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The Roman World War: From the Ides of March to Cleopatra’s Suicide
How the ruthless contest among Julius Caesar’s heirs ignited a global war that raged far beyond the borders of Rome
The succession of civil wars that plagued the last years of the Roman Republic has often been portrayed as a settling of scores between Roman factions―Sulla against Marius, Caesar against Pompey, Octavian against Mark Antony―with foreign campaigns serving as a backdrop to the tragic spectacle. The Roman World War recasts the struggle for Rome as a global conflict that engulfed millions of non-Romans across Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa.
Shedding new light on the pivotal years spanning Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE and the suicides of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BCE, Giusto Traina introduces readers to lesser-known figures such as the Cilician dynast Tarcondimotus, the king of the Moors Bogud, and the Armenian king Artawazd, men who influenced Rome’s politics and who played consequential roles in battles waged far beyond the borders of the Imperium Romanum. Traina demonstrates how the violence unleashed by Caesar’s death was a direct consequence of his expansionist plans. From Spain to Mesopotamia, peoples such as Berbers, Hispanics, Gauls, Greeks, Thracians, and Armenians were drawn into a global war in which the fate of Rome was tied to their own.
A global, “connected” history that transforms our understanding of the Republic’s final years, The Roman World War demonstrates how foreign nations and peoples were not merely pawns in the Roman civil wars but active protagonists in a great power struggle that shook the ancient world for fourteen intense years.
The succession of civil wars that plagued the last years of the Roman Republic has often been portrayed as a settling of scores between Roman factions―Sulla against Marius, Caesar against Pompey, Octavian against Mark Antony―with foreign campaigns serving as a backdrop to the tragic spectacle. The Roman World War recasts the struggle for Rome as a global conflict that engulfed millions of non-Romans across Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa.
Shedding new light on the pivotal years spanning Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE and the suicides of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BCE, Giusto Traina introduces readers to lesser-known figures such as the Cilician dynast Tarcondimotus, the king of the Moors Bogud, and the Armenian king Artawazd, men who influenced Rome’s politics and who played consequential roles in battles waged far beyond the borders of the Imperium Romanum. Traina demonstrates how the violence unleashed by Caesar’s death was a direct consequence of his expansionist plans. From Spain to Mesopotamia, peoples such as Berbers, Hispanics, Gauls, Greeks, Thracians, and Armenians were drawn into a global war in which the fate of Rome was tied to their own.
A global, “connected” history that transforms our understanding of the Republic’s final years, The Roman World War demonstrates how foreign nations and peoples were not merely pawns in the Roman civil wars but active protagonists in a great power struggle that shook the ancient world for fourteen intense years.
- GenresHistory
248 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2026
5 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Giusto Traina
49 books2 followersGiusto Traina is a prominent Italian ancient historian and Byzantinist. Since 2011 he has been professor of Roman history at Sorbonne Université, and a former senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He is the author of numerous books and articles.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 5, 2024
Un buon libro su avvenimenti fin troppo noti, ma inquadrati in un contesto più ampio che, finora, era stato trascurato, almeno nelle opere divulgative. Restituisce anche la verità su Antonio e Cleopatra.
April 25, 2026
A fascinating book of Roman history as the subtitle tells us “From the Ides of March to Cleopatra’s Suicide”, a period of just over fourteen years. This detailed book is suitable for academic use or, as in my case, for someone with a passion for Roman history, or any well-written history, that was instilled in me by my grade eight history teacher, Mrs. Smith. She was also my Latin teacher so the two subjects overlapped, each bringing relevance to the other.
The author, Giusto Traina, has done an excellent job of bringing the public and private lives of all the relevant actors who were interacting with Rome during the time the book covers. Starting with Caesar’s last days as a dictator who was in the process of bringing down the republic in Rome, Traina takes the reader through the various civil and external wars as they played out through to the final struggle between Octavian and Mark Anthony as they each attempted to seize control of the Roman Empire.
My only complaints with the book are that I would have liked to see more maps of the various warring groups as they moved throughout the Mediterranean basin. I was continually going to Google to verify where I was. The maps that were included were excellent, showing the movements of large armies and navies throughout the region and describing battle scenes.
Highly recommended.
The author, Giusto Traina, has done an excellent job of bringing the public and private lives of all the relevant actors who were interacting with Rome during the time the book covers. Starting with Caesar’s last days as a dictator who was in the process of bringing down the republic in Rome, Traina takes the reader through the various civil and external wars as they played out through to the final struggle between Octavian and Mark Anthony as they each attempted to seize control of the Roman Empire.
