Lawless Republic
The Rise of Cicero and the Decline of Rome
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Lawless Republic
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Narrated by:
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David Holt
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By:
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Josiah Osgood
About this listen
'Wonderful and insightful' ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY
The collapse of law and order in the last years of the Roman Republic told through the rise and fall of its most famous lawyer, Cicero.
In its final decades, the Roman Republic was engulfed by crime. Cases of extortion, murder and insurrection gave an ambitious young lawyer named Cicero high-profile opportunities to litigate and forge a reputation as a master debater with a bright political future. In Lawless Republic, leading Roman historian Josiah Osgood recounts the legendary orator's ascent and fall, and his pivotal role in the republic's lurch toward autocracy.
Cicero's first appearance in the courts came shortly after the end of a brutal civil war. After leveraging his fame as a lawyer to become a consul, he ruthlessly crushed a coup by suppressing the liberties of Roman citizens. The premiere legal mind of Rome came to argue that the pursuit of a higher justice could sometimes justify sweeping the law aside, laying the groundwork for Roman history's most famous act of political violence - the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Lawless Republic vividly resurrects the spectacle of the courts in the time of Cicero and Caesar, showing how politics trumped the rule of law and sealed the fate of Rome.©2025 Josiah Osgood (P)2025 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul Doherty
- 12-03-25
Fantastic narration. perfect.
This is one of the most fascinating periods of history, teased out through the prism of Marcus Tulius Cicerco.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christine
- 25-02-25
Hugely accessible
There isn’t much new ground covered here if you are a Cicero fan, but the structure of this book makes it hugely accessible for a new readership. Basing the biography around Cicero’s speeches, and discussing the ‘truth’ of what is written (by Cicero and his contemporaries) makes for a very entertaining listen. I also found I was constantly comparing this history to modern day attacks on democracy, and found it very chilling indeed…
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