Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny

The gripping, definitive account of how the Romans lost their Republic

“An incisive history… The parallels to the present day are striking.” —New Yorker

In Mortal Republic, prizewinning historian Edward J. Watts offers a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic that explains why Rome exchanged freedom for autocracy.

For centuries, even as Rome grew into the Mediterranean’s premier military and political power, its governing institutions, parliamentary rules, and political customs succes...