-Thanks to sponsors Shokworks and Dr. Richard Johnson!
-Shout out to Ward Farnsworth, author of The Practical Stoic, Classical English Rhetoric, and more!

Find out more about The Classical Society: https://theclassicalsociety.com

We discuss:

• Why Epaminondas remains one of the most underrated commanders in Greek history, and how the loss of Plutarch's Life of Epaminondas has obscured his legacy
• The pivotal liberation of Thebes in 378 BC: how a small band of conspirators overthrew the Spartan-backed oligarchy and sparked a democratic revolution
• Epaminondas's strategic masterstroke at Leuctra — the deep oblique phalanx on the left — and how it shattered 200 years of Spartan military supremacy
• How freeing the Messenian Helots and building Megalopolis, Mantinea, and Messene permanently encircled and emasculated Sparta as a great power
• The fatal miscalculation of 335 BC: why Thebes revolted against Alexander on the basis of a false rumor, and how every potential ally abandoned them
• The recurring pattern of doomed civilizations — from Thebes to Carthage to Constantinople — that share delusions about allies, enemies, and their own decline
• What ancient history reveals about America's current strengths and vulnerabilities, from demographic pressures to the China threat

Subscribe to the Cost of Glory newsletter for detailed maps, images, and analysis of this pivotal moment in ancient history: https://costofglory.substack.com/

Get in touch at:
Website: https://costofglory.com
X: https://x.com/costofglory

Did Caesar want to be a King? A god? What was his vision for Rome? Was there a way he could have prevented his assassination? 

In this episode:

• Caesar returns to Rome 
• His Triumphs
• His Reforms 
• His Clemency 
• His Final War in Spain; the Batle of Munda
• The Octavius Question
• The Plots, Dreams, Portents, 
• The men he trusted; the men who betrayed him

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series.

And check out Warlords of History podcast here!

• Michael Gibson's origin story
• Meeting Peter Thiel and launching the Thiel Fellowship
• The importance of Aristotle
• Aristotle on "The Gigachad"
• Is intelligence enough?
• Failure of philosophy is present in Plato's work...not Aristotle's
• Alexander the Great's major influence
• Inspiration from the immortals
• Why victory is better than happiness
• Friends as a second self 

• Why Julius Caesar became a key patron of the Jews and how his support shaped Jewish life in the Roman Empire
• The pivotal moment when Antipater (Herod's father) saved Caesar in Egypt, and how it changed Jewish-Roman relations
• Caesar's assassination: the personal ambitions and fears that drove the conspirators beyond Republican ideology
• Herod the Great's extraordinary political survival skills: switching allegiances from Antony to Octavian and always landing on his feet
• The ruthless pragmatism of Herod's reign, including the execution of his own talented sons
• The historical plausibility of the "slaughter of the innocents" story and what it reveals about Herod's character

For Barry's previous appearance, check out episode 81.

Subscribe to the Cost of Glory newsletter for detailed maps, images, and analysis of this pivotal moment in ancient history: https://costofglory.substack.com/

Get in touch at:
Website: https://costofglory.com
X: https://x.com/costofglory

We explore:

• Why Stoicism continues to attract modern audiences
• Jonathan’s personal journey with Stoicism—and why he ultimately turned to other philosophies
• Nietzsche’s critique of Stoicism as a coping mechanism
• How Cato embodied Stoic principles (and where he may have fallen short)
• The tension between Stoic theory and Stoic practice in figures like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius

Subscribe to the Cost of Glory newsletter for detailed maps, images, and analysis of this pivotal moment in ancient history: https://costofglory.substack.com/

Get in touch at:
Website: https://costofglory.com
X: https://x.com/costofglory

In this episode:

• Rob's journey from foster care to Cambridge and lessons about status, envy, and human nature
• The psychology of envy and jealousy - from Julius Caesar's assassination to modern politics
• Difference between dominance and prestige in human behavior
• Why envy is one of the most powerful yet unacknowledged human emotions
• How these dynamics shape personal relationships and society
• Why men are drawn to history and the Great Man theory
• What academia misses in its focus on present-day issues
• Luxury beliefs, status games, and why successful people downplay hard work
• Attention spans in the digital age and effects of TikTok and short-form media
• Why biographies and long-form stories matter for character development
• How reading about great and troubled historical figures helped Rob navigate teenage hardship
• Insights on history, psychology, and the hidden forces shaping society

Subscribe to the Cost of Glory newsletter for detailed maps, images, and analysis of this pivotal moment in ancient history: https://costofglory.substack.com/

Get in touch at:
Website: https://costofglory.com
X: https://x.com/costofglory

• Pompey's assassination in Egypt and Caesar's unexpected grief over his former ally's death
• Cleopatra's legendary entrance in a bed-sack and her political seduction of Caesar
• The brutal urban warfare trapping Caesar in the palace quarter for six months
• The burning of the Great Library during the harbor battles—400,000 volumes lost
• Caesar's desperate swim to safety while clutching precious documents above water
• Young King Ptolemy XIII's tragic fate and the consolidation of Cleopatra's power
• The lightning campaign against Pharnaces in Asia—"Veni, Vidi, Vici"
• The veterans' mutiny outside Rome and Caesar's masterful psychological manipulation
• Cato's final stand in Africa and his defiant suicide
• The decisive Battle of Thapsus and the strategic genius of fighting on narrow ground
• The massacre of surrendering enemies as Caesar's clemency finally fails

As Caesar recounts, the Republic's future dictator came very close to destruction in the palaces and canals of Alexandria. While Rome descended into chaos under Mark Antony's drunken rule, Caesar fought for his life against war elephants and Numidian cavalry, transformed by his liaison with the living goddess Cleopatra. The man who emerged from Egypt was no longer merely a Roman general, he had consorted with divinity and fathered the son of a pharaoh. 

As Cicero wrote in frantic letters to Atticus: "Where am I to look for solace?" The final campaign that would cement Caesar's supremacy began with the most dangerous gamble of his career.

Works Cited: (Affiliate links - support the show!)

• Gareth Sampson, The Battle of Pharsalus 
• Matthias Gelzer, Caesar: Politician and Statesman 
• James Froude, Caesar: A Sketch, 
• Raaflaub (ed.) Landmark Caesar

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series!

