Uncommon Wrath Spiral-Bound | 2022-11-29

Josiah Osgood

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A dual biography of Julius Caesar and Cato the Younger that offers a dire warning: republics collapse when partisanship overrides the common good.

In Uncommon Wrath, historian Josiah Osgood tells the story of how the political rivalry between Julius Caesar and Marcus Cato precipitated the end of the Roman Republic. As the champions of two dominant but distinct visions for Rome, Caesar and Cato each represented qualities that had made the Republic strong, but their ideological differences entrenched into enmity and mutual fear. The intensity of their collective factions became a tribal divide, hampering their ability to make good decisions and undermining democratic government. The men's toxic polarity meant that despite their shared devotion to the Republic, they pushed it into civil war.

Deeply researched and compellingly told, Uncommon Wrath is a groundbreaking biography of two men whose hatred for each other destroyed the world they loved.
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Original Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1541620119
Item Weight: 1.2 lbs
Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
"[An] incisive and accessible dual biography of Julius Caesar and Cato the Younger focused on their shared responsibility for the Roman Republic's downfall… Along the way, Osgood issues incisive warnings about the dangers of polarization that resonate with today's political landscape and vividly describes the era's religious rituals, military battles, and Senate debates… He builds a persuasive and entertaining case. Roman history buffs will be intrigued."--Publishers Weekly
Josiah Osgood is professor of classics at Georgetown University and holds a PhD from Yale University. A winner of the Rome Prize, he is the author of five books on Roman history and the translator and editor of How to Be a Bad Emperor, a 2020 edition of Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars. He lives in Washington, DC.