My only complaints with the book are that I would have liked to see more maps of the various warring groups as they moved throughout the Mediterranean basin. I was continually going to Google to verify where I was. The maps that were included were excellent, showing the movements of large armies and navies throughout the region and describing battle scenes.
Highly recommended.
January 19, 2025
A ver por dónde empezamos. Este es un libro que si le quitamos el índice, notas y bibliografía tiene menos de 200 páginas escritas, pero es que, si descontamos también los mapas, que poco o nada aportan, las láminas y las páginas de separación me da que no llega ni a 170 páginas. Resultado, un libro al que, en el mejor de los casos, le faltarían 200 o 300 páginas para poder desarrollar las ideas que expone con algo de rigurosidad.
Y es que, para colmo, hay momentos en que el autor muestra unos conocimientos enciclopédicos detallando genealogías que no vienen a cuento y que a mi me han recordado momentos del tipo:
Paca, te acuerdas de la Puri, la que se caso con el José que era el hermano del cura, el Ernesto, que iba para médico, pero se juntó con la Isabela que le dejó y se fue con Manuel, el hijo del Jacinto, un chulo que luego la dejó por la María que venía resabiada de su relación con el José, pero el José del Antonio no del Ernesto, que ese estaba con la hija del Federico que era muy feo, pero tenía tierras…
Si, me acuerdo, ¿y?
Que la vi en la frutería.
Pues lo cambiáis por Lucio, Fulvia y César y tenéis unos magníficos párrafos que tras leerlos decís, pa que cojo… me cuentan esto. Y se han ido otras 20 o 30 páginas.
Al final mi sensación sobre este libro es que el autor se dijo: voy a contar (y trabajar) lo mínimo posible, eso sí, dejando bien claro que sé de lo que hablo, pero nada de hacer un libro decente que total me pagan lo mismo.
Y es una pena, porque alguno de los puntos que plantea, con los que se puede estar o no estar de acuerdo, bien desarrollados hubieran sido interesantes.
En definitiva, hay libros sobre el tema más interesantes (y largos) ahí afuera. Un volumen perfectamente prescindible.
Y es que, para colmo, hay momentos en que el autor muestra unos conocimientos enciclopédicos detallando genealogías que no vienen a cuento y que a mi me han recordado momentos del tipo:
Paca, te acuerdas de la Puri, la que se caso con el José que era el hermano del cura, el Ernesto, que iba para médico, pero se juntó con la Isabela que le dejó y se fue con Manuel, el hijo del Jacinto, un chulo que luego la dejó por la María que venía resabiada de su relación con el José, pero el José del Antonio no del Ernesto, que ese estaba con la hija del Federico que era muy feo, pero tenía tierras…
Si, me acuerdo, ¿y?
Que la vi en la frutería.
Pues lo cambiáis por Lucio, Fulvia y César y tenéis unos magníficos párrafos que tras leerlos decís, pa que cojo… me cuentan esto. Y se han ido otras 20 o 30 páginas.
Al final mi sensación sobre este libro es que el autor se dijo: voy a contar (y trabajar) lo mínimo posible, eso sí, dejando bien claro que sé de lo que hablo, pero nada de hacer un libro decente que total me pagan lo mismo.
Y es una pena, porque alguno de los puntos que plantea, con los que se puede estar o no estar de acuerdo, bien desarrollados hubieran sido interesantes.
En definitiva, hay libros sobre el tema más interesantes (y largos) ahí afuera. Un volumen perfectamente prescindible.
February 25, 2025
El libro de historia del instituto era mucho más ameno que este libro.
📖❤️
📖❤️
November 2, 2024
Libro denso en cuanto a contenido, especialmente enfocado en el aspecto internacional de las últimas guerras civiles entre romanos y bastante detallado. Se nota que el autor conoce en profundidad el periodo, pero esto se traduce en que da por sabidos varios episodios del conflicto no muy conocidos, por los que pasa de puntillas. Con todo, muy buen libro
August 31, 2024
Pocos periodos han resultado tan cruciales en la historia como los compases finales de la república romana. Esos casi quince años entre el asesinato de Julio César (44 a.C) y la muerte de Marco Antonio y Cleopatra (30 a.C.) tras la derrota sufrida en la batalla de Accio frente a los ejércitos de Octaviano, quien se alzaría poco después como primer emperador de Roma con el título de Augusto. Y, sin embargo, la visión tradicional del periodo, una larga guerra civil interna que decidió el destino de Roma, no basta. Es lo que defiende Giusto Traina en 'La guerra mundial de los romanos', una síntesis tan apasionante como esclarecedora que persigue la ampliación del foco con el que habitualmente nos enfrentamos a aquellos hechos, condicionados por la abrumadora disponibilidad de fuentes romanas.