• Caesar's second dictatorship and revolutionary reforms in Rome—citizenship grants, debt relief, and restoration of the proscribed
• The dangerous winter crossing of the Adriatic, splitting his forces against Pompey's naval supremacy
• The siege of Dyrrhachium and Caesar's ambitious 17-mile circumvallation to trap Pompey
• The catastrophic defeat that nearly ended Caesar's career—his worst loss yet
• The brilliant strategic retreat showcasing the iron discipline of Caesar's veterans
• Young Curio's tragic death in Africa, highlighting Caesar's reliance on inexperienced lieutenants
• The fateful convergence at Pharsalus as both armies march into Thessaly
• The decisive moment when Caesar's hidden fourth line shattered Pompey's cavalry charge
• The fall of the Roman Republic as 15,000 Romans died by Roman swords

Caesar's own account reveals a commander pushed to his absolute limits, saved only by the loyalty of soldiers who would "rather eat tree bark than let Pompey slip through our fingers." The battle that destroyed the old Republic hinged on a single morning's decisions, proving that world history sometimes turns on the choices of one man in command. As Caesar stood over the carnage at Pharsalus, he reportedly said: "This is what they chose. After so many deeds in the service of my country, they would have me, Julius Caesar, condemned as a criminal, unless I sought the protection of an army."

Works Cited: Gareth Sampson, The Battle of Pharsalus Matthias Gelzer, Caesar: Politician and Statesman James Froude, Caesar: A Sketch, Raaflaub (ed.) Landmark Caesar. (Affiliate links - support the show!)

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series!

• The political crisis of 51-50 BCE as Caesar's enemies demand his recall from Gaul
• Curio's shocking defection and proposal that both Caesar and Pompey lay down arms
• The breakdown of negotiations and Pompey's fateful acceptance of command against Caesar
• His lightning campaign through Italy as cities surrender without a fight
• The siege of Corfinium and Caesar's revolutionary policy of clemency toward enemies
• Pompey's strategic retreat to Greece, abandoning Rome and splitting the Republic
• The brilliant Spanish campaign at Ilerda, showcasing Caesar's military genius
• The brutal siege of Marseille and Caesar's appointment as Dictator

Caesar's own account reveals a man driven not by revolutionary ambition, but by wounded dignity and the desperate need to defend his honor against enemies who would destroy him through partisan prosecution.

As Lucan wrote of this cosmic struggle: "Of civil wars and worse waged on Thessalian fields / Of crime made law we sing, how a powerful people / Turned on its own heart its conquering hand."

The war that would transform Rome forever begins not with grand ideology, but with Caesar's refusal to submit to humiliation—and his enemies' fatal miscalculation of the man they sought to crush.

Works Cited

Kurt Raaflaub (ed.), The Landmark Julius Caesar
Matthias Gelzer, Caesar: Politician and Statesman
Erich Gruen, Last Generation of the Roman Republic

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series!

• Caesar forms the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus, uniting Rome's most powerful men
• His revolutionary consulship of 59 BCE bypasses Senate opposition through popular assemblies
• The brilliant staging of the Gallic conquest, using allies and tribal conflicts as pretexts for expansion
• His management of Rome through letters while commanding armies across Gaul
• The death of Julia and Crassus fractures the political alliance holding Rome together
• Vercingetorix's rebellion culminates in the decisive siege of Alesia, securing Gaul for Rome

Caesar transforms both Rome and Gaul forever through calculated strategy, personal magnetism, and relentless ambition—all while his enemies in Rome, led by Cato, plot his downfall and convince Pompey to turn against him, setting the stage for civil war.

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series!

In this episode:

• Caesar's formative years in the shadow of Sulla's dictatorship
• His early political boldness and refusal to divorce Cornelia
• The capture by pirates and his merciless revenge
• Caesar's rise through the ranks of Roman politics as Quaestor and Aedile
• The Catilinarian conspiracy and Caesar's narrow escape from execution
• His famous ambition: "I would rather be first man here than second at Rome"

A tale of charm, audacity, and calculated risk as a young aristocrat from a modest branch of an ancient family navigates the treacherous waters of late Republican politics. Caesar—stylish, charismatic, deeply in debt, and dangerously ambitious—sets himself against the legacy of Sulla while methodically building a coalition that would eventually transform Rome forever.

Thanks to our sponsor, Ai Labs. Visit austinlab.ai to chat with a team member about custom Agentic AI power solutions for your SMB to Enterprise level business.  Powered by Shokworks.

Also Thanks Dr. Richard Johnson, the Crassus to this Caesar series!

In this episode:

• The 'virtual unwrapping' of the Vesuvius scrolls
• Unearthing an entire new Renaissance
• Brent's encounters with Silicon Valley and some DOGE members
• The long-term future of this project

Join me at the Natal Conference, March 28-29, 2025, in Austin, TX!  https://natalism.org

Find Kevin on X at https://x.com/extradeadjcb

Intro Story featuring BlackJack Mulligan.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackjack_Mulligan)

In this episode:
Mastering Fear in Combat

A lawyer's journey to becoming an artist and an author
The ambush begins: "The tree line stood up"
Clear headed leadership of Lieutenant Murray
The heroic Father Capodanno
Larry Peters' Sacrifice to Save His Squad

The powerful psychology of accepting death in combat
"With the Old Breed" war classic by Eugene Sledge

Man of Mystery Robert Benoist

Some Modern Sources:

Rome's Last Citizen, by Goodman and Soni
Uncommon Wrath, by Osgood
Cato the Younger by Drogula

• The burning of the Senate house after Clodius' murder in 52 BCE
• Cato's failed bid for consulship and his hardline stance against Caesar
• The outbreak of civil war and Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon
• Cato's final days and dramatic suicide

A tale of principle and paradox, Cato's resolute stand for Republican values helped precipitate its own downfall. His death at Utica - dramatic, philosophical, and on his own terms - marked not just the end of his life but symbolically, the end of the Roman Republic itself.

Check out Becoming the Main Character.  Here's a link to the Moby Dick episode.

• Cato confronts the rising power of Caesar and Pompey in the Senate
• The scandalous note from Servilia that backfired on Cato
• His principled handling of the Cyprus annexation mission
• The formation of the First Triumvirate and Cato's resistance
• His memorable year as Praetor and battles against corruption
• The death of Julia and Crassus sets the stage for civil war

A story of political intrigue, street violence, and the struggle to preserve Republican institutions against the rising tide of populist strongmen. At the heart of it all stands Cato, refusing to compromise his principles even as Rome's political system crumbles around him.

In this episode:

• Cato's earliest years and the murder of his uncle
• His first encounter with Sulla as a precocious youth
• Cato establishes his reputation: in military service and as Quaestor
• A Principled stand against Julius Caesar

On this centennial episode, I'd like to thank all of my listeners and patrons. On to the next hundred!

Also featuring: Diogenes the Cynic, Aeschylus the Poet, Brasidas the Spartan Commander. 

Also featuring: ZEAL

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• Final skirmishes with the Bituriges and the Carnutes
• Siege of a hill-fort, and Caesar takes arms (literally)
• Conclusion of a bloody chapter, and some takeaways

Cost of Glory is an Infinite Media production — and big thanks to Dr. Richard Johnson of the great city of New York for sponsoring this episode and many others in this series!

