The Collapse of Rome
Marius, Sulla & the 1st Civil War (91-70 BC)
Gareth C. Sampson
- The
- fall
- and
- rise
- of
- ancient
- Rome
- from
- more
- than
- two
- decades
- of
- internal
- conflict,
- as
- its
- aristocracy
- took
- up
- arms
- against
- each
- other.By
- the
- early
- first
- century
- BC,
- the
- Roman
- Republic
- had
- already
- carved
- itself
- a
- massive
- empire
- and
- was
- easily
- the
- most
- powerful
- state
- in
- the
- Mediterranean.
- Roman
- armies
- had
- marched
- victoriously
- over
- enemies
- far
- and
- wide,
- but
- the
- Roman
- heartland
- was
- soon
- to
- feel
- the
- tramp
- of
- armies
- on
- campaign
- as
- the
- Republic
- was
- convulsed
- by
- civil
- war
- and
- rival
- warlords
- vied
- for
- supremacy,
- sounding
- the
- first
- death
- knell
- of
- the
- Republican
- system.
- At
- the
- center
- of
- the
- conflict
- was
- the
- rivalry
- between
- Marius,
- victor
- of
- the
- Jugurthine
- and
- Northern
- wars,
- and
- his
- former
- subordinate,
- Sulla.
- But,
- as
- Gareth
- Sampson
- points
- out
- in
- this
- new
- analysis,
- the
- situation
- was
- much
- more
- complex
- than
- the
- traditional
- view
- portrays
- it
- and
- the
- scope
- of
- the
- First
- Civil
- War
- both
- wider
- and
- longer.
- This
- narrative
- and
- analysis
- of
- a
- critical
- and
- bloody
- period
- in
- Roman
- history
- will
- make
- an
- ideal
- sequel
- to
- the
- author’s
- Crisis
- of
- Rome
- (and
- a
- prequel
- to
- his
- first
- book,
- The
- Defeat
- of
- Rome).“A
- very
- readable
- insight
- into
- a
- period
- of
- Roman
- history
- that
- is
- very
- important
- but
- a
- mystery
- to
- most people.”—Firetrench
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