Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Rome was thrown into a devastating civil war in 49 B.C., the 775th year after its birth, when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a tiny border river. Caesar's generation, who saw the Republic's terrible decline and eventual rise to empire, is the subject of Tom Holland's gripping narrative. These renowned historical figures—from Virgil, Augustus, and Cleopatra to Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus—are vividly brought to life. In addition to being an absorbing history of this crucial period, Rubicon paints a strikingly poignant picture of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and competition, decadence and tragedy, intrigue, conflict, and world-shaking ambition. It does this by fusing zest and freshness with meticulous research.