Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic [Paperback]

Erik Hildinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2003

In the first century B.C., Rome was the ruler of a vast empire. Yet at the heart of the Republic was a fatal flaw: a dangerous hostility between the aristocracy and the plebians, each regarding itself as the foundation of Rome's military power. Turning from their foreign enemies, Romans would soon be fighting Romans.Swords Against the Senate describes the first three decades of Rome's century-long civil war that transformed it from a republic to an imperial autocracy, from the Rome of citizen leaders to the Rome of decadent emperor thugs. As the republic came apart amid turmoil, Gaius Marius, the "people's general," rose to despotic power only to be replaced by the brutal dictator Sulla. The Roman army, once invincible against foreign antagonists, became a tool for the powerful, and the Roman Senate its foe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The epic decline of the Roman Republic into civil war and military dictatorship gets a fresh and engrossing retelling here. Hildinger (Warriors of the Steppe) covers the period 137-78 BC, when mounting conflict between the aristocratic Senate and the plebeian popular assemblies undermined Rome's constitution and fueled political violence. Meanwhile, the displacement of the Roman peasantry by slave labor transformed the legions from a force of yeoman farmers into one of professionals recruited from the destitute classes, who owed their allegiance to their commanders rather than the Republic. When political turmoil created an opening for charismatic generals, "the republic was toppled by men with private armies." Combining social and political analysis with detailed battle narratives, Hildinger, a military historian, provides a lucid account of the Roman army, its major campaigns and its growing importance in the Republic's volatile and bloodthirsty politics. Unfortunately, an almost Shakespearean contempt for the Roman "mob," who "envied the wealth of their betters," were "prey to demagogues" and "unfit to exercise power," makes his defense of constitutional niceties and senatorial privilege against the inroads of popular democracy rather unconvincing. Still, this is a gripping treatment of one of history's great tragedies.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Lively prose...Well written...Entertaining." -- History Spring 2004

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (November 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306812797
• ISBN-13: 978-0306812798
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start, March 19, 2004

By 

T. J. Graczewski "tgraczewski" (Burlingame, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic (Hardcover)

In a 1962 journal piece ("Waiting for Sulla" JRS, Vol. 52, pp. 47-61), classical scholar Ernst Badian noted that the age of Marius and Sulla (roughly 110-78 BC) is of critical importance to understanding the decline and collapse of the republic and the rise of Caesar and the empire, yet precious little energy had been devoted to re-examing this period with the critical eye of modern historiography.

One might also argue that this period was, until the publication of Erik Hildinger's "Swords Against the Senate", totally inaccessible to the layman. There are scores of popular histories and biographies on Caesar and the Roman Revolution - the commercial success of Anthony Everitt's "Cicero" is but one recent example - but the epoch that set the republic wobbling on its foundation and offered the precedent for Caesar's march on Rome has been largely ignored in popular history until now.

The author does a superb job of framing the issue by first providing an outline of the development of the Roman state with a particular focus on the army and the role it played socially and politically. Hildinger then provides a good general overview of the central figures and events of the period (the Gracchi, Marius and Sulla and the Jurgurthan, Cimbrian/Teuton, Social, Mithridatic and First Civil Wars) as related in the works of Appian, Sallust and Plutarch. There is no critical examination of the sources or revisionism to the traditional account of the events, such as the ones Badian provides in the article cited above.

In closing, if you are new to the subject and are looking for a crisp overview of this extremely important period preceding the rise of Caesar and the triumvirate "Swords Against the Senate" is highly recommended. If you are a rather serious student of Republican Rome (i.e. you've read all the ancient authors; you're familiar with the major arguments and works of Brunt, Badian, Gruen, Millar and Syme; you read the Journal of Roman Studies on occasion) there isn't much in this account that will inform, interest or challenge you.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No, it isn't a sword, senator...I'm just happy to see you., March 3, 2004

By 

David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic (Hardcover)

I picked up both RUBICON and SWORDS AGAINST THE SENATE at the same time, for some reason thinking that SWORDS was about the fall of Roman Empire itself. Little did I know that I was reading two books on basically the same subject at the same time. However, this did give me a great insight into the time period and allowed me to do a good comparison of the information. I'm glad it worked out this way.

