The Fall of Republics: A History from Ancient Carthage to the American Constitution / Thomas F. Madden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Madden, Thomas F., Author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press, [2026]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

What caused the world's great republics to fall-and what their fate reveals about the dangers facing modern democracies todayIn 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 United States 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, which breeds division and partisan strife. With their eyes on the ancient world, America's founders built important safeguards into the Constitution-but those safeguards are being tested today as the United States accumulates historical hallmarks of broken republics, from political violence to the politicization of the courts. The Fall of Republics offers valuable lessons and insights about what threatens republics-and what's needed to keep them alive.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Part I First Republics

1 Simple Governments: One, Few, and Many

2 A Military Republic: Sparta

3 A Commercial Republic: Carthage

Part II Imperial Republic

4 End of Monarchy: The Foundation of the Roman Republic

5 Senate and People: The Shape of the Roman Republic

6 New World Order: A Republic to Govern an Empire

7 Divisions Born of Affluence: The Gracchi and the Rise of Partisan Warfare

8 Appeal to the People: The Growth of Populism and the Military Response

9 Too Many Victors: The Fall of the Roman Republic

Part III The Republican Thread Across the Middle Ages

10 Escape to a Watery World: The Foundation of the Republic of Venice

11 Medieval Republic, Modern World: The Fall of the Republic of Venice

Part IV The Lessons of Fallen Republics for a New Age

12 The Republican Planners: Imagining Republics in the Renaissance and Enlightenment

13 Plans into Action: Republicanism in Restoration England and Absolutist France

Part V New American Republics on the Ashes of the Old

14 Americas Failed Constitutions

15 John Adams, Fallen Republics, and the Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America

16 Lessons of Fallen Republics and the Framing of the U. S. Constitution

Part VI Conclusions

17 The Fabric of Republics

18 Fallen Republics and Americas Third Century

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed April 28 2026)

ISBN:

0-691-28573-X

9780691285733