A Great Republic Dies

Just finished Robert Harris' trilogy, Imperium, Conspirata, and Dictator.  It took Harris a dozen years to complete it.  The three books are a masterful portrait of Cicero but also a history of the death of the Roman republic.  The parallels to the current "state of the union" are easily inferred.  Harris implies them with sufficient subtlety to leave the reader to discover them.  He thereby adds credibility to the comparison.  I recommend these three books to anyone interested in how great republics die.