Essays

Long-form historical articles from the Livarva Journal.

Essays

The Livarva essays form a living conversation about the fall of the Roman Republic, its institutions and the people who struggled to preserve or transform them.

Journal Essays

Marcus Antonius: Caesar's Lieutenant or Rome's Opportunist?

A character study of Caesar's courageous and charismatic lieutenant before Actium, and of the strengths and limitations revealed by the Ides of March.

Why Three Lives?

A historical investigation into why Sulla, Cato, and Caesar must be read together to understand the fall of the Roman Republic.

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Why Livarva Exists

A reflection on history, libraries, and the future of the Sulla, Caesar, and Cato trilogy.

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Was Caesar Planning a Monarchy?

The fear of kingship, the evidence, and the uncertainty behind the Ides of March.

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Why Sulla Failed

Restoration by force and the constitutional shell he left behind.

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Was Rome a Democracy?

The Republic, the people, and a modern misconception: an examination of Rome’s democratic institutions and the political culture that sustained them.

Cato and the Republic That Consumed Its Own Principles

A critical examination of Cato the Younger, republican virtue, constitutional restraint, and the danger of defending a Republic by departing from its principles.

The Destruction of Carthage

Roman security, fear, Cato the Elder, and the morality of annihilation.

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The Roman Republic Was Not a Democracy

Citizenship, hierarchy, assemblies, Senate, and the difference between ancient and modern liberty.

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Could the Roman Republic Have Been Saved?

A long-form inquiry into constitutional balance, empire, reform, Sulla, Caesar, Cato and the failure of compromise.

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