Summary of Barry Strauss's The War That Made the Roman Empire

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 The Battle of Actium in 31 BC was the culmination of events that had been building for decades. It was the result of a civil war that started in 49 BC when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy.

#2 In 44 BC, five men and women met in Rome. They were all ambitious, and they all wanted to be the next ruler of Rome. They could never have guessed how much drama lay ahead.

#3 Antony was born into a noble Roman family in 83 BC. His father, also named Marcus Antonius, was a successful orator and lawyer, but he died shortly after his son was born. Young Antony grew up in the shadow of his parents’ deaths.

#4 Antony was a successful general and politician during the civil war that followed Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. He received important assignments from Caesar, and was in charge of organizing the defense of Italy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669383086

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Insights on Barry Strauss's The War That Made the Roman Empire

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Battle of Actium in 31 BC was the culmination of events that had been building for decades. It was the result of a civil war that started in 49 BC when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy.

#2

In 44 BC, five men and women met in Rome. They were all ambitious, and they all wanted to be the next ruler of Rome. They could never have guessed how much drama lay ahead.

#3

Antony was born into a noble Roman family in 83 BC. His father, also named Marcus Antonius, was a successful orator and lawyer, but he died shortly after his son was born. Young Antony grew up in the shadow of his parents’ deaths.

#4

Antony was a successful general and politician during the civil war that followed Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. He received important assignments from Caesar, and was in charge of organizing the defense of Italy.

#5

Antony was married to Fulvia, a twice-widowed noblewoman who recruited an army. He played a key role in the events of the fatal year of 44 BC. He offered Caesar the crown, and when the assassins took refuge on the Capitoline Hill, he steered the Senate into a compromise.

#6

Octavian was born in 63 BC. He was the son of Gaius Octavius, who was wealthy and ambitious but not a Roman noble. He was adopted by Caesar, and then took the title Augustus when he reached the age of thirty-five in 27 BC. He was not a born soldier, but he was tenacious, cunning, and brave.

#7

After Caesar’s death, Octavian returned to Rome. He was escorted by some of Caesar’s supporters and soldiers. He accepted Caesar’s adoption, insisting from then on that he be addressed as Caesar. His mother was the first to do so.

#8

Octavian was a young politician who wanted to attain the positions and honors that were promised to Caesar’s adopted son. He was able to convince two hardened Roman legions to defect from Antony.

#9

After defeating Antony and driving him north across the Alps, Octavian made a switch and began supporting Cicero and the Senate. He then made a triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, who controlled nearly twenty legions, to govern Rome together.

#10

In Roman history, there were three triumvirs, but only Antony and