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Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy
of the Roman Republic
Tom
Holland
(Little, Brown)
The Roman Republic was the
most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community
of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling
the knownworld. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait
of the Republic at the climax of its greatness -the
same greatness which would bring about the catastrophe of
its fall. Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling
civilisation, with its extremes of ambition and self sacrifice,
bloodshed and desire. Yet, alien as it may seem, the Republic
still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were obsessed
by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they
fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin;
they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two
thousand years have passed, but we remain the Romans’ heirs.
Tom Holland was born in 1968 in Oxford, and was brought
up near Salisbury. He gained a double First from Cambridge,
and is the author of six novels, most recently The Bonehunter.
His adaptations of the classics include Homer, Virgil, Herodotus
and Thucydides for BBC Radio 4. Rubicon was Book
of the Week on BBC Radio 4, adapted for radio by Tom himself.
Tom Holland lives with his wife and young daughter in Brixton,
London.
Publicist: Alison Menzies - Little, Brown 020 7911 8071
alison.menzies@twbg.co.uk
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