Truth be told, I was not very familiar with the Roman Camillus, that is, until I read Marc Hyden’s Marcus Furius Camillus: The Life of Rome’s Second Founder. A Roman historian by passion, Marc has dedicated his research to the lesser known characters of Roman history.

I have always enjoyed the writings of Marc Hyden. In this and all other publications, Marc exhibits the rare skill of storytelling. He is able to gather multiple sources, some of which may be contradictory, and in turn, create a single cohesive narrative. This talent builds a consistent picture and in our current case, we are able to truly understand the life of Camillus within his proper historical context.

Marc sheds light on the life of one of ancient Rome’s most important figures: Marcus Furius Camillus. Who was Camillus? Born in the second half of the 5th century BC and dying in the first half of the 4th century, having conquered numerous Roman enemies on the battlefield and attaining huge political success, he would rise to fame. Using the ancient sources which include Livy, Plutarch and more, Marc starts to put the pieces of a larger puzzle together. But how much of it was legend?

The first couple of chapters set the stage and provide context in the happenings of both the Roman Republic and the Camillus family, giving us insight into the influences driving Camillus and his future military and political careers, all of which he did for the glory of Rome. And even though he made mistakes along the way, he was the embodiment of Roman virtues.

The rest of the book chronologically details the life of Camillus, as it is told by the ancients and where it matters, confirmed by archaeology. The reader follows Camillus from the very beginnings of his political year as Census, through his military successes against Veii, his five dictatorships, six consular tribuneships and more. Camillus was a household name and after reading this, you begin to understand why.

Even after being exiled by his fellow Romans and when Rome needed him most to help drive back the Gauls, his selflessness and sense of duty to the place he continued to call home, helped save Rome.
As always, I was very impressed with Marc Hyden’s attention to detail. This is a very well researched publication and Marc has done a wonderful job transforming that research into something that is extremely easy to follow and understand. I enjoyed reading Marcus Furius Camillus: The Life of Rome’s Second Founder and highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Roman history.

Petros Koutoupis - Digging up the Past