April 30, 2026
The civil wars of the late Republic are basically the Mount Everest of Roman history in terms of how much scholarship, even just in English, there is about them. Recent events have increased the publisher and reader demand for more books on the subject. This one purports to not just retell the Republic’s last fourteen years, but to make the case that they “amoun(ted) to nothing less than a global conflict”, even if the “globe” was very small by modern standards.
Traina clearly put some thought into making this book accessible for the general reader, and so he employs some tactics often used in popular history, like supporting one theory over another, without much explanation about why it’s more plausible, to create an unbroken narrative. Source criticism, while present, is not rigorously applied, and thus speeches attributed to historical figures in texts written long after their deaths are sometimes taken as representing what they really said. The text went unchanged in the translation, and therefore does not account for some recent discoveries, like Arsinoe’s alleged tomb having nothing to do with her. Not all is lost, however– Traina’s narrative is easily digestible and contains many fascinating insights on the wars and their players. I especially enjoyed his musings on Julius Caesar, and I also appreciated how Antony was acknowledged as a hard-headed politician whose engagements with the East were not unprecedented, since the idea that he was a vulgar fool maintains currency to this day. Traina uses a variety of sources, from coins to statue bases to late antique chronicles.
When it comes to the actual “Roman world war”, however, Traina is on much shakier ground. The only definition provided for “world war” is literally the last line of the book, where it is given as “a mixture of foreign war and civil war”, which I found pretty nonsensical. Additionally, the book (or at least the translation) frequently uses the term “geopolitical” without justification, including in translations of ancient texts, even when the subject being dealt with is conflict between different sets of Europeans. Traina’s insights on how non-Roman states influenced Roman history and thought, from the Gothic tradition on Burebista to the Parthian influence seen in Quintus Labienus’ coins, are fascinating, but they say more about the Romans than their allies and enemies. While pages are allotted to these states' own concerns and their importance in the wars is made clear, the focus is still largely on Rome, making the book’s intended subjects often feel more like side characters– even Cleopatra does not emerge strongly as a personality. This is perhaps a consequence of the book's short length and structure, which juggles Roman history, Roman culture, and foreign affairs. While they still had agency, the non-Romans come off more reactive than proactive in the wars they ended up getting caught in.
Nevertheless, this book provides an interesting account of a well-trodden period in Roman history, with more attention paid to non-Romans than is typical, even if it won’t get historians to call it “World War I”.
Traina clearly put some thought into making this book accessible for the general reader, and so he employs some tactics often used in popular history, like supporting one theory over another, without much explanation about why it’s more plausible, to create an unbroken narrative. Source criticism, while present, is not rigorously applied, and thus speeches attributed to historical figures in texts written long after their deaths are sometimes taken as representing what they really said. The text went unchanged in the translation, and therefore does not account for some recent discoveries, like Arsinoe’s alleged tomb having nothing to do with her. Not all is lost, however– Traina’s narrative is easily digestible and contains many fascinating insights on the wars and their players. I especially enjoyed his musings on Julius Caesar, and I also appreciated how Antony was acknowledged as a hard-headed politician whose engagements with the East were not unprecedented, since the idea that he was a vulgar fool maintains currency to this day. Traina uses a variety of sources, from coins to statue bases to late antique chronicles.
When it comes to the actual “Roman world war”, however, Traina is on much shakier ground. The only definition provided for “world war” is literally the last line of the book, where it is given as “a mixture of foreign war and civil war”, which I found pretty nonsensical. Additionally, the book (or at least the translation) frequently uses the term “geopolitical” without justification, including in translations of ancient texts, even when the subject being dealt with is conflict between different sets of Europeans. Traina’s insights on how non-Roman states influenced Roman history and thought, from the Gothic tradition on Burebista to the Parthian influence seen in Quintus Labienus’ coins, are fascinating, but they say more about the Romans than their allies and enemies. While pages are allotted to these states' own concerns and their importance in the wars is made clear, the focus is still largely on Rome, making the book’s intended subjects often feel more like side characters– even Cleopatra does not emerge strongly as a personality. This is perhaps a consequence of the book's short length and structure, which juggles Roman history, Roman culture, and foreign affairs. While they still had agency, the non-Romans come off more reactive than proactive in the wars they ended up getting caught in.
Nevertheless, this book provides an interesting account of a well-trodden period in Roman history, with more attention paid to non-Romans than is typical, even if it won’t get historians to call it “World War I”.
