The Last Generation of the Roman Republic
Encyclopedia
The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (1974) is a scholarly work by Erich S. Gruen
on the end of the Roman Republic
in the 1st century BC.
The central argument of the work is that the Late Roman Republic
can be characterised by the strength and continuity of its constitutions, rather than by their gradual disintegration. The latter view was popularly accepted prior to the release of this work, that understanding initially begun by Ronald Syme
's great work The Roman Revolution
(1939). Gruen's work in The Last Generation is often considered a reply to Syme.
Erich S. Gruen
Erich Stephen Gruen is an American classicist and ancient historian. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 2008...
on the end of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
in the 1st century BC.
The central argument of the work is that the Late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
can be characterised by the strength and continuity of its constitutions, rather than by their gradual disintegration. The latter view was popularly accepted prior to the release of this work, that understanding initially begun by Ronald Syme
Ronald Syme
Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
's great work The Roman Revolution
The Roman Revolution
The Roman Revolution is an enormously influential scholarly study of the final years of the ancient Roman Republic and the creation of the Roman Empire by Caesar Augustus. The book was the work of Sir Ronald Syme , a noted Tacitean scholar, and was published by the Oxford University Press. It was...
(1939). Gruen's work in The Last Generation is often considered a reply to Syme.