SWORDS AGAINST THE SENATE, by Erik Hildinger, doesn't cover quite the same ground as Tom Holland's RUBICON, as it covers a briefer time period. However, this gives it the opportunity to go a little deeper into the information it does present. It covers the first three decades in the 70 years it took for the Roman Republic to fall to pieces. It also gives a bit more information on the rise of the Republic to begin with, from its rise in the 400's BC to the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 386 and its subsequent recovery. Between this brief overview and the extensive look at the seemingly endless wars that brought down the Republic, this book is a great find. It's also fairly short, which adds to its attraction.

In his introduction, Hildinger remarks that his book will cover three aspects of Roman life: the army, the personalities, and the "gradual chipping away of the constitution" that led to the republic's demise. He expertly interweaves these branches of the story into a wonderful narrative that's interesting to read and hard to put down. At times, this does feel a bit disjointed, as he will introduce the characters involved and then go on a brief diversion to explain how the army was set up at that time. Once he gets back to the narrative, though, it's obvious why he diverted down the path as the knowledge is valuable to understanding what is happening. While this may sound boring, it really isn't. He rarely spends more than a couple of pages on the specifics of the army make-up before moving on.

One place where I have to give Hildinger a lot of credit is in his use of sources. He uses a variety of primary and secondary sources, along with some more modern interpretive sources (something Holland didn't really do) to back up his narrative. He also is not afraid to say when the sources are unclear on a subject, especially where casualty figures are concerned. He often states the given casualty figures and then reminds us that these figures were often exaggerated. If something was taken from Sulla's memoirs (for example), he'll remind the reader that this could very well have been included to make Sulla look good. He'll make informed suppositions about certain things, but he's always clear when something might not be true:

"Sulla took no direct hand in following up the killing, and *apparently* no one was punished." pg 184 (emphasis added)

I found that this added to the attraction of the book, giving me a feeling of piecing together history along with Hildinger.

The book does have a heavy concentration on the army and on military elements. Hildinger details the various wars (both external and civil) that took place in this 30 year period, how various Roman generals and consuls took their troops and marched them on Rome, or formed their own private armies and went campaigning in Asia. We get descriptions of the battles, some of the tactics (at least as much as is known), and the fight for who would get credit for various victories. We also get the politics behind the various wars, along with the personality conflicts that would ultimately sunder the republic, especially those between Marius and Sulla. Ultimately, Sulla would win out and become the appointed dictator while he got the constitution back in order.

The book ends with Sulla's victory, and the epilogue talks of how Sulla created a new constitution and then retired after three years as dictator, allowing the Roman Republic to reassume power, though the fissures were already in place to bring it toppling down again. This makes a good stopping point for Hildinger, as this book is really about how the army was involved in this conflict, and how the personalities used it. Once Sulla retires, it becomes much more of a personal battle between strong-willed men.

For those who wish a general overview of how the Roman Republic fell, SWORDS AGAINST THE SENATE isn't really a good place to start. It doesn't cover the whole thing and it's a little too detailed for that. It may, however, spark your interest so that you do want to go on to an overall account after you have read it. It also is a valuable source for military matters in this time period. In whatever order you decide to read it, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

David Roy

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but Not Great, June 26, 2006

By 

Suzanne Cross "Bibliophilos" (Santa Fe, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic (Paperback)

The rise of the Roman army in the second and first centuries BC, and its increasing use as a tool of various warlords in the final decline of the Republic, means that I had high hopes for this book. Although there is much of interest (particularly because Hildinger, quite rightly, focuses intently on Gaius Marius and his eventual war with Sulla), in a period usually ignored by historians for later events involving Caesar, I put the book down with a slight sense of disappointment. Perhaps it is simply that there isn't all that much ancient information about the changes in the army between, say, 130 and 75 BC, but this ends up being an in-depth history of the aborted reforms of the Gracchi, Marius' wars in Africa, and other events up to the final victories of Sulla after the first civil war. Related changes in the army are touched on, but without helping me much with the theme of the book.

Not to mention, after Sulla finally wins as Dictator, having destroyed all his enemies, the book just seems to stop, as if someone pulled the plug! A summation would have been helpful.

Use this book to broaden your knowledge, but it doesn't fulfill the promise of its title as being an illuminating book about Republic v. Legions.