Meta Description: Join Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle in Ad Navseam Episode 31 as they welcome historian Dr. Ed Watts to discuss his book, Mortal Republic. Explore why the Roman Republic didn’t have to die, the shattering of the mos maiorum, and lessons for modern democracies from the ancient Latin language sources.
Introduction: Sippy Cups in the Vomitorium
Welcome back to the “Vomitorium,” listeners! It is Episode 31 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, and your hosts, Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle, are back in the booth.
The mood today is a mix of high intellectual excitement and mild humiliation. Why? Because Dr. Noe has served Dr. Winkle his water in a glass adorned with yellow rubber duckies and jumping cats . Dr. Winkle finds the vessel a bit “emasculating,” noting that it feels strangely personal. Dr. Noe, ever the solicitous host, asks if he wants a lid with that “sippy cup.” It is just another day in the glamorous life of professional classicists—navigating the profound depths of history while drinking from toddler-ware.
But once the dignity of the co-host is sufficiently compromised, the team turns to serious business. Today, they are stepping away from the wanderings of Odysseus to welcome a heavy hitter in the world of ancient history: Dr. Ed Watts from the University of California, San Diego.
Shout-Out: Logic and Latin in California
Before diving into the decline and fall of the Roman Republic, we owe a special shout-out to Donna Seidman. Like our guest today, Donna is hailing from the Golden State—specifically Santa Clarita, California. Donna is a “Latin and logic teacher extraordinaria,” keeping the flame of the Latin language and critical thinking alive for the next generation. To Donna and all the teachers fighting the good fight: Salve!
The Book: Mortal Republic
Dr. Ed Watts joins the show to discuss his 2018 book, Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny. The title itself is a provocation. For centuries, historians (influenced by the Greek thinker Polybius) viewed Rome’s rise and fall as a machine—a cyclical process of constitutions that churned inevitably from monarchy to aristocracy to democracy and back again.
Dr. Watts argues something different, something scarier: The Republic didn’t have to die.
He treats the Roman Republic not as a machine, but as a living, breathing organism—a “mortal” thing. Just like a human body, it could have lived longer if it had made better choices. It wasn’t destiny that killed the Republic; it was a series of bad decisions made by individual actors who prioritized short-term political wins over the long-term health of the state.
The Bargain of the Republic
Dr. Watts lays out the fundamental “bargain” that made Rome work for centuries. It was a trade-off between the elite and the people.
- The Elite: Got the prestige, the offices (honors), and the glory of leading armies.
- The People: Got security, wealth from conquests, and a voice in the assemblies.
This system relied heavily on consensus. It wasn’t written down in a constitution like the American one; it was governed by the mos maiorum—the “way of the ancestors.” These were unwritten norms that everyone just agreed to follow. You didn’t veto a colleague just to be a jerk. You didn’t block elections just because you were going to lose. You played by the rules because the game was more important than the player.
Until, suddenly, it wasn’t.
The Turning Point: 133 BC and Tiberius Gracchus
Dr. Watts pinpoints the beginning of the end to the year 133 BC and the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus.
Tiberius was a populist who wanted to pass land reform to help the poor veterans of Rome’s wars. The Senate, full of wealthy landowners, hated the idea. Normally, they would work out a compromise. But Tiberius did something new: he bypassed the Senate entirely and took his bill directly to the People’s Assembly.
When another tribune, Octavius, tried to veto the bill (a legal, standard move), Tiberius did the unthinkable: he held a vote to remove Octavius from office.
Dr. Watts explains why this was the fatal wound. It wasn’t illegal, strictly speaking, but it shattered the norm. It turned the veto—a tool meant to force consensus—into a weapon of obstruction. Once Tiberius showed that you could just fire your opponents rather than argue with them, the guardrails were off. The Senate responded with violence, murdering Tiberius and 300 of his followers in the street. Political violence had entered the bloodstream of the Republic, and it would never leave.
Sulla and the Normalization of Treason
If Tiberius Gracchus cracked the foundation, Sulla blew up the building.
A generation later, the general Sulla found himself stripped of a military command by his political enemies. In the old days, a Roman general would have accepted the humiliation for the good of the state. Sulla, however, looked at his army—loyal to him, not the state—and said, “Let’s go to Rome.”
