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Rome, 133–27 BC

The Fall of the Republic

How the world's most successful republic talked itself into one-man rule.

what's actually going on

Rome's republic wasn't conquered; it was hollowed out by its own winners. Norms bent for popular generals, emergency powers that never lapsed, courts used as weapons, a senate that kept meeting while it stopped mattering — then Caesar crossed a small river and the pretence ended. It is the case study every modern warning about democratic backsliding is secretly about, which is why it remains the most-reached-for parallel in politics.

the books that prove it

Caesar and the fall of the Republic are fixtures of history podcasting's top-ten.

more through this doorway

From the catalogue — matched on this period's subjects.

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Six scenes from inside this moment — each one opens onto a real book.