User:J. Douma/sandbox

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, the betrayal of the Republic: A novel (248 pages). Publication in the Netherlands, December 2011, van Gruting Uitgeverij, Netherlands. When Gaius, the second of the Gracchi brothers was assassinated in 121 B. C., it fuelled the start of a hundred-year civil war in the Republic of Rome, leading ultimately to its fall into dictatorship. Cornelia is a rare historical novel that recounts the life of the Gracchi brothers and the demise of the Republic through the reflections of a woman, Cornelia Africana: mother of the Gracchi brothers, and a woman at the zenith of power and influence. Cornelia was the daughter of the famous Scipio Africanus, the man who defeated Hannibal. Having survived her husband – one of Rome’s most powerful men who died when she was 40 years old - Cornelia became one of the most influential women of the Republic. Her villa near Naples became a refuge for Greek and Roman politicians and philosophers, fleeing the turmoil in Rome. In her final years, an aging Cornelia looks back on her life and that of her sons who tried, unsuccessfully, to save the Republic. Based on history, this moving and powerful account by a proud, saddened matrona vividly captures the struggles of the young revolutionaries and the dissolution of the Republic. The story that unfolds is doubly compelling for the parallels it suggests for superpower politics today.

The novel is set in the 1st century B.C.. At its zenith as the sole superpower in the Mediterranean, the Republic of Rome is gripped by an internal crisis, generated by greed, corruption and the disintegration of Senate leadership. The traditional rule of law has been replaced by the rule of greed. Financial scandals, corruption, conspiracy and betrayals characterize daily life. The Gracchi brothers try to save the Republic as a union of free men through a distribution of public land and an extensive legislative program. Tiberius is accused of tyranny; and, before his mother’s eyes, he is brutally clubbed to death on the Capitoline. Nine years later, his younger brother Gaius renews the cause and continues the fight. As Cornelia interferes with the struggle, she endangers his campaign, and ultimately, his life. Contemporary relevance With current discussions about the role of the US and the perceived decline of Western democracies, the story of the Gracchi has regained contemporary relevance. The geopolitical similarities between the Roman Republic and the United States today are striking. Like the Republic, the U.S. is the sole superpower, exposed to the venality and corrosive potential of its position. As the driving engines behind the globalization of world economy, U.S capital and U.S. companies are reminiscent of Roman businessmen who once conquered the Mediterranean world. Intriguing still, the Gracchi are often seen as the Roman Kennedy brothers, while the legislative program of the current President, Barack Obama, shows remarkable similarities to the legislative program of Gaius Gracchus.