By Roman Leary
Director of Edgecombe County Library
TARBORO —
Into the seat of government, surrounded by lackeys and hangers-on, strides the great man. His face, lined and careworn, looks older than his 56 years, but he is still tough, muscular, a force to be reckoned with. His eyes, as keen as a falcon's, coolly regard the room of assembled senators. Theoretically, they are his peers and he reigns over them only by their sufferance. In fact, he wields power of such unprecedented scope and magnitude that for generations to come his very name will be synonymous with absolute, unquestioned authority.
His eyes meet those of a religious official, a noisome, carping fellow who had earlier warned him of the approach of dangerous times.
"Where are your predictions now?" he asks the would-be soothsayer. "The day you were afraid of has come and I'm still alive."
"Yes," the prophet replies, "come, but not gone."
The words give the great man pause. For a moment, brief and fleeting, he considers turning about and leaving. Then the moment passes and Gaius Julius Caesar proceeds to his chair, not realizing that in less than fifteen minutes he will be dead, cut down in one of the most famous political assassinations in history.
The men who killed Caesar did so (for the most part) in the belief that they were preserving the Roman Republic. In fact, their actions proved only to assist in its collapse and helped to lay the foundations for the rise of empire under the auspices of Augustus.
The story is more than 2,000 years old, but it still has the power to command the imagination. The personalities involved are so colorful and dynamic, their goals and ambitions are so familiar, that any study of the period feels less like an academic exercise than time spent reading a fast-paced political thriller.
At ECML, the interested reader can find plenty of fascinating material covering this turbulent era. One of the best places to start is with Tom Holland's "Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic." Holland's account of the Republic's fall is popular history at its best; witty, fast-paced and accessible.
One of the most compelling characters in Holland's narrative is Augustus Caesar, who was propelled into power at the age of 19 by an unexpected legacy from his murdered grand-uncle. At first dismissed by his contemporaries as an inexperienced boy, he proved to be both ruthless and cunning and ultimately ruled the Roman Empire for 41 years. The story of his rise and reign is ably told by historian Anthony Everitt in his book "Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor."
Everitt has also written a fantastic biography of one of Augustus' early nemeses: "Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician" is the story of the last great defender of the Republic, a man whose speeches and philosophical writings exercised a profound influence on the thinking of the men who founded the government we live under today. John Adams' first book and proudest possession was his collected Cicero.
Patrons who enjoy audiobooks should check out the historical novels "Imperium" and "Conspirata," both by British author Thomas Harris. Incredibly well-written (and often surprisingly funny) they offer a fictionalized, but factually accurate, story of Cicero's life. The narrator, Simon Jones, delivers a pitch-perfect performance that should stand as model for other audiobook readers on how to do it right. Be warned, however, Conspirata ends on a cliffhanger and the third part of the trilogy is yet to be released.
Anyone with even a passing interest in politics – modern, ancient, or in-between – would be enriched by spending time with this material. It has become a tiresome cliché to state that there are "lessons to be learned today" from these events. Yet, like most clichés, the phrase contains truth. While no modern democracy accurately reflects life in the Roman Republic, the image can still be made out; distorted but still recognizable, twisted and tinted like a funhouse mirror streaked with blood.
Roman Leary is director of Edgecombe County Memorial Library.