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• Slaughterings begin at Cenabum
• The Incendiary Tactics of Vercingetorix
• Rebellion amongst Roman Allies
• Caesar loses Gregovia…
• …but clinches victory at Alesia
• Vercingetorix falls, sealing the fate of Gaul

Thanks to our sponsor Shokworks ! - Shokworks provides consulting and development to offer ROI - positive, enterprise-grade custom software solutions for companies of any size.  To find out more, reach out to sales@shokworks.io or visit https://shokworks.io. 

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• The hunt for the crafty Ambiorix and his renegade tribe
• The exploits of Titus Labienus and of Publius Sextius Baculus
• Hints of Civil War…
• (and Druids and ancient cows)

Thanks to Ancient Language Institute and long time CoG fan Dr. Richard Johnson for sponsoring this episode!

P.S.—If you’re interested in sponsoring an episode, feel free to get in touch, any support is highly appreciated as it helps me create more high quality work.

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• Caesar’s return to Britain
• A deep personal loss
• The worst disaster of the entire Gallic Campaign

Subscribe to the CoG Substack to get high quality transcripts w/ MAPS AND IMAGES. Here's the transcript for this episode.

P.S.—If you’re interested in sponsoring an episode, feel free to get in touch, any support is highly appreciated as it helps me create more high quality work.

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• The Suebi and their strange ways
• Caesar builds a bridge
• Caesar’s first landing in Britain

Subscribe to the CoG Substack to get high quality transcripts w/ MAPS AND IMAGES.
Here's the transcript for this episode.

(Ep. cover art by Peter Jackson)

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:

• Caesar faces the sea-faring people of Veneti
• Caesar plays political games
• Ship technology, and military strategy

Subscribe to the CoG Substack to get high quality transcripts w/ MAPS AND IMAGES. Transcript for this episode here.

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

In this episode:
-A conspiracy of the powerful, warlike Belgae (Belgian tribes).
-The battle of the Sabis, against the Nervii
-Caesar's terrifying siege tactics

Subscribe to the CoG Substack to get high quality transcripts w/ MAPS AND IMAGES.  Here's the one for this episode.

This episode is sponsored by our very generous sponsor, Dr. Richard Johnson, an avid Cost of Glory listener. Thanks Richard!

Caesar entered Gaul as a mere politician. He returned 9 years later as a conqueror - and an enemy of the state. He tells how it all happened with his own pen.

I’m having a blast revisiting this classic, and I think you will too.

Subscribe to the CoG Substack to get high quality transcripts w/ MAPS AND IMAGES - here's the one for this episode.

This episode is sponsored by Ancient Language Institute. If you want to be like Caesar, you should learn an ancient language (Caesar knew Greek in addition to his native Latin). The Ancient Language Institute will help you do just that. Registration is now open (till August 10th) for their Fall term where you can take advanced classes in Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Old English.

In this episode:

• What is Rousseau’s impact on the world?
• Johnathan’s Journey towards the Great Thinkers and their Books
• The Duality of Heroism & Rousseau as Hero Worshipper
• Rousseau’s balanced treatments of Nietzsche’s Ideas
• Why do we need Heroes?
• The Difference between Desire for Power and Execution of that Power
• Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs and their Selfish Desire for Glory
• The Hero vs. The Citizen
• The Degeneration of Modern Languages
• The Core of Nietzsche’s Interest in the Great Heroes of the Past
• Tech Startups are Non-Egalitarian!
• Rome Against Judea

Resources mentioned:

• Johnathan’s Interview and Lecture Series: Great Books of the West
• Rousseau’s Discourse on This Question: Which Is the Virtue Most Necessary for a Hero and Which Are the Heroes Who Lacked This Virtue?
• Johnathan’s Newsletter

Subscribe to our Substack for transcripts and updates!
Show transcript here

In this episode:

• The Mirrors for Princes tradition
• Obstacles as a Ladder to Greatness
• The Potency of Xenophon’s ‘Education of Cyrus’
• The Leadership Qualities of Cyrus
• The Complex Enduring Power of Cicero’s ‘On Duties’
• Cultivating Greatness of Soul and the Magnitudo Animi of Churchill
• Machiavelli as Practitioner, not Political Philosopher
• Where should an 18-year old dedicate himself to?
• Washington’s Farewell Address as a Beautiful Political Text

Books Mentioned:

• Gateway to Statesmanship—Selections from Xenophon to Churchill by Johnny Burtka
• Education of Cyrus by Xenophon
• On Duties by Cicero
• The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni
• Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts

For the episode transcript, be sure to subscribe to my Substack!

Thanks to our sponsor Intercollegiate Studies Institute! Check out their programs on supporting quality thought and intellectual life in and after your college years.

In this episode:

• The Genesis of the Vesuvius Challenge
• Early Attempts to Open the Scrolls
• Using a Particle Accelerator to Scan the Scrolls!
• Partnering with Daniel Gross and Brent Seales
• Nat’s Childhood experience with Open-source Communities
• How to Design Prize Incentives for a Complex Contest
• Doing Crazy, Strange and Risky Projects
• A Possible Resurgence of Epicureanism?

For the episode transcript, be sure to subscribe to my Substack!

In this episode:

• How founding a university is like running a diner
• The flourishing of American universities in the 19th century
• How old philosophers were men of action
• The Intellectual Foundations Program at UATX
• How The Brothers Karamazov explains our current moment
• Pursuing Greatness by finding your North Star
• Plutarch on self-reflection
• Why Heroes and Truth-tellers are needed when forming communities
• Analyzing the opening scene from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
  
  

Sources and Further Reading for the Life of Pompey:  

John Leach, Pompey the Great: https://amzn.to/3UxOsW8 

Robin Seager, Pompey: a Political Biography: https://amzn.to/3UPpeUg 

Gareth Sampson: Rome's Great Eastern War, Lucullus, Pompey and the Conquest of the East: https://amzn.to/3wrVGD1 

-The Battle of Dyrrhachium: https://amzn.to/3wp4Wro 

-The Battle of Pharsalus: https://amzn.to/3ULWJHk 

-"Rome in Crisis" Penguin edition of Plutarch: 

https://amzn.to/4b2WgGv  (feat. Lives of Sertorius, Lucullus, and Cato the Younger) 

 -"Fall of the Roman Republic" Penguin Plutarch Volume: https://amzn.to/4a7vpYw  (feat. Lives of Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, and Cicero) 

People:

(M. Tullius) Cicero 

(Titus Pomponius) Atticus 

C. Julius Caesar 

Cn. Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) 

Julia, Caesar's Daughter 

(M. Licinius) Crassus 

(L. Domitius) Ahenobarbus - Optimate Stalwart (Cos. 54) 

