The Neverending Empire: The Infinite Impact of Ancient Rome

More than any other ancient civilization, the Roman Empire continues to inform modern understandings of government, according to this ardent historical appreciation. Journalist Cazzullo, in his English-language debut, argues that Rome is the main source of today’s political ideas (“liberty,” “dictator,” “citizen,” “justice,” “conspiracy,” and “socialism” come from Latin words, he notes), contemporary institutions like senates and elections, and a successful—if highly unequal and unjust—model of a multicultural superstate that presaged later societies like the British Empire. The heart of Cazzullo’s book is an episodic tour of Roman history that begins with its legendary heroes, brutal men of action who personify Roman ideals of integrity and self-sacrifice. The pageant of illustrious Romans climaxes with Julius Caesar—“perhaps the greatest man to have ever lived,” Cazzullo ventures. (Emperors who followed Caesar and his nephew Augustus, palpably lesser mortals in Cazzullo’s telling, pass by in a brief montage of sordid cruelties and well-deserved assassinations.) Later chapters trace Rome’s afterlives, including its inspiration for ambitious statesmen from Charlemagne to Napoleon. Although clear-eyed about Rome’s faults, Cazzullo is an unabashed admirer—“We Westerners... are its unworthy descendants, and we should be prouder,” he admonishes—and renders it in cinematic prose that highlights dramatic scenes and magnetic personalities. The result is a glamorous recreation of Rome’s myths and reality. (Apr.)