February 2, 2025
Sobre el final de la República romana y la siguiente guerra civil protagonizada, entre otros, por Octaviano y Antonio, se ha escrito mucho. Habrá quien incluso afirme que demasiado. Las fuentes literarias y arqueológicas son las que son, y resulta cada vez más difícil encontrar una obra que aporte algo nuevo, y sobre todo mejor, a lo ya publicado. Pero las editoriales se empeñan en ello, dado que este periodo parece garantizarles que un buen puñado de incautos acabaremos adquiriendo cada nueva propuesta que nos presenten. Más aún si vienen con el marchamo de editoriales supuestamente confiables como Crítica. Craso error.
Quien adquiera este libro, convenientemente presentado con una preciosa cubierta, se encontrará con una obra tan prescindible como densa y aburrida, en donde a los largo de sus casi trescientas páginas no encontrará más que una sucesión abrumadora de datos, que en modo alguno le ayudarán a comprender lo que el autor quizás quiso decirle. Esto no es divulgación (alta o baja), esto es TEDIO.
Es cierto que no todos los capítulos son tan soporíferos. Pero si el lector de esta reseña alguna vez tiene en sus manos este libro, le invito a que haga una sencilla prueba: ábralo por cualquier página al azar de los capítulos 3 o 9. La que sea. Elija cualquier párrafo y cuente cuantos nombre propios aparecen en cada línea, en cada renglón. En el mejor de los casos verá sólo uno. En otras ocasiones verá hasta tres. ¿Qué pretende el autor con ello? Desde luego no acercar al lector a los hechos narrados. Más bien parece querer demostrar, en cada línea, lo bien documentado que ésta, y lo mucho que conoce las fuentes. La lectura del libro muy pronto se convierte en un suplicio que no hay más remedio que abandonar. Me arrepiento de no haberlo hecho.
Ernest Hemingway ya advertían de que una narración mínimamente fluida requiere economizar los sustantivos y los nombres propios. Este libro parece regodearse en lo contrario. Que se trate de un ensayo y no de una novela no parece que sirva de excusa para castigar de esta forma al lector.
No sé muy bien cómo es posible que la misma editorial que este mismo año ha publicado la brillante obra de Osgood sobre César y Catón, traiga al mercado español semejante libro. He leído en otras webs buenas críticas a la obra, quizás responda a que el autor de la reseña ha trabajado para el editorial... O a lo mejor sí que es sincero.
Quien adquiera este libro, convenientemente presentado con una preciosa cubierta, se encontrará con una obra tan prescindible como densa y aburrida, en donde a los largo de sus casi trescientas páginas no encontrará más que una sucesión abrumadora de datos, que en modo alguno le ayudarán a comprender lo que el autor quizás quiso decirle. Esto no es divulgación (alta o baja), esto es TEDIO.
Es cierto que no todos los capítulos son tan soporíferos. Pero si el lector de esta reseña alguna vez tiene en sus manos este libro, le invito a que haga una sencilla prueba: ábralo por cualquier página al azar de los capítulos 3 o 9. La que sea. Elija cualquier párrafo y cuente cuantos nombre propios aparecen en cada línea, en cada renglón. En el mejor de los casos verá sólo uno. En otras ocasiones verá hasta tres. ¿Qué pretende el autor con ello? Desde luego no acercar al lector a los hechos narrados. Más bien parece querer demostrar, en cada línea, lo bien documentado que ésta, y lo mucho que conoce las fuentes. La lectura del libro muy pronto se convierte en un suplicio que no hay más remedio que abandonar. Me arrepiento de no haberlo hecho.
Ernest Hemingway ya advertían de que una narración mínimamente fluida requiere economizar los sustantivos y los nombres propios. Este libro parece regodearse en lo contrario. Que se trate de un ensayo y no de una novela no parece que sirva de excusa para castigar de esta forma al lector.
No sé muy bien cómo es posible que la misma editorial que este mismo año ha publicado la brillante obra de Osgood sobre César y Catón, traiga al mercado español semejante libro. He leído en otras webs buenas críticas a la obra, quizás responda a que el autor de la reseña ha trabajado para el editorial... O a lo mejor sí que es sincero.
August 9, 2025
Il libro racconta le guerre civili che coinvolgono Antonio e Ottaviano concentrandosi sull'influenza che queste avevano sul mondo esterno e che il mondo esterno aveva su queste. Per seguirlo bene bisogna già masticare l'argomento, ma la lettura è estremamente piacevole e scorrevole, mettendo in luce molti dettagli dei conflitti che normalmente vengono ignorati.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews