The Storm Before the Storm — Mike Duncan

Duncan focuses on the generation before Caesar — the Gracchi brothers, Marius, Sulla — arguing that the Republic's fatal habits were established long before the famous names arrived. The book traces how political violence became normalised, how the army was reformed in ways that made it loyal to commanders rather than the state, and how the norms that had governed Roman public life were dismantled one by one. By the time Caesar crosses the Rubicon, the path has already been cleared.