Overview

A top historian of Rome narrates the erosion of law and order in the last years of the Roman Republic through the rise and fall of its most famous lawyer, Cicero ""Osgood writes with such a sure hand, and has such a deft command of historical facts, as to make each stage of Rome's growing disorder seem plausible, lamentable and disturbingly familiar."" ―The Wall Street Journal Named a Best Book of 2025 by The Daily Telegraph - Bloomberg In its final decades, the Roman Republic was engulfed by a crime wave. An epidemic of extortions, murders, and acts of insurrection tested the court system's capacity to maintain order. As case after case filled the docket, an ambitious young lawyer named Cicero seized every opportunity to litigate, forging a reputation as a master debater with a bright future in politics. In Lawless Republic, historian Josiah Osgood recounts the legendary orator's ascent and fall, and his pivotal role in the republic's lurch toward autocracy. Cicero's first appearance in the courts came shortly after the end of a brutal civil war. After leveraging his fame as a lawyer to become a consul, he ruthlessly crushed a coup by suppressing the liberties of Roman citizens. The premiere legal mind of Rome came to argue that the pursuit of a higher justice could sometimes justify sweeping the law aside, laying the groundwork for Roman history's most famous act of political violence--the assassination of Julius Caesar. Lawless Republic vividly resurrects the spectacle of the courts in the time of Cicero and Caesar, showing how politics trumped the rule of law and sealed the fate of Rome.

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9781541604254

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Reviews

""This is a book that matters about a a man who matters. Vivid, visceral and crucial read for our times.""--Bettany Hughes, author of Venus and Aphrodite ""A welcome contribution to the study of Roman law and Cicero.""--Library Journal ""Richly detailed...the best life of Cicero to have come along in a long while.""--Kirkus ""Lawless Republic reads like a novel, but it is written with the learning and skill of a scholar. Rarely have the life and times of Cicero been told with greater verve. Classicist and historian Josiah Osgood is at the height of his powers.""--Barry Strauss, author of The War That Made the Roman Empire ""A wonderful and insightful account of Cicero's career in the courts, which at the same time is highly revealing about the breakdown of Rome's Republican system. Highly recommended.""--Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Rome and Persia ""The last bloody decades of the Roman Republic offer a veritable catalogue of crime. Josiah Osgood examines this rich material with the insight of a skilled historian and the keen scrutiny of a true crime detective. Even Cicero does not emerge unscathed. The result is a fresh look at one of history's most compelling eras, more relevant to Americans today than ever before.""--Steven Saylor, author of Dominus ""Josiah Osgood draws us deep into Cicero's methods and psyche as he rose to some of the greatest challenges a lawyer has ever faced. A razor-sharp analysis of the most fraught yet fascinating time in Rome's history.""--Daisy Dunn, author of The Missing Thread

""A wonderful and insightful account of Cicero's career in the courts, which at the same time is highly revealing about the breakdown of Rome's Republican system. Highly recommended.""--Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Rome and Persia ""The last bloody decades of the Roman Republic offer a veritable catalogue of crime. Josiah Osgood examines this rich material with the insight of a skilled historian and the keen scrutiny of a true crime detective. Even Cicero does not emerge unscathed. The result is a fresh look at one of history's most compelling eras, more relevant to Americans today than ever before.""--Steven Saylor, author of Dominus ""Josiah Osgood draws us deep into Cicero's methods and psyche as he rose to some of the greatest challenges a lawyer has ever faced. A razor-sharp analysis of the most fraught yet fascinating time in Rome's history.""--Daisy Dunn, author of The Missing Thread

Author Information

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 six books on Roman history including Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato's Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic. He lives in Washington, DC.

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