(M. Porcius) Cato "The Younger" - the Stoic 

(M. Calpurnius) Bibulus - Cos. 59 

P. Clodius Pulcher - Populist Thug lord 

(T. Annius) Milo - Pompey's Thug lord 

M. Caelius (Rufus) - Cicero's young political analyst friend 

Publius Licinius Crassus - The Richest Man's Son 

Cornelia - Pompey's final wife 

(Q. Caecilius) Metellus (Pius) Scipio - Pompey's new Father in Law 

Aulus Gabinius - Pompey's friend, exiled after Egyptian expedition 

Ptolemy XII Auletes ("The Piper") - exiled king of Egypt 

(C. Scribonius) Curio - Optimate turncoat, Caesar's tribune 

M. Antonius (Mark Antony) 

M. Claudius Marcellus - Optimate stalwart (Cos 51) 

C. Claudius Marcellus - Optimate stalwart (Cos. 50, cousin of Cos. 51) 

M. Favonius - "Stamp, Pompey!" Senator 

Themistocles - Athenian statesman 

Camillus - 4th c. BC Roman statesman 

T. Labienus - Caesar's general, deserted to Pompey 

(M. Junius) Brutus - Future Conspirator 

Theophanes of Mytilene - the Historian 

Crassianus - Caesar's centurion at Pharsalus 

Cratippus of Pergamon - Philosopher at Mytilene 

Ptolemy XIII - Boy king of Egypt 

Potheinus - Ptolemy XIII's Eunuch 

Achillas - Ptolemy XIII's General 

Theodotus - Ptolemy XIII's Rhetoric Teacher 

Philippus - Pompey's freedman   

Places: 

The Roman Forum 

The Tiber River 

Parthia 

Carrhae (Battle of) - in Mesopotamia (Parthian Empire) 

Gaul (Mod. France) 

Pompey's Theater ("Temple of Venus") 

Alesia (Battle of) - in Gaul 

Naples (Neapolis) 

Ravenna (N. Italy, "Cisalpine Gaul" then) 

Rubicon River 

Ariminum (Rimini) 

Corfinium - Italian town in the Apennines 

Brundisium - Eastern Port in Italy 

Dyrrhachium (Mod. Durrës) - in Epirus (Rom. province of Macedonia) 

Thessaly - large plain in central Greece 

Pharsalus - town in Thessaly 

Tempē - Valley in Thessaly 

Mytilene - City on island of Lesbos 

People 

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, "Pompey the Great"
Sulla Felix, the Dictator 

Pompey 

The Pirates 

Posidonius the Stoic 

Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus 

Lucius Licinius Lucullus 

Cicero, the Orator 

Manilius, the Tribune 

Julius Caesar 

Theophanes of Mytilene 

Queen Monime 

Tigranes the Great of Armenia 

Tigranes the Younger, Prince 

Albani(ans) of Caucasus 

Iberians of Caucasus 

King Phraates of Parthia 

The Parthians 

Antiochus XIII, Seleucid King 

Aretas, King of the Nabatean Arabs 

Aristobulus of Judea 

Hyrcanus of Judea 

Aulus Gabinius 

Josephus (Jewish Historian) 

Marcus Licinius Crassus, Richest Man in Rome 

Marcus Porcius Cato (the Younger) 

Metellus Celer 

Metellus Nepos 

M. Calpurnius Bibulus 

Publius Clodius Pulcher, Slum Lord 

Milo 

Julia 

Domitius Ahenobarbus 

Places 

Sicily 

Sardinia 

Corsica 

North Africa 

Rhodes 

Cilicia 

Cappadocia 

Galatia 

Armenia 

Artaxata  

Mt Ararat 

Sophene 

Syria 

Bithynia 

Pontus 

Caucasus 

Colchis 

Albania (Caucasus) 

Iberia (Caucasus) 

Bosphoran Kingdom (Crimea / Azov) 

Damascus 

Petra (Arabia) 

Judea 

Jordan River Valley 

Jericho 

Jerusalem 

Campus Martius 

Alban Hills / Lake / Villa 

Luca 

Image: The Triumph of Pompey, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, 1765. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thanks to our Sponsor, Intercollegiate Studies Institute! www.isi.org

Key Names: 
Agesilaus of Sparta 
Julius Caesar 
Alexander the Great 
Pompeius STRABO (father) 
Social War 
Gaius MARIUS (populist consul) 
Lucius Cornelius CINNA (populist consul) 
Lucius Cornelius SULLA (optimate consul & dictator) 
MITHRIDATES - King of Pontus 
Gnaeus Papirius CARBO (populist consul)  
Antistia (first wife) 
Marcus Licinius CRASSUS 
Marcus Aemilus LEPIDUS (rebel consul) 
Marcus Junius BRUTUS (Father of the conspirator) 
Quintus Lutatius CATULUS (optimate stalwart) 
Quintus Sertorius
Quintus Caecilus METELLUS PIUS (P's fellow general in Spain)
Marcus PERPERNA (populist ally of Sertorius)
Spartacus
Marcus Terentius VARRO (the scholar)
Lucius Licinius LUCULLUS (rival general)
Quintus HORTENSIUS Hortalus (optimate stalwart) 
Aulus GABINIUS (P's tribune buddy)
The Pirates
"Quirites" (the Roman citizenry) 

Key Places: 
Rome 
Picenum 
Asculum 
North Africa
Mutina
Spain 
Lauron
Sucro River
Ostia (Rome's port)

[Jeremy Giffon on Invest like the Best Podcast, ep. 336: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Vdv5i250hF6EfzOTML9RE?si=98bacff34a7244e9]

...Plutarch offers some advice on how to choose your friends, and how to be a good one.  Examples include Alexander the Great, Cato, Carneades, Plato, Dionysius the Tyrant, and more.

(Here depicted: the monument of Philopappus in Athens, to whom Plutarch's essay is dedicated)

In this episode: 

-How Spartacus' Slave revolt almost failed in its early stages
-Overcoming short term thinking as a leader
-Spartacus' influence on modern leaders

W/ help from Dana Gioia, California Poet Laureate, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts 2003-2009.

Get his new book Sentences from Seneca, here!

Some Sources:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_108
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Sallust/Bellum_Jugurthinum/3*.html
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Sayings_of_Spartans*/main.html
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Sayings_of_Spartans*/Agesilaus.html
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Agesilaus*.html
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lysander*.html
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sertorius*.html

Check out the Cost of Glory Men's Leadership Retreat: costofglory.com/retreat !

Spencer on Twitter: @spencerklavan
In this conversation, we discuss:
-Spencer & Alex's common ground training as classicists
-How one gets into these ancient books in the first place
-The theory of "Art for Art's Sake": Why it's interesting, plausible, and wrong.
-Epic heroes singing Epic Poetry
-Great books for busy dads

And much, much more...

