In this timely book, distinguished historian Thomas Madden explores the people, events, and factors that led to the collapse of some of the world’s most enduring republics—from Carthage to Rome to Venice and beyond—and examines the worrying lessons these failures hold for the US and other democracies today.
“The Fall of Republics” not only tells the story of fallen states but also opens a window into how modern democratic republics were built on the ashes of the old.
From Machiavelli to John Adams, philosophers and statesmen applied the lessons of lost republics to forge new ones that they hoped would be inoculated against the calamities that brought down their predecessors.
The book reveals that republics thrive because they pit interests and powers against each other, balancing them across government branches to ensure stability and avoid tyranny. Republics are strengthened by adversity, which unites citizens despite their differences, and weakened by prosperity and security.
