General Resources
Useful Websites
The Romans is a useful website of this period for students. Here are some of the topics and people discussed:
The Roman Republic - institutions, politics and individuals
The Gracchi
Marius
Sulla
Julius Caesar
Map of Italy
Podcasts
BBC Radio 4 In Our Time Podcasts:
The Roman Republic
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise and eventual downfall of the Roman Republic. They examine its values and ideals and what ultimately caused the end of ‘the world’s first true experiment in constitutional government’. With Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at St Andrews University; Catherine Steel, Lecturer in Classics at the University of Glasgow; Tom Holland, historian and author of Rubicon: the Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic.
Spartacus
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Spartacus, the Roman gladiator involved in a series of slave uprisings against the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. With Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge; Maria Wyke Professor of Latin at University College, London; Theresa Urbainczyk, Associate Professor of Classics at University College, Dublin.
Cicero
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Cicero's political ideas on laws, duty, tyrants and the Republic. With Melissa Lane, The Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton University and 2018 Carlyle Lecturer at the University of Oxford; Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow; Valentina Arena, Reader in Roman History at University College London.
Stoicism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Stoicism. Its ideals of inner solitude, forbearance in adversity and the acceptance of fate won many brilliant adherents and made it the dominant philosophy across the whole of the Ancient World. With Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Warwick; Jonathan Rée, philosopher and historian; David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge.
Julius Caesar
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life, work and reputation of Julius Caesar. With Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford; Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow; Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College London.
BBC Radio 4 Great Lives: Caesar
A brilliant orator and military tactician, Caesar was undoubtedly talented, yet he failed to find political solutions to the problems of the late Roman Republic.
One of a series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris, in which archaeologist Barry Cunliffe nominates Julius Caesar.
Online Articles
Background to 79BC:
T. Gracchus and T. Blair: Populist Politics then and now
Helen Parkins considers echoes of the popularis appeal of Tiberius Gracchus in the election of Tony Blair, analysing how Gracchus’ political strategy implied ‘disregard for formal power structures’. [OMNIBUS Issue 35]
One-eyed Guerilla: Sertorius in Spain
Martin Murphy explores the popularis figure of Quintus Sertorius - beloved of Plutarch, Sallust and (later) Mommsen - the ‘Roman rebel leader who for eight years (80-72BC) roamed free and undefeated in Spain. [OMNIBUS Issue 27]
The Spartacus Myth
Thomas Wiedemann discusses the ancient presentations of the rebellion of the gladiator Spartacus in the late 70s BC, evaluating its contemporary threat to the social and political order and the ongoing potency of the symbol of Spartacus. [OMNIBUS Issue 8]
Julius Caesar:
Julius Caesar: Drama, Legend, History
Ronald Syme considers Julius Caesar as a ‘tragic’ figure who ‘had not wanted to reign alone and supreme’... [OMNIBUS Issue 10]
Beyond the Battlefield: Caesar on massacres, executions, and mutilations
Edward Bragg argues that whilst Caesar’s Gallic War depicts his virtus through violent bloodshed on the battlefield, Caesar attributes such acts of dramatic cruelty in his Civil War only to Pompeian leaders, enabling him to promote his own new policy of clementia (clemency) towards his captured enemies. [OMNIBUS Issue 54]
Cicero:
Study abroad: Cicero in Athens and Rhodes
Henriette van der Blom looks at how Cicero’s time spent studying abroad (79-77BC) and, later, that of his son Marcus, reflected social and political aspirations. [OMNIBUS Issue 60]
Just How Bad Was Verres?
Catherine Steel balances the way in which Cicero’s speeches against Verres in 70BC both showcase his oratorical skill yet continue ‘as ever’ to be ‘an unreliable source of information’. [OMNIBUS Issue 42]
Laying into Verres
Jonathan Prag queries Cicero’s repeated assertion that he is prosecuting Verres in 70BC in support of the oppressed people of the province of Sicily. [OMNIBUS Issue 66]
Pompey’s your man! Cicero’s De Imperio Gnaei Pompei
Henriette van der Blom argues that Cicero’s speech in 66BC in favour of giving Pompey the Great command against Mithridates ‘can be used as a lens through which to see the role of political oratory at Rome, the power-play in Roman politics and the intertwined nature of domestic and foreign policy in the Roman Republic’. [OMNIBUS Issue 71]
Cicero’s Masterpiece?
Dominic Berry identifies Cicero’s pro Milone speech in defence of Milo in the late 50s BC as not only one of Cicero’s four most famous speeches (alongside the Verrines, the Catilinarians and the Philippics), but also ‘the celebration of an ultimate victory’. [OMNIBUS Issue 25]
Words and deeds: the power and weakness of Cicero’s oratory
Matthew Fox evaluates the role of rhetoric and oratory in the political life and works of Cicero. [OMNIBUS Issue 55]
Cicero and the Young Octavian
Kathryn Tempest investigates the changing relationship between Cicero and Octavian. [OMNIBUS Issue 68]
YouTube
A light-hearted introduction to the period:
Crash Course World History #10: The Roman Republic. Or Empire. Or … which was it?.