Cost of Glory Men's Retreat 2024 application open! - costofglory.com/retreat 

Thanks to our sponsor Ancient Language Institute - Tutoring now available:

Latin: https://ancientlanguage.com/latin-tutorials/ 

Ancient Greek: https://ancientlanguage.com/ancient-greek-tutorials/ 

Cicero's Pro Archia

https://www.attalus.org/cicero/archias.html 

People in this episode: 
Mithridates, King of Pontus 
Tigranes, King of Armenia 
Clodius, the Brother in Law 
Pompey 
Clodia, the Bad Wife
Servilia, also a Bad Wife 
Cato the Younger 
Cicero 
Caesar 

Places in this episode:
Tigranokert 
Artaxata 
Nisibis 
Pontus 
Armenia 
Rome 

In this episode:
-The power of concentration
-Nothing is more important than sleep
-Bold Barbarian Queens
-The value of bad news
-Battle of Tigranocerta

Book Rec - Gareth Sampson, Rome's Great Eastern War

Thanks to our sponsor Ancient Language Institute - Tutoring now available:

Latin: https://ancientlanguage.com/latin-tutorials/ 

Ancient Greek: https://ancientlanguage.com/ancient-greek-tutorials/ 

In this episode: 
-How to get noticed early on in your career 
-Seducing your way to warlord status 
-Taking the time to do the math 

Reach out to alex@ancientlifecoach.com for more info on the 2024 Cost of Glory Men's retreat in Rome!

Link to a translation of Plutarch's text : https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_vitioso_pudore*.html

ANNOUNCEMENT! Cost of Glory Men's Leadership Retreat in Rome - July 2024.  Reach out to alex@ancientlifecoach.com if you're interested.

Buy the books:

-Penguin edition of Plutarch including Life of Crassus
-Sallust's war with Catiline
-Tom Holland's Rubicon
-Barry Strauss' book on Spartacus
-Edward Watts's Mortal Republic
-Gareth Sampson, "The Defeat of Rome" on Parthian Expedition
-Peter Stothard, The First Tycoon 

See also Gruen, Last Generation of the Roman Republic; Ward, Crassus and the Late Roman Republic; Rawson, Crassorum Funera (in journal Latomus).

Pictured: Roman Soldier next to a Han noble, statue group in Liqian, China.  Photo: Natalie Behring

Thanks to our Sponsor!

Ancient Language Institute:
https://ancientlanguage.com

Key Figures
Marcus Licinius Crassus - The Protagonist 
Gaius Pompeius Magnus - Pompey, the Rival 
Lucius Licinius Crassus - the Orator 
Publius Licinius Crassus - Crassus' father 
Publius Licinius Crassus - Crassus' Son 
Publius Clodius Pulcher - The Playboy Mobster 
Titus Annius Milo - Anti-Mobster 
Marcus Tullius Cicero - The Mentor 
Gaius Julius Caesar - The Triumvir 
Marcus Porcius Cato - The Nemesis 
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus - The Challenger 
Ptolemy XII "Auletes" - The Piper King 
Aulus Gabinius - Pompey's Crony in Syria 
Trebonius - Willing Tribune 
Ateius (Capito) - Unwilling Tribune 
Gaius Cassius Longinus - The Assassin 
Octavius - The Junior Officer 
Orodes II - King of Parthia 
Mithradates IV - Parthian Usurper 
Surena - the Parthian Commander at Carrhae 

Key Places 
Rome 
Ravenna - City in Northern Italy (cisalpine Gaul) 
Luca - City in Northern Italy (Etruria/Cisalpine Gaul) 
Curia - The Senate house 
Syria - Roman Province 
Mesopotamia 
Iraq 
Seleucia 
Babylon 
Ctesiphon 
Carrhae 
Euphrates River 

Italian quote at the beginning: Dante, Purgatorio XX

In this episode:
-How to defuse the resentment of opponents you've beaten
-The power of debt at Rome
-Fighting for the hardest prizes, but playing it like a game
-Cicero's mortgage and homeowner headaches

Thanks to Sponsors:

Ancient Language Institute:
https://ancientlanguage.com

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Copythat, learn copywriting from the classics:
https://copythat.com/
For a discount (and to let them know I sent you), use this code: glory

In this episode:
-The Real Spartacus
-How to make a fortune, ancient style
-Why Crassus was a better spender than modern billionaires

Thanks to our Sponsor!
Copythat, learn copywriting from the classics:
https://copythat.com/
For a discount (and to let them know I sent you), use this code: glory

Some Sources:
Barry Strauss, The Spartacus War
Plutarch, Life of Crassus

-Phocion, 
-Agathocles, 
-Pericles, 
-Sulla, 
-Themistocles, 

Featuring speeches by Julius Caesar and Cato the Younger.

Rumors were that Crassus and Caesar were involved... 

Part I: Highlights from Sallust's War with Catiline.

ANNOUNCING - New Megaseries:  Visions of Caesar.  I am beginning an arc on the biographies of all the most prominent of the era of Caesar, including The Man himself.  Crassus, Pompey, Cato, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Antony.

Highlights and power quotes from Seneca's "The Madness of Hercules":  
in a new, brilliant, poetic translation by one of America's great poets, Dana Gioia

Get a copy here: https://amzn.to/42TEUqJ
(and support the show thereby)

More about Dana Gioia and his work here:
https://danagioia.com/

In this episode:

-Sailing to Byzantium 
-How to Tame a Mob 
-Spartan Indecision
-Drinking more wine from big horns with dangerous men 
-Raiding with Thracians 
-Fire attack at night 
-How to lose a good friend for good 
-What all gyms should aspire to be like 
-The importance of keeping your horse 

In this episode:
-Drinking parties, War Dances 
-Why every modern gentleman should sacrifice to the gods
-How to gracefully decline a promotion 
-Hercules in Hell
-On keeping the Fellowship together
-Isolated sheep rustling incident threatens to start an international war 
-The value of a cool head 

-Fending off chaos in all its forms
-Dealing with a power vacuum
-The Source of the Golden Fleece
-The BEST way to spend Sacred Funds (Hint: Real Estate)
-Artemis and her 7 wonders Temple at Ephesus (cult statue here)
-Sampling Local Delicacies (as always) 
-Pale white children as wide as they are tall
-Dreams of city founding
-The metaphysical basis of international law
-Xenophon, hubris, and soldier punching

Don't forget to follow @costofglory on Twitter for updates and additional takeaways

Also - Leave a review if you like this!

