The civil wars that beset the end of the Roman Republic have been a source of endless fascination for both ancient historians and the interested public. The late Republic is well documented, and the extraordinary events and figures of the period make it an attractive subject that has allowed for numerous reinterpretations. Giusto Traina, in his new book (translated by Malcolm DeBevoise), offers a new account of the Republic’s final years, beginning with Caesar’s assassination and concluding with the death of Cleopatra and Rome’s annexation of Egypt. As the title implies, Traina sees the effects of Rome’s civil wars as extending beyond Roman territory. The Roman civil wars were part of a broader power struggle that spanned three continents.
The book consists of a short preface, an introduction, and three parts, containing twelve chapters. In the preface, Traina provides his motivation for producing a new book on this extensively studied subject. He contends that “the events of the late Republic cannot properly be characterized as a concatenation of civil wars, because their implications were worldwide” (p. x). Traina recognizes the anachronism of applying terms like “world war” or “global conflict” to the wars of antiquity. He counters this potential protest by pointing out that ancient historians, like Appian and Florus, understood that Rome’s wars had international implications. Yet modern scholarship on the civil wars rarely gives much attention to Rome’s foreign neighbors and subject populations. Recently, some historians have advocated for a more inclusive view of antiquity, emphasizing interactions between Greeks and Romans and others.[1] Traina believes such an approach to antiquity is essential. In this book, he applies the “connected histories” method, pioneered by Sanjay Subrahmanyam.[2] Rather than examining subjects in isolation, “connected history” stresses cross-cultural interactions and trans-regional connections. A recent edited volume on the civil wars of the Roman Republic has also taken this approach.[3] Traina’s goal here is to elevate the role of important non-Roman actors alongside the well-known Roman players. Besides the famous Cleopatra, non-Romans such as the Dacian king Burebista or the Armenian ruler Artawazd II (to name a couple) play a significant part in events.
The introduction sets expectations for the rest of the book. Here, Traina focuses on the political interconnectedness between Rome, Parthia, and the Balkans during the years leading up to Caesar’s assassination. He shows Orodes II, the Parthian king, as an active participant on an international political stage against the backdrop of Caesar’s rise to power. Further, he shows how the Dacian leader Burebista expanded his influence over the Balkans after the Roman defeat of Mithridates VI weakened the Greek cities on the Black Sea. Caesar, before his death, planned campaigns against Burebista and Orodes II to stabilize the Roman frontiers that were thrown into chaos during his wars with the Pompeians. Already with the introduction, Traina adeptly demonstrates how the application of a “connected history” approach broadens our perception of Rome’s internal power struggles at the end of the Republic.
Part I (chapters 1–4) recounts the aftermath of Caesar’s death, the formation of the triumvirate, and the triumvirs’ victory over Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. Part II (chapters 5–8) concerns the growing dissension between the triumvirs after Philippi, covering the Perusine War, the defeat of Sextus Pompey, and the fall of Lepidus. With part III (chapters 9–12) the rivalry between Antony and Octavian comes to a head, culminating with the Battle of Actium and Octavian’s ascendancy to sole power. Traina does not lose sight of his goal of emphasizing the role of non-Roman people and places in these events. By including such perspectives, whether it is that of the Massaliotes or the Kingdom of Commagene, he gives Rome’s civil wars an international dimension.
Traina does not relegate non-Roman elites to the sidelines. Rather, they are key characters in the narrative, exploiting Roman discord to advance their own interests. For example, there is the Numidian prince Arabio who reclaimed, for a time, part of his father’s kingdom during the turmoil following Caesar’s assassination. Traina introduces us to two Thracian brothers of the royal family, Rhascupolis and Rhascus. These brothers played both sides at Philippi so that Thrace would benefit no matter who won. Parthia looms large throughout the book. As a competing imperial power, the Parthians had a keen interest in the goings-on within Roman territory. Indeed, the political fragmentation within Rome’s empire allowed Parthia to expand its influence in the east.
