A noise of war

Through civil wars and world conflicts, the Roman Republic had survived 400 years, its empire stretching from Spain to Syria and beyond. But at the millennium, it seemed about to buckle. An entrenched Senate would not and could not respond to the nation's precipitous decline; its leaders, locked in the status quo and fighting for privilege, were talking reform to death. As the Republic careened to the brink of ruin, the battle lines were drawn by three figures, all larger than life.

Caesar, the bold, rash general; Cicero, the greatest orator of his time; and Pompey, a brilliant and successful campaigner, were locked in a fierce struggle for Rome's future. The contest began with debate in the Forum but led soon to violent riots, then armed revolt on the battlefield and bloodshed on the Senate steps. In the end, it was Octavian, Caesar's clever nephew and unmerciful political heir, who would claim victory. Rome was poised at the dawn of the great Augustan Age.

In a rich, scrupulously researched narrative history, A. J. Langguth captures this resounding, epic drama and brings to life the towering figures of the time. Capitalizing on a wealth of primary materials - from Caesar's war stories to Cicero's most intimate letters - Langguth has gone to the heart of the political intrigues, calculated alliances, and mortal rivalries that now, perhaps more than ever, seem especially vibrant and contemporary.

We see Caesar, the aristocrat who championed the people's causes but was accused of wanting to be king, as he contends with Cicero, a newcomer to Rome with a sharp tongue and a lightning wit but also a fatal eagerness to please the patricians. Drawn into their struggle were Brutus, Pompey, Cassius, Mark Antony, and the eventual victor, Octavian - lobbying causes, brokering deals, leading armies, and grabbing at power.

A Noise of War takes us from Caesar's battlefields in Britannia to Cleopatra's bedroom in Alexandria, from Spartacus' violent slave revolt outside Rome's walls to Brutus' conspiracy within Rome's grandest houses. But above all, this is a compelling account of great men and their admirable women, of great minds, incredible triumphs, and crushing defeats in one of history's most seductive dramas.