Rubicon : The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic (Abridged ed)

The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history.

What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world.

Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness - the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall.

It is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.

Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling civilization, with its extremes of ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire.

Yet alien as it was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us.

Its citizens were obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence.

Two thousand years may have passed, but we remain the Romans' heirs.