Traina eschews the term “client kings” as it mischaracterizes rulers friendly with or allied to Rome. These “friendly kingdoms,” he writes, “had lives of their own and were not mere pawns in the game of Roman politics” (101). Traina points to a military campaign undertaken by Bogud of Mauretania on his own initiative to demonstrate the independence of one such friendly king. While the phrase “client king” may be misapplied to a friend and ally of the Roman people, a friendly king’s power often still depended on the favor of Rome. Roman civil wars complicated such arrangements, as allied rulers were compelled to pick sides with the survival of their reigns hanging in the balance. For example, this same Bogud was an ally of the Antonians. At the instruction of Lucius Antonius, Bogud provided crucial support in Spain during the Perusine War. However, Bogud’s brother and rival Bocchus II, who was a supporter of Octavian, conquered his brother’s kingdom in his absence. Also, consider Herod, who owed his kingship over Judaea to Antony. In exchange, Herod provided military assistance against the Parthians. Throughout the work, Traina shows how civil war destabilized Rome’s network of allies and the frontier regions, creating the conditions for a Roman world war.
The book additionally highlights the actions of several less well-known Roman figures. Quintus Labienus and Publius Ventidius are particularly prominent. The former was a supporter of the Caesaricides who later allied with Parthia, while the latter was an Antonian commander who defeated Labienus. Traina also repairs the reputations of Sextus Pompey and Mark Antony, who are often maligned by our extant sources. Sextus, rather than being a glorified pirate, is a major player as the last defender of republicanism and a serious rival of the triumvirs. Concerning Antony, Traina writes that oftentimes, “modern historians have been unduly influenced by Augustus’s later version of events, interpreting Antony’s oriental maneuvers as evidence of a determination to form a new empire” (93–94). Traina shows Antony to be a skilled statesman concerned with stabilizing the East while positioning himself as the heir to Caesar’s political legacy in the region.
Traina, through his close reading of the evidence, reveals the high degree of political interconnectivity between Rome, its neighboring polities, and the empire’s non-Roman inhabitants. This accomplishment is noteworthy given the Romano-centric view of most of our sources. Related to this matter, Traina, in the preface, suggests the use of “extra-classical sources” to further broaden “the age of civil wars” (p. xi). However, he does not give any indication as to what these sources could be (documentary evidence or perhaps coinage from outside the Greco-Roman world?). I thought it would become clearer what he meant as I read. Yet classical authors (with the occasional reference to Greek or Latin inscriptions) dominated the notes. Given Traina’s suggestion about non-classical sources, I cannot help but think there was a missed opportunity here to make more extensive connections. Additionally, a brief conclusion or epilogue, tying the book’s themes together, would have benefited the work.
Minor critiques aside, The Roman World War is an engaging book. The author has made a familiar tale feel fresh with his incorporation of non-Roman perspectives. Any reader who is interested in Rome’s civil wars or a more inclusive antiquity will find this book valuable. Its straight-forward prose and narrative format make it especially well-suited for a general audience interested in ancient history. While Traina does not delve into the minutiae of scholarly controversies, academic readers will still benefit from his novel interpretation. This book would also be appropriate for an advanced undergraduate class on Roman history that seeks to place Rome within its broader geographic context.
Notes
[1] As examples, Traina cites Sailakshmi Ramgopal, “Connectivity and Disconnectivity in the Roman Empire,” Journal of Roman Studies 112 (2022): 215–235; Walter Scheidel, What is Ancient History? (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2025).
[2] Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories: Notes towards a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia,” Modern Asian Studies 31.3 (1997): 735–762; Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Connected History: Essays and Arguments (London: Verso, 2022).
[3] David García Dom̕nguez, Jaun García González, and Federico Santangelo, eds., Connected Histories of the Roman Civil Wars, 88–30 BCE (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024).