The Storm Before The Storm

The Storm Before The Storm by Mike Duncan is an incredibly detailed book by one of the best modern day historians, in my opinion. His podcast, The History of Rome, was outstanding and I highly recommend it to anyone who is even just a little bit intrigued by Ancient Rome. Anyway, The Storm Before The Storm covers the period in Roman history leading up to the most famous historical times of Rome; that of Caesar, Pompey, Cleopatra, Augustus and so on. Mike successfully ties it all together and shows how this period of unrest in Rome ultimately led to the showdown between Caesar and Pompey. This period of Rome’s history doesn’t get much love, which is exactly why Mike Duncan decided to write a book on the matter.

I will say, if you find the direct regurgitation of history a bit tedious, you may find yourself mentally preparing your next days To Do list while reading/listening to this book. There is a lot of information here and it’s clear a multitude of research went into this book, but if we’re being honest, it may be too much for the casual reader. It was, at times, too much for me. If all you know about ancient Roman history is that there was a love triangle (of sorts) between Caesar, Cleopatra, and Mark Antony, then you may get lost in this book. If you are well versed in the usual tropes and you’re looking for more, then this book should be right up your alley.

Full disclosure: Ancient Rome is my favorite period in history, so am I biased? Uh, yep!

C. L.