Also, further reading:

Plutarch, "On Sparta":
https://amzn.to/3Ni3RaO

-Cornelius Nepos, Lives of the Great Commanders (trans. Quintus Curtius):
https://amzn.to/3AtrqpO

-Xenophon, Hellenica:
https://amzn.to/41YXmOx

-Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire (historical novel):
https://amzn.to/3V0gCsH

-Paul Cartledge, Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta:
https://amzn.to/3L3Wj9d

-John Buckler, Theban Hegemony:
https://amzn.to/3Lonc98

-James Romm, The Sacred Band:
https://amzn.to/3L1WoKA

-Charles Hamilton, Agesilaus and the Failure of Spartan Hegemony: https://amzn.to/3oDn38P

How to Take Over the World Podcast: Philip of Macedon

Map

Key People: 
Agesilaus, king of Sparta 
Demaratus, king of Sparta 
Artaxerxes, King of Persia 
Epaminondas, Theban Statesman 
Pelopidas, Theban Statesman 
Antalcidas 
Xenophon, the Philosopher-warrior 
Gryllus, son of Xenophon 
Nectanebo, Pharaoh of Egypt 
Menelaus, king of Sparta 

Key Places: 
Sparta 
Thebes 
Leuctra 
Athens 
Corinth 
Arcadia 
Mantinea 
Tegea 
Elis 
Achaea 
Mt. Taygetos 
Eurotas River 
Messenia 
Kalamata 
Messene 
Mt. Ithome 
Pamisos River / Valley 
Megalopolis 
Olympia 
Egypt 

In this episode:
-Isolating your enemies
-Working through intermediaries
-The power of culture
-Democracy vs. Oligarchy
-personal integrity vs state integrity

Thanks to our Sponsor, Ancient Language Institute: 
https://ancientlanguage.com/register-greek/

Here's a nice map of ancient Greece 

Places: 

Thebes 

Corinth 

Athens (in Attica) 

Argos 

Sparta/Lacedaemon (in Laconia) 
Acrocorinth

Peloponnese 

Cadmeia 

Olynthus 

Piraeus (Port city of Athens) 
Elis
Arcadia

Mantinea 

Olympia 

Thespiae (in Boeotia) 

Plataea (in Boeotia) 

Leuctra (in Boeotia) 

People:  

Agesilaus 

Xenophon 

Antalcidas (of Sparta) 

Cynisca (of Sparta) 

Leontiades (of Thebes) 

Ismenias (of Thebes) 

Phoebidas - Spartan Commander 

Agesipolis - King of Sparta 

Pelopidas (of Thebes) 

Epaminondas (of Thebes) 

Sphodrias - Spartan Commander 

Cleonymus - son of Sphodrias 

Archidamus - son of Agesilaus 

Cleombrotus - King of Sparta 

Sponsors:
-The Excellent How To Take Over The World Podcast; 
-Ancient Life Coach Rome Retreat 

In This Episode:
-Inspiration from a rough childhood
-The Spartan youth training system
-The Spartan art of consensus building
-The Iliadic vision of a Panhellenic King
-Getting enemies to finance your war effort
-War and Friendship among Greeks and Persians

People:
Agesilaus
Pompey
King Archidamus (of Sparta)
King Agis (of Sparta)
King Leonidas (of Sparta)
Lysander
Alcibiades
Prince Cyrus
King Artaxerxes (of Persia)
Xenophon of Athens
Tissaphernes

Places:
Sparta 
Peloponnese (Peloponnesus)
Athens 
Mt Taygetos
Mantineia
Thebes (in Boeotia)
Aulis (in Boeotia)
Boeotia
Asia (Minor) 
Ephesus 
Lydia 
Sardis 
Phrygia 
Corinth
Argos
Haliartus (in Boeotia)
Hellespont
Thermopylae 
Orchomenus (in Boeotia)
Cnidus (Knidos)
Coroneia (in Boeotia)

In this Episode:
-How to cross a guarded river
-The mindset of people who push through massive stress and pain
-Distinguishing yourself as middle management
-The Sea, The Sea
-Lawrence of Arabia, Xenophon admirer
-Psychedelic Bees

Announcing a new partnership!
Alex gets interviewed by Ben Wilson of How to Take Over the World
In this episode: 

-What's in store
-What Alex is listening to
-Why Cost of Glory exists
-Why biography is energizing
-What the greats, ancient and modern, have in common
-The true meaning of Zeal

In this Episode:
-The power of public speaking
-What Socrates told Xenophon before he left
-Xenophon's inner monologue in GREEK
-Motivating your managers
-Finding resources you didn't know you had
-Lost cities of Mesopotamia
-Goat and donkey balloons
-The Original Kurds?

Amazon links (Click, Buy -> Support this show!)

David Allen, Getting Things Done
https://amzn.to/3kIRpoH

Jocko's Extreme Ownership:
https://amzn.to/3SCmnLX

Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Old Penguin Anabasis:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Loeb Edition:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Key Characters
Xenophon
Proxenus (+)
Cheirisophus
Mithradates
Some Hater from Boeotia
A Rhodian Balloon smith
The Carduchians

Places: 
Nimrud
Nineveh (Mosul)
Tigris River

-Deciding who won a battle
-How to deceive the wise
-The noble and the base among Greek leaders
-The hazards of date palm wine

Amazon links (Click, Buy -> Support this show!)

Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Old Penguin Anabasis:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Loeb Edition:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Characters
Cyrus The Younger (RIP)
Ariaeus
Phalinus of Persia
Ctesias of Cnidos
Clearchus of Laconia/Sparta
Xenophon of Athens
Proxenus of Thebes/Boeotia
Menon of Thessaly
Tissaphernes
Ataxerxes, King of Kings

Amazon links (Click, Buy -> Support this show!)

Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Old Penguin Anabasis:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Loeb Edition:
https://amzn.to/3HLGAeg

Key People:
Prince Cyrus
King Artaxerxes
Tissaphernes (satrap)
Epyaxa (Queen of Cilicia)
Xenophon
Clearchus
Tissaphernes
sacred fish
bustards
wild asses
ostriches

Key Places
Cilicia
Tarsus
Cunaxa (Battle of)
Euphrates River
Phrygia
Lydia
Thrace

Shout out to sources and inspirations: 

Ancient: 

Plutarch, life of Sulla

Plutarch, life of Marius

Plutarch, life of Sertorius

Plutarch, life of Pompey

Plutarch, life of Lucullus

Appian, Civil Wars

Appian, Mithridatic Wars

Cicero, pro Sexto Roscio

Sallust, Jugurtha

Secondary:

Arthur Keaveney (R.I.P.), Sulla, The Last Republican

Theodor Mommsen, History of Rome

Gareth Sampson, Collapse of Rome

Catherine Steel, The End of the Roman Republic; “Sulla the Orator”

Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King

In this episode, Sulla’s most famous, or rather infamous, acts as a leader.  

—People—

Sulla

Plutarch

King Pyrrhus 

Cinna

Metellus Pius

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Carbo

Gaius Norbanus

Lucius Cornelius Scipio (Asiaticus)

Sertorius

Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey)

Gaius Marius (Jr.)

Damasippus

The Samnites

Telesinus

The Lucanians

Lucius Ofella

Sextus Roscius (Amerinus)

Cicero

Catiline

Julius Caesar

The Gracchi

Metella

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)

—Places—

Apollonia

Epirus

Adriatic Sea

Italy

Dalmatia

Campania

Mt Tifata

Capua

Capitoline Hill

Picenum

Praeneste (Palestrina)

Rome

Colline Gate

Antemnae Field of Mars (Campus Martius)

Temple of Bellona

Circus Flaminius

Ameria

Cumae

In this episode: Sulla goes to Greece, to war against Rome’s arch rival Mithridates of Pontus.  Can he hold out against a vastly superior enemy army?  And can he weather the escalating crisis in Rome?

