Violence in republican Rome

by A. W. Lintott

"Why did the aristocracy of the Roman Republic destroy the system of government which was its basis? The answers given by ancient authorities are moral corruption and personal ambition. The modern student finds only too inevitable the causal nexus of political conflict, violence, military insurrection, and authoritarian government. Andrew Lintott examines the roots of violence in Republican law and society, the growth of violence in city war, and the power of armies. It suggests in conclusion that this disaster was more the outcome of folly in the choice of political means than depravity in the choice of ends."--Jacket.