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Podcast: New Books in Ancient History
Episode: Edward J. Watts, “Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny” (Basic Books, 2018)
Description: Despite enduring for nearly five centuries, the Roman Republic ended in a series of crises and wars that discredited the idea of republics in the West for centuries. In Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny (Basic Books, 2018), Edward J. Watts examines why Romans traded the liberty of political autonomy for the security of autocracy. As he explains, for all of its longevity the Roman Republic contained a number of inherent weaknesses. These emerged as Rome found itself in a series of wars in the 3rd century BC, which posed an unprecedented strain on republican institutions. In response, a n...