--People--

Sulla, The Hero

Plutarch, The Narrator

Marius, The Scoundrel

Sulpicius, The Henchman

Cinna, The Politician

Mithridates, The King 

Aristion, the Tyrant

Archelaus, The Foe

Flaccus, The Replacement

Fimbria, The Backstabber

Apellicon, The Book Collector

Andronicus, The Editor

--Places--

Rome

Athens

Piraeus

Epidaurus

Olympia

Delphi

Boeotia

Mt Parnassus

Chaeronea

Thebes

Livadeia

Orchomenus

Lake Kopais

Asia (Minor)

The Dardanelles

Dardanus

Euboea

Halae

--Divinities--

Ma

Bellona

Minerva

Venus

Aphrodite

Apollo

Asclepius

Trophonius

Was Sulla one who broke the Republic?

In this episode learn the arts of:

-Wisdom

-charm

-gift giving

-deception

People:

Gaius Marius

Jugurtha

King Bocchus

The Cimbri and Teutones

Quintus Lutatius Catulus

The Metelli

Aemilius Scaurus

Mithridates of Pontus

The Parthians

Quintus Pompeius Rufus

Manius Aquillius (cameo)

Publius Sulpicius Rufus

Places:

Rome

Numidia

Gaul

Cilicia

Cappadocia

Armenia

Euphrates River

Persia

Parthia

Nola

Stories of Timotheus and Sulla

In this episode: How should protegés treat mentors?  How do you change a deeply conservative state?  And, as always, what is the cost, for an individual, for a state, of striving for supreme glory?

Characters:
Alexander Hamilton (cameo)
Lysander
Tissaphernes, Satrap of Lydia
The Pythia
Agesilaus
Cyrus the Younger
King Pausanias
Thrasyboulus of Athens

Places:
Sparta
Oracle of Delphi
Oracle of Dodona, in Epirus
Oracle of Zeus Ammon (Amun Ra), Libya
Ephesus
Thebes
Haliartus

How (and why) Lysander installed the notorious "Thirty" at Athens, and how he came to be worshipped as a god.  Could Sparta contain such a man?

Characters:

Lysander

Socrates

Theramenes
Critias

King Pausanias

King Agis

Thrasyboulus
The Thirty

The Mob

Key Virtues:

Patience

Flexibility

Obedience
Indifference to Money
Resilience

Key Places:

Athens

Sparta

Thebes
Samos
Miletus
Delphi

In this episode: his rise to power, how he pulled off the greatest naval upset in Greek history, and WHY he did it.

Characters:

Lysander

Socrates

Xenophon

Alcibiades

Prince Cyrus the Younger

Agesilaus

King Agis

Kallikratidas

The Mob

Key Virtues:

Patience

Flexibility

Obedience

Key Places:

Athens

Sparta

Ephesus

Dardanelles / Hellespont

Quotes taken from Miller's oral biography of Truman, "Plain Speaking."

Rutilius was a side character in the Life of Marius, but deserves his own treatment here.  See also his treatment in the book Lives of the Stoics by Holiday and Hanselman, which inspired this essay.

But Marius, usually master of the political narrative, ended up having his story written by his political rivals.  What was the true character of this surprisingly elusive figure?

What is worth imitating? What is worth avoiding?  

Before fully answering these questions, we must understand the details of his story, one of the most dramatic and memorable sequences in all of Plutarch’s lives.

On today’s podcast:

• One way to respond when you’re being undermined
• The problem with putting off legitimate political complaints 
• Marius, Drusus, and the beginning of the Social War 
• Sulla, Marius, and the beginning of the Civil War 
• Marius’ harrowing escape
• The prophecy about Marius’ 7 consulships
• The Bloody Return of Marius

Links:

• Thanks to our sponsor - ideamarket.io -  @ideamarket_io on twitter!
• Thanks to our guest narrator, Justin Murphy! visit otherlife.co, indiethinkers.org, or @jmrphy on twittter

Roman writer and historian Sallust said Marius possessed Virtus (“manliness, prowess, virtue” - but, was Marius ultimately a “good man”? 

In part two of The Life of Gaius Marius, Marius captures Jugurtha, he enlists the help of a prophetess to annihilate an army of Teutones, and triumphs over the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercellae.  And how he became six times Roman consul.

But in order to reach the top, Marius had to dispatch political enemies, and make alliances with some dubious characters.  Was it worth it? 

Thanks to sponsor ideamarket.io! (@ideamarket_io)

On today’s podcast:

• The power of narrative
• How to commandeer a war from a decorated general
• Marius the Military Reformer and Strategist
• The battles of Arausio, Aquae Sextiae, Vercellae
• Third Founder of Rome
• How to engineer the downfall of a rival

Links:

• ideamarket.io

“Seven times Consul, Praetor, Tribune of the Plebs, Quaestor, Augur, Military Tribune, Marius waged war against Jugurtha, the King of Numidia and captured him. He annihilated an army of Teutones. He triumphed over the Cimbri…”

Gaius Marius, an outsider, an Italian…  A story of rising from obscurity to the apex of the Roman hierarchy.  How did he do it?

And does he deserve the blame for starting the Roman Civil War? 

Nobody becomes the greatest Roman alive in times of peace. 

Marius was a young man of incredible ambition and razor sharp perception. He not only noticed the rare opportunities, but he seized them with dogged determination. Even more remarkably, Marius’ achievements didn’t happen until he was an older man. 

In fact, Marius’ story was practically just beginning when he was age 50. Perhaps yours will too. 

In this first installment of The Life of Gaius Marius, we learn about the foundations Marius laid in his early life as he positioned himself for greatness. 

Thanks to sponsor ideamarket.io! (@ideamarket_io)

On today’s podcast:

• Learning the populist game from Scipio Africanus and the Gracchi
• Fitting in but staying different
• Acquiring a fortune and a reputation
• Entering Roman politics as an outsider
• Conciliating Rivals
• From Tribune, to Praetor, to Consul 
• War with Jugurtha

Sign up for our email list at ancientlifecoach.com! 

In this episode:
The fate of Pyrrhus' kingdom
Pyrrhus's role in the outbreak of the great Punic Wars?

Merry Christmas (or Saturnalia) to all!

This is the third and final installment of The Life of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus.  

[Original music score based on Epirot and other Greek folk traditions, by Ilias Markantonis.

See Ilias' work on Facebook, or Instagram (@ilias_markantonis)]

Pyrrhus takes opportunity after opportunity, always imagining this will further his cause.  It begins with a Sicilian expedition. After this, Pyrrhus returns to Italy to fight the Battle of Beneventum.   Then he goes to Macedonia to try and claw back an opportunity he didn’t pursue earlier. 

