The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution: Politics, War, and the Economy

If we want to understand the violent history of the late Roman Republic, which in a few decades saw both a vast extension of Roman conquest and the establishment of monarchy by Augustus, we might begin with an anecdote told by Plutarch about Julius Caesar.¹ As he was passing a tiny barbarian village in the Alps, one of his companions said, “Is it possible that here too there are rivalries for office, competitions for honours, and jealousies of each other on the part of the leading men?” Caesar replied, “I would rather be first among these people than second among