A Noble Ruin

Reviews / Votes

Tatum's deep knowledge of this complex period and the personalities who shaped it is apparent, and one of his great strengths is his ability to view events through the prism of the moment rather than the distorting lens of later history. There can be no doubt that his masterly treatment will be valued by scholars. * Classics for All * With his trademark brilliance in making sense of partial and often highly vituperative classical sources, Tatum gives us a nuanced and wonderfully readable portrait of a man whom he describes as a 'kind of guilty pleasure.' * Tom Holland, author of Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age * As Caesar's right-hand man and Cleopatra's lover, Antony comes to us largely by way of smear or caricature. But alongside the more familiar accusations of sleaze, drunkenness, debauchery, and treachery, Tatum brings into sharp focus his towering importance as a successful general, statesman, and orator. Written with characteristic flair and impeccable scholarship, A Noble Ruin gives a new life not only to Antony but to the violent and revolutionary times in which he operated. * Kathryn Tempest, author of Brutus: The Noble Conspirator * Tatum's A Noble Ruin offers a striking portrait of the dynamic figure who, but for the utterly unprecedented emergence of the teenaged Octavian, would have shaped the future of Rome and the Mediterranean world following the death of Julius Caesar. The complicated, skilled, and flawed Antony that Tatum reveals is both far more compelling than the caricatures found in the vicious but effective propaganda of Cicero and Octavian, and far more important than people interested in the stories of faltering republics and the fates of the people caught up in them often imagine. * Edward Watts, author of The Eternal Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: The History of a Dangerous Idea * An insightful biography of Mark Antony (83-30 BCE) that counters longstanding depictions of the Roman general as hedonistic and overly passionate... Tatum artfully analyzes Antony's 'adaptable' and 'fiercely competitive' personality as a product, rather than a deviation from, his aristocratic republican milieu. Roman history buffs will welcome this comprehensive reassessment. * Publishers Weekly * Tatum offers a nuanced perspective on his life, ambitions, and political actions. * World History Encyclopedia * This vivid biography pulses with energy and erudition. * Washington Independent Review of Books * A gripping portrait of a figure who, as much as any, embodies the Roman world as it teetered in mid-slide from republic to empire. It's a dazzling achievement-authoritative, engaging, and marvelously readable... A Noble Ruin glides along with an irresistible momentum that complements its beguiling evocations of people, events, and exotic settings. It deserves to become an enduring go-to volume for the lay reader and, one hopes, the scholar. * Washington Independent Review of Books * [An] excellent biography. It is one of A Noble Ruin's great strengths that Tatum acknowledges the power of the hostile stories that accumulated around Antony. He also unpacks the motives that led Antony's contemporaries to tell those stories and places them within a meticulously argued account of the wider historical period. * Catherine Steel, Times Literary Supplement * Brilliant... Tatum's work is far more than a mere biography. He deftly takes the reader through the almost impenetrable final years of the Republic and the competing personalities and cultural transformations of the era. Understanding these years can deter even the most ardent specialists. But readers of this book will not only come away with a comprehension of the life of the triumvir himself, but the world of the 50s, 40s, and 30s BC when famous personalities such as Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Cleopatra and Octavian competed for the world... [A] major contribution to Hellenistic and Roman studies. * Classical Journal-Online * A Noble Ruin offers readers a thorough re-examination of an important figure in ancient history. * Owain Williams, Ancient History * Tatum's book is a tour de force, providing an exhaustive account not only of Mark Antony's life but also of most of the major figures of his lifetime (83-30 BC) * The European Conservative * A Noble Ruin thoroughly examines the man second only to Julius Caesar in enduring fame for the modern world.... The work adheres to a traditional narrative structure, which rewards readers with valuable social and political nuggets, as well as with its depictions of the late Roman Republican political, social, and cultural scene. Readers receive an essential primer outlining the greasy career pole a would-be Roman politician had to climb and maneuver to stay in power, and from which Antony eventually toppled.... It is written in an engaging style. * CHOICE * A Noble Ruin is a towering endeavour: more than 'simply' a biography of Mark Antony, Tatum offers a sweeping tour de force study of the politics and particulars of the late Roman Republic, all with Antony as the central character. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * A Noble Ruin readily imposes itself as the most authoritative treatment of Mark Antony's life in any language, but is in a much broader sense a major contribution to the understanding of his times. It rests on a deep and long-standing engagement with the evidence on the period and the modern debates on the history of the Roman Republic, to which Tatum has been making characteristically insightful contributions over the last quarter of a century or so. * Greece & Rome *