Will I love The Storm Before the Storm?

Duncan walks the reader through the generations leading up to the fall of the Republic, examining the political, economic, and social conditions that led to civil war and, eventually, the transition to Empire. While Duncan provides biographies of key figures like the Gracchi brothers, he also sets them in the context of their world: its constraints, its faith, its competing pressures. The Storm Before the Storm opens a window into an under-examined period of history, one which has echoes in modern-day politics.

Okay, bear with me on this one. This is a history of the Roman Republic from 146-78BC, the period just prior to the ascendancy of Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman Empire. But if you pay attention to the conditions and conflicts facing Rome in this period, you’ll see a lot of parallels with our economy and society today. Rome was attempting to digest the vast new land and riches it had acquired, the question of citizenship and voting rights for non-Romans was pervasive, the labor market was thrown into chaos by the arrival of massive numbers of… show more.