Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar by Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni

   This book aims to be both a biography of Cato the Younger and an analysis of the impact the legend which followed him had on later generations. Both journalists, the authors seem particularly attuned to politics, and convincingly dissect both the political strategies which Cato himself employed and the use to which he was put by such worthies as George Washington. Occasionally, their search for parallels between ancient Roman politics and those of modern times may go too far, as when they refer to the populares as occupying the "left" of the Roman political scene (a characterization which has a touch of truth, but could lead a careless reader to import too many assumptions).
   More often, particularly during the more purely biographical section which takes all but the Prologue and Epilogue of the book, this strategic reading of the conflicts between the factions of the Late Republic provides a quiet sub-current to the essentially character-based narrative which the authors drew from the work of numerous ancient writers. Cato's great strength and weakness, the authors let us see repeatedly, was that he demanded personal virtue triumph while viewing often viewing mere strategy with contempt. The authors are often critical of this approach, but reveal and explain the partial successes that resulted from it. In some ways, the type of politician who succeeds is a reflection of the people who vote him, or her, into power; Goodman & Soni do not neglect the strands of Roman thought which Cato came to symbolize and why others often chose to support him, even at the expense of their own interests.
    In the foreground to all of this was a life of self-imposed hardship: not so much the famed austerity, though that is mentioned as well, but relationships personal and political strained because of an unwillingness to compromise and an encroaching melancholy as the Republic careened from one looming threat to another yet more serious. There is powerful writing in many places, as the authors depict the frustration Cato must have felt when his warnings were unheard and his efforts to preserve libertas seemed doomed. At other points, there are glimpses of success, even happiness. We also see a certain evolution in Cato's thought and action over time, which remains opaque despite the authors' attempts to interpret it: as his goals seemed more remote in the pragmatic Roman present, Cato seems to have embraced both the antique Roman model and a universalizing Stoicism with increasing fervour. At last, these two pillars of his existence seemed to fuse together, so that Rome was synonymous with virtue and freedom.
   This book deserves the greatest praise it can be given: that it does justice to its subject. I recommend it to everyone, particularly those who would like to think over the essence of the Roman Republic. Although Cato's is not the only perspective of value, I don't think we can fully understand that ideal without giving due weight to his vision, as they were expressed in his words and deeds.

Book Review: From Unseen Fire by Cass Morris

                The last days of the Roman Republic (a tale very familiar to most of us) are retold through a fantasy lens in the new series The Aven Cycle. The premise of the alternate Rome in which much of this story is set (called “Aven” because Remus succeeded in founding it on the Aventine Hill) is that some individuals have been born with magical powers (divided into nine elements, although some of these mages have talents with more than one of the nine). Though honored, these individuals are barred from ascending the full cursus honorem, to avoid too great a concentration of power. The main characters of the book include three sisters thus gifted with magic, the Vitellae, as well this world’s Caesar equivalent, Vibius Sempronius Tarren.

                The manner in which the authoress modifies the actual history to fit this fantastic element is generally plausible & interesting. The leges tabulae magicae, laws the Aventans have devised to deal with magic, ring true to how the Romans would have handled such a situation (though the Latin doesn’t sound quite right to my ear). The magic employed by the Celts operates on a different system from that of Aven, which seems appropriate and raises hopes that unusual spellcraft from yet other lands will make it into future books in the series. There are a few points on which it would be easy to quibble: Morris associates each of her magical elements with one or more gods, for instance, and it is tempting to argue a few of the correspondences, but this is highly subjective.

                Depiction of the political scene is of mixed quality. On the one hand, the author cuts between the schemes of Sempronius, the plotting of his Optimate rivals within Aven, and the intrigues of their mutual Celtic foes, which adds variety and allows us a more complete view of the plot as it develops than is granted to any of the characters. On the other, I did feel at the time of reading this that the author’s sympathies lie a little too openly with the Populare faction: at times it seems that the fears of the Optimates that the mos maiorem is being eroded or that the ambitions of Semprionius could lead to dictatorship are presented as pure paranoia or a pretext to retain their own hold on power, when history proved the same fears by their counterparts to be well founded. Also, Ocella, a Sulla equivalent, features prominently toward the beginning, while no version of Marius is reported anywhere, making it look like past misdeeds were all on one side.

                The personal & romantic side of the book is focused mainly on Latona, one of the Vitelliae, although there is again a sub-plot among the Celts. In each case, Morris takes pains to draw how past experiences influence her heroines in the present. While I still didn’t understand or agree with every decision the characters made, this did create enough investment in the characters to hope they would be able to find happiness. These threads also revealed more depths to the characters male romantic interests. I only wish that the authoress had seen fit to create an Optimate romance as well to balance the three parts of her narrative and to show another side to these schemers in the Senate (one could argue some early scenes with Ocella fill this role, but these certainly did not showcase the tenderness of the dictator).

                Overall, this promises to be the start to an entertaining series.

                If this appeals to you, you may want to check out the website of the authoress at https://cassmorriswrites.com/.