Roman Republics [Hardcover]

Harriet I. Flower (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 069114043X | ISBN-13: 978-0691140438 | Publication Date: August 24, 2009

From the Renaissance to today, the idea that the Roman Republic lasted more than 450 years--persisting unbroken from the late sixth century to the mid-first century BC--has profoundly shaped how Roman history is understood, how the ultimate failure of Roman republicanism is explained, and how republicanism itself is defined. In Roman Republics, Harriet Flower argues for a completely new interpretation of republican chronology. Radically challenging the traditional picture of a single monolithic republic, she argues that there were multiple republics, each with its own clearly distinguishable strengths and weaknesses. While classicists have long recognized that the Roman Republic changed and evolved over time, Flower is the first to mount a serious argument against the idea of republican continuity that has been fundamental to modern historical study. By showing that the Romans created a series of republics, she reveals that there was much more change--and much less continuity--over the republican period than has previously been assumed. In clear and elegant prose, Roman Republics provides not only a reevaluation of one of the most important periods in western history but also a brief yet nuanced survey of Roman political life from archaic times to the end of the republican era.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Flower's analysis of the early republican institutions, the breakdown of constitutional rule after 133 BCE, and the republic of Sulla is provocative and insightful. She demonstrates how the Roman political elite adapted and reinvented their republican institutions in the face of successive crises. A lucid, imaginative analysis that is required reading for all serious students and scholars of Rome. -- Choice

Roman Republics is a highly readable, highly persuasive volume intended to revitalize the study of the republican period in Rome. The volume is not aimed exclusively at beginners or experts; both will find much of value in the reassessment presented. -- Colin Bailey, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This book is highly recommended. It is rich and thought provoking, beautifully written and argued. It touches on and weaves together a remarkable number of topics in Roman republican history and historiography. Most welcome is the emphasis on evolution and change over time, sometimes dramatic, of Roman political institutions and culture. I am largely persuaded by Flower's conclusion that late republican authors are not trustworthy guides to Roman republican culture since they themselves had never witnessed a properly functioning republican system. -- Michael P. Fronda, New England Classical Journal

There is little doubt that Harriet Flower's book has opened up a field which has been more intensively studied than any other in ancient history. She has given us a new way to look, and new questions to ask. For those reasons alone, this is an important book. -- David Rafferty, Melbourne Historical Journal

From the Inside Flap

"Written in a lively generalist's style, Roman Republics is a major contribution to the study of the Roman republic that will appeal to readers far beyond the field of classics. Harriet Flower proposes a stunningly original reconceptualization of the almost 500-year period that has traditionally been called the 'Roman republic.' Her book also provides an unexpected bonus as an ultra-readable, reliable, and brief guide to five centuries of Roman history. Accessible yet challenging, Roman Republics will persuade many and (thankfully) infuriate some. It should cause quite a stir."--T. Corey Brennan, Rutgers University

"This is a very good and extremely stimulating book that reflects an unusual level of creative and original thinking and that will become a must-read for undergraduate and graduate seminars on Roman history. I for one have already decided to reorganize my own course along the lines Harriet Flower proposes. I am not aware of any other book that makes the same claims or that even questions the traditional periodization of the Roman republic."--Kurt A. Raaflaub, Brown University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 069114043X
• ISBN-13: 978-0691140438
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many republics, October 23, 2010

By 

Seth Williams - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Roman Republics (Hardcover)

This is a great read. I like how she tries to think through problems in periodization, in sorting out the details of the structure of the Republic as it is altered through time. To me it makes more sense of how events worked. The Republic after Sulla was unlike the Republic of Maruis, and even more, of the Gracchi. That helps us understand the quickening pace of events as they spin toward empire.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid re-reading of the Roman Republic., May 14, 2011

By 

The Historian "History is my business." (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roman Republics (Hardcover)

This book is a solid, brief and challenging history of the Roman Republic. I always thought of the period 509-31BC as a single aggressive republic, increasing its territories, money and population and dealing with the pros and cons this expansion bought and building a civilization within laws and protocols. The author sets out 3 parts; part 1 deals with the development of the framework of the Republic, then part 2 deals with innovation and change and the last part is concerned with the breakdown and aftermath from Sulla to Octavian. The author ends up detailing thirteen periods of time including six republics.

The period 509 to 451 BC consists of a pre republic and a proto republic, so the first Republic starts around 450 BC. l am just a lay historian but l thoroughly enjoyed this book, crisply written and logical with a deep insight into the multi layered history of Rome, and a joy to read.

1 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Miss Flower needs to do more homework, April 21, 2010

By 

Scar Gordon "Roman history buff" (Phoenix) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roman Republics (Hardcover)

Harriet Flower's statements that Emperor Vespasian's son Titus deliberately burned the Temple of Jerusalem to the ground is baseless. Of all the books I have read on the Flavian Dynasty I have found no reference to the Temple being deliberately burned. Rather, I have read that it was an accident and that the soldier who started the fire was disciplined. Titus had given strict orders that the Temple was not to be touched.