Dr. Watts highlights the horror of this moment. When Sulla marched on Rome, his own officers abandoned him. They knew this was treason. But the common soldiers? They didn’t care about the mos maiorum; they cared about getting paid. Sulla marched in, butchered his enemies, and rewrote the constitution at sword-point.
The lesson was clear for men like Julius Caesar and Pompey: If you have the swords, the laws don’t matter. The “mortal” body of the Republic was now suffering from multiple organ failure.
Cato the Younger: The Danger of “No”
Dr. Watts also spends time on a figure often lionized by history: Cato the Younger. Cato is usually seen as the last honest man, the stoic defender of liberty. But Dr. Watts argues that Cato was actually part of the problem.
Cato used the Senate’s procedures to block everything. He filibustered for hours. He blocked routine land bills for Pompey’s veterans. He refused to let Caesar run for consul in absentia. By refusing to compromise on anything, Cato forced his opponents to go outside the system. When the system stops working, people stop respecting it. Cato’s obstructionism didn’t save the Republic; it gave Caesar the excuse he needed to cross the Rubicon.
Augustus and the Great Lie
The final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Augustus (Octavian). After years of civil war, Augustus emerged as the sole ruler. But he didn’t call himself a king. He didn’t dissolve the Senate.
Instead, as Dr. Watts brilliantly explains, Augustus offered Rome a “freedom from politics.” He said, “I’ll handle the borders, the grain supply, and the armies. You just go back to your lives.”
He restored the forms of the Republic—the elections, the consuls, the toga-wearing ceremonies—but he hollowed out their power. It was a “zombie Republic.” The institutions walked and talked, but they were dead inside. The Romans accepted this trade because they were exhausted. They traded their liberty for stability, a bargain that may resonate in the contemporary world.
Modern Parallels: Gerontocracy and Deadlock
The hosts and Dr. Watts discuss the uncomfortable parallels between the late Roman Republic and modern Western democracies.
- Gerontocracy: The Roman leadership got older and older. They refused to step aside for the younger generation, leading to a bottleneck of ambition that exploded in civil war.
- Procedural Warfare: Just as Romans used vetoes and religious omens to block votes, modern politicians use filibusters and technicalities to stop governance.
- Loss of Norms: When “it’s not illegal” becomes the only standard for behavior, the system collapses. A republic relies on shame, honor, and restraint—qualities that may be in short supply in both 1st century BC Rome and 21st century AD America.
Sponsors
This deep dive into the collapse of political order is brought to you by three sponsors who represent the height of stability and quality:
- Hackett Publishing: Whether you want to read Livy’s history of Rome or Dr. Watts’s other works, Hackett has the texts you need. They are the gold standard for affordable, high-quality classics.
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- Ratio Coffee: Dr. Winkle is still recovering from the emasculation of the ducky cup, but his coffee game remains strong thanks to the Ratio 6. It’s the machine that brews with the precision of a Roman engineer.
- The Deal: Visit ratiocoffee.com and use code ANCO for 15% off the Ratio 6.
- Ad Astra Roasters: Patrick Whalen and his team in Hillsdale, Michigan, are roasting beans that would make even a stoic like Cato crack a smile. Try the Huehuetenango or the Poetry Series.
- The Deal: Visit adastraroasters.com and use code ANAA for 10% off.
Conclusion: Getting Kicked Out of the Vomitorium
As the interview wraps up, Dr. Noe and Dr. Winkle are forced to evacuate the studio. Why? because the Arhythmic Gymnastics Club is knocking on the door. As Dr. Noe notes, you want to give a “wide berth” to gymnasts who are fundamentally out of step.
Next week, the team returns to the Odyssey. We are diving into Books 12-14 to meet Eumaeus the Swineherd. If you thought the backstreets of Rome were stinky, wait until you hang out in a pigsty with the only loyal servant left in Ithaca.
The Gustatory Parting Shot
Dr. Noe takes us out with a quote from George Miller. Dr. Noe admits he knows nothing about the man other than this singular, brilliant insight into the human condition:
“The trouble with eating Italian is that five or six days later, you’re hungry again.”
Valete!
Resources for the Latin Learner:The Moss Method: Want to read Polybius or the New Testament in the original Greek? Dr. Noe’s self-paced course takes you from “neophyte to erudite.” Visit mossmethod.com to start your journey.
