Description
Book SynopsisHow Rome's citizen-soldiers conquered the worldand why this militaristic ideal still has a place in America today. For who is so worthless or indolent as not to wish to know by what means and under what system of polity the Romans . . . succeeded in subjecting nearly the whole inhabited world to their sole governmenta thing unique in history?PolybiusThe year 146 BC marked the brutal end to the Roman Republic's 118-year struggle for the western Mediterranean. Breaching the walls of their great enemy, Carthage, Roman troops slaughtered countless citizens, enslaved those who survived, and leveled the 700-year-old city. That same year in the east, Rome destroyed Corinth and subdued Greece. Over little more than a century, Rome's triumphant armies of citizen-soldiers had shocked the world by conquering all of its neighbors. How did armies made up of citizen-soldiers manage to pull off such a major triumph? And what made the republic so powerful? In Killing for the Republic, Steele Brand e
Trade ReviewBrand's book should be read with care by Americans as our republic enters its twilight . . . Readers of many tastes will receive great enjoyment from Brand's book.
—William S. Smith,
The American Conservative[Recommended] for general readers and students interested in the armies of the Roman Republic, and more specifically on the role that the citizen-soldiers played in shaping the history of Rome.
—Fabrizio Biglino,
Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewSteele Brand has done a service with this book . . . [He] has produced a novel examination of violence and virtue with undeniable contemporary relevance. An engaging and accessible work,
Killing for the Republic warrants reading by all republicans.
—Gil Barndollar,
HumanitasTable of ContentsPreface. Why Care about Long-Dead Fighting Farmers?
Prologue. The Roman and American Republics
Part 1. Farmers, Citizens, and Soldiers
Chapter 1. The Soldier's Farm
Chapter 2. The Citizen's Republic
Part 2. The Making of Rome's Citizen-Soldiers
Chapter 3. Origins: Kingly Armies of the Roman Hills
Chapter 4. Proving Ground: Surviving in Central Italy
Part 3. The Triumph of Rome's Citizen-Soldiers
Chapter 5. Breakout: Competition and Discipline at Sentinum
Chapter 6. The Greatest Trial: Beating Your Betters at New Carthage
Chapter 7. Triumph: Phalanx Killers at Pydna
Part 4. The Death of Rome's Citizen-Soldiers
Chapter 8. Questionable Legitimacy: The Ideal Statesman's Battle at Mutina
Chapter 9. Suicidal Finish: Last Stand of the Citizen-Soldier at Philippi
Epilogue. War Stories for the Emperor
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
