With the assassination of Caesar, the real consequences of the Civil War and the political resilience of Caesar’s party emerge, at least for a moment, in the ascendency of M. Antonius. In chapter 7 of his The Roman Revolution Syme’s description of Antonius finds once again in a more lyrical mode through which he balances his vivid description with doses of… Read More →

In the current political climate, an interest in how oligarchies function seems like a reasonable academic pursuit. Chapters 5 and 6 of Syme’s The Roman Revolution unpacked the Caesarean Party and Caesar’s Senate respectively. Chapter 6 starts with an insightful (and oddly contemporary) piece of political theory: “When a party seizes control of the Commonwealth it cannot take from… Read More →

In Chapter 5: The Caesarian Party, Ronald Syme is back in his proper element. If Chatper 4: Caesar the Dictator saw some awkward digressions into narrative, historiography, and even the theory of history, Syme’s study of the Caesarian Party returns The Roman Revolution to the more familiar ground of concise and insightful descriptions. Syme summarizes the party of Caesar… Read More →

Chapter 4 of Ronald Syme’s The Roman Revolution considers Caesar’s dictatorship. Syme had a soft spot for Caesar. In chapter 2 where he describes the Roman oligarchy, he mostly decried his ambition: “Active ambition earned him a host of enemies. But this patrician demagogue lacked fear or scruple.” Compared to Pompeius or Crassus, Syme’s Caesar… Read More →

Syme disliked Pompeius “the Great,” and his father, Cn. Pompeius Strabo: “Brutal, corrupt and perfidious, Strabo was believed to have procured the assassination of a consul. When he died of a natural but providential death the populace broke up his funeral. Strabo was a sinister character, ‘hated by heaven and by the nobility’ [hominem dis ac nobilitati pennvisum.], for good reasons. There were no words to describe Cn. Pompeius the son.” The third… Read More →