any specialists know the reputation of Syme's _The Roman Revolution_? couldn't fall asleep last night and got about 20 pages in, it's maybe my favorite book about Rome very hard-nosed, political science/sociology flavored reevaluation of the end of the Republic

best read if you have latin _and_ greek because he quotes ancient sources without translation liberally i feel reading it that i am learning a great deal about the dramatis personae, their relationships, and the system in which they operated alike