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

Subjects (All):

Republics--History.

Republics.

Regression (Civilization)--History.

Regression (Civilization).

History, Ancient.

World history.

republics.

Physical Description:

xi, 432 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"What caused the world's great republics to fall -- and what their fate reveals about the dangers facing modern democracies today. 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 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."-- Front jacket flap.

Contents:

Introduction

Simple Governments : One, Few, and Many

A Military Republic : Sparta

A Commercial Republic : Carthage

End of Monarchy : The Foundation of the Roman Republic

Senate and People : The Shape of the Roman Republic

New World Order : A Republic to Govern an Empire

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

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

Too Many Victors : The Fall of the Roman Republic

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

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

The Republican Planners : Imagining Republics in the Renaissance and Enlightenment

Plansinto Action : Republicanism in Restoration England and Absolutist France

America's Failed Constitutions

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

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

The Fabric of Republics

Fallen Republics and America's Third Century

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9780691195827

069119582X

OCLC:

1538484855

Publisher Number:

CIPO000377079