the modern student to ancient Rome. There are (justifiable) arguments, of course, that Plutarch too often put personal bias and a love of "storytelling" above historical fact. While this may be true, is what comes to us of Rome by way of the Pop Culture filter any better? The context in which most people think of Rome is either that of Biblical or Russell Crowe. Can Plutarch's approximations be any worse? Though this edition appears to have been hastily compiled at some points (very little reference/glossary material to speak of), I still reccomend this book to: 1) Casual readers who wish to know more about an exciting period of history that has affected everything from our calendar to our way of government, and 2) History/Humanities teachers tired of purely analytical views of Rome. Let your students know that Rome had IT'S editorialists, too.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but has Lazy Editing Syndrome,
By
This review is from: Penguin Classics Fall Of The Roman Republic (Mass Market Paperback)
Plutarch was a Greek historian who wrote in the 2nd Century AD. This work covers the lives of six key individuals in the twilight of the old Roman Republic from 105-43 BC. Marius and Sulla were soldier-dictators who first sought to gain one-man rule. They were followed by Crassus, Pompey and Caesar. These three lives are the best in the book. The final life is Cicero, the lawyer. There is good military detail on Marius' defeat of the Cimbri, Crassus' defeat at Carrhae and Caesar's triumph at Pharsalus. The Mithraditic Wars in Asia minor are important but difficult to follow due to the lack of any maps. There are no great lessons here, other than the eternal struggle for power. The editor was lazy in this book and should have provided a glossary of key individuals, since there are too many individuals with similar names. There are also no maps - a major flaw.
4.0 out of 5 stars
WHY THE REPUBLIC FELL?,
By Rodney J. Szasz "GESS INTERNATIONAL. Rod Szasz" (Tokyo, Japan Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Penguin Classics Fall Of The Roman Republic (Mass Market Paperback)
I feel a bit strange writting a review about any classic. Its a bit like writing a review of the Koran or the Bible. There is a reason why all these books are classics, and the reason is that they give some glimpse at the immutable nature of mankind. Plutarch describes a nation wracked by personal divisions during the Roman Civil War with chapters on some of the major participants in this conflict: a true fall from grace for both the people of Rome and the institution of republicanism. There is a lot here that is exciting, such as the war against the Parthians, Jugurthia and the personal rivalries between Ceasar and Pompey. The writing moves from what I would classify as mildly interesting, usually at the beginning of each chapter as he relates the youth, familiar, and power influences on the personal development of each live, to ripping tales of combat, honour lost and found, and principled peoples meeting usually, bloody fates. Lives of particular note are Pompey and Cicero in this book, but my personal favourite was Crassus, his fight against the slave revolt of Spartacus and his eventual annihilation with his entire army against the Parthians. The other real character that keeps popping up in each chapter is Cato, a political idealist who commited suicide for his repulican ideals when there was every indication that Ceasar respected him and would have spared his life despite Cato's defection to Pompey. There is lots here that is of course raw speculation: I think that it is unlikely that Ceasar really had dictatorship on his mind since his early youth, but Plutarch would have us believe that it was almost forordained that Ceasar wanted personal control of the State. Plutarch is much more interesting to read than Ceasar or Livy. So if you are looking for a good place to enter the classics, this is one good read.
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