The Roman World War: From the Ides of March to Cleopatra’s Suicide
Giusto Traina
Apr 2026 · Princeton University Press
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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.
About the author
Giusto Traina is Emeritus Professor of Roman History at Sorbonne University in Paris and Professor of Roman History at the University of Salento in Lecce. He is the author of several books on ancient history, including 428 AD: An Ordinary Year at the End of the Roman Empire (Princeton).
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