Before Augustus

A fast paced and compelling account of the tempestuous last century of the Roman Republic based on both ancient sources and contemporary literature.

The political process that culminated in the transition from Republic to Empire in ancient Rome began with the military reform of Caius Marius in the last decades of the 2nd century BC. Following the Civil War and Sulla's dictatorship, it developed further with the First Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, and two further civil wars. These wars, which saw Caesar pitted against Pompey, and Octavian fighting Anthony, ended in twenty-seven BC with the rise to power of Octavian, the adoptive son of Caesar.

Before Augustus outlines a summary of the last years of the Roman Republic, weaving together the military, political, and social aspects. Scholar Natale Barca sets the protagonists within the complex societal and political system that they operated, analyzing their actions, and the epic battles that ensued.

"The author does an admirable job of showing just how complicated and interconnected all the great patrician families were and how their jealousies and rivalries ultimately led to their undoing and the end of the great Roman Republic." —The New York Journal of Books

"The chronological arrangement, the narrative structure, and the focus on the big personalities all seem devised to make the book a fast-paced, engaging read." —Journal of Military History

"Like a compelling novel, [Before Augustus] is dense, clear, well documented. Barca, writing with the historical present, talks about everything: political intrigues, wars, big companies, political assassinations, consuls, the Senate, popular assemblies." —Sfoglia Roma (translation)