It’s a predictable pattern, according to Plutarch:

“Pyrrhus was always entertaining one hope after another, and since he made one success but the starting point for a new one, while he was determined to make good each disaster by a fresh undertaking, he allowed neither defeat nor victory to put a limit to his causing trouble for himself and for others.”

Pyrrhus made his mark by cultivating an almost maniacal focus on winning in battle - he had a lust for combat. In doing so he won for himself long lasting glory. But we should perhaps ask, together with Plutarch - what was the cost? And was it worth it?  

On today’s podcast:

• Pyrrhus’ whirlwind Sicilian expedition
• Fabricius’ revenge
• Pyrrhus vs Antigonus
• The Siege of Sparta 
• The Battle for Argos

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

Some Places Mentioned

Akragas (Agrigento)

Leontini (Lentini)

Tauromenium (Taormina)

Eryx (Erice, Trapani)

Lilybaeum (Marsala)

Tarentum (Taranto)

Beneventum (Benevento)

Syracuse

Calabria

Aegae

Sparta

Crete

Corinth

Argos
Nafplio

We can think of many ambitious leaders or groups who made a big dent in the world by smashing through boundaries: The Mongols, The British East India Company, Moses and Joshua taking the promised land.  But many dreamed big and failed to deliver: Napoleon in Russia, Xerxes in Greece.

Which kind of leader will Pyrrhus be?

In this episode, the story of Pyrrhus' great challenge to the Romans; the first well-documented visit to Rome by a Greek; Pyrrhus' famous utterance,  “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”

Some takeaways:
Fortune favors the bold: if you have your heart set on something, why not do everything within your power to achieve it?  Show compassion even when you don’t have to - Pyrrhus consistently showed respect for his enemy.  Also Pyrrhus is not famous for being a politician, but he was a competent negotiator who sought a peaceful resolution before resorting to violence. 

On today’s podcast:

• The cost of following your dreams 
• Showing respect for your adversary
• Winning wars without resorting to violence (sometimes)
• Letting your strengths guide your decisions

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

[Original music score based on Epirot and other Greek folk traditions, by Ilias Markantonis.

See Ilias' work on Facebook, or Instagram (@ilias_markantonis)]

Thanks to our sponsor, Ovadia Heart health!  You can support this podcast by visiting the following links and, if you like something, make a purchase. 

Dr. Philip Ovadia's Metabolic Health Tracking System

Stronger Hearts Society with Dr. Philip Ovadia

"Stay off My Operating Table" eBook

"Stay off My Operating Table" Audiobook

I've been using Dr. Ovadia's guidelines in my own life for a few months and been experiencing great results.

[Original music score based on Epirot and other Greek folk traditions, by Ilias Markantonis.

See Ilias' work on Facebook, or Instagram (@ilias_markantonis)]

In this episode:
-Find a mentor
-Transcend a mentor
-Identify the Master Skill in your field, and focus
-How to master fear
-Seizing opportunities to expand your network

Thanks to our sponsor, historical fiction author Jackson Riddle! www.jacksonsriddle.com

Check out his new book, A Potter's Vessel, an alternative telling of the conflict that became the US Civil War.

Pyrrhus of Epirus (319-272 BC) was a cousin of Alexander the Great.  He was the first man to take battle elephants to Italy. He defeated the Romans on several occasions in what became known as the Pyrrhic Wars.

In Part 1, we meet Pyrrhus as a 2 year old, as he is snatched from his crib in a deadly coup.

As he struggles to establish himself in his kingdom through his teenage and early adult years, he learns that the only path toward self-reliance for him and for his kingdom is through the sword.  

Some lessons:

It's always useful to have a mentor.  But you may not have to bind yourself to that person forever.

“As his former mentor and now esteemed arch enemy, Demetrius put Pyrrhus through the best school of war anyone could hope for – strategy, tactics, hand to hand combat – Pyrrhus could learn it all from the best - if he could keep his head.”

Also, seize any opportunity to expand your network both professionally and personally. Case in point: Pyrrhus in Asia, and Egypt.

Find a master a skill in your own field. If there is one thing Pyrrhus exemplifies, it is the power of personal courage in a leader.  So if that’s an area you need to work on (hint: you can never have too much courage), start now.  Courage is physical.

**PYRRHUS ARRIVES NEXT WEEK**

Friedrich Nietzsche: Greek Scholar, Plutarch fan, student of history, incisive critic of history nerds such as your host.

How does history help us, actually? Is it in the ways we think?

Listen to this episode for encouragement if you feel woefully ignorant about history.  Or, if you are a big history buff and need the occasional kick in the pants.

Insights and Quotes from Nietzsche's Essay "On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History."

Available on its own here

or in this collection.

You can use it too.

Links to Lysias' Against Eratosthenes (Lysias 12), mentioned in the episode:

A PDF (It's public domain):
https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L244.pdf

Perseus (Annoying interface, but convenient):
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0154%3Aspeech%3D12

His treatise was addressed to Cornelius Pulcher, of Epidaurus, custodian of the cult of Asclepius.

In this comparison episode, we’re joined by guest narrator Stephen Blackwell, President of Ralston College, Savannah, Georgia.
(www.ralston.ac)

Plutarch offers his own thoughts on the lives of Eumenes and Sertorius.

We offer ours on their respective legacies. 

Both Eumenes and Sertorius lived similar lives, with similar fortunes, and competed using similar qualities. They both possessed great innate talent, and a tremendous dedication to hard work and perfecting their skills. They were also motivated by powerful ambition, but were both ultimately betrayed by people on their own team.

Lessons?

#1:  If you’re a leader, you need to do everything you can to read the character and disposition of your immediate reports. Are they following you willingly? Or are they likely to jump ship when something better comes along? Take measures to learn the character of your subordinates. 

#2:  For your legacy: Leave behind living people who admire and respect you. People for whom you gave everything you had, to help and defend their rights, to promote their flourishing in the world, even at the highest cost. They’re the ones who will ensure your good work lives on. 

On today’s podcast:

• Plutarch’s comparison of Sertorius and Eumenes
• Julius Caesar and the legacy of Sertorius
• The importance of having favorable storytellers:  Hieronymus and Sallust
• Is loyalty a virtue?
• The importance of being faithful
• Channel your ambition into a cause and principle

Links:

• www.ancientlifecoach.com
• Plutarch’s essay
• Ralston College

In this episode: 
-The end of the Eumenes Story
-The age of warring successors begins. 
-What is special about Eumenes?

A notable historian, A.B. Bosworth, remarks that the struggle between Eumenes and Antigonus “Did more than anything to determine the shape the Hellenistic world.”

Our guest narrator is Dawn LaValle Norman, a classicist and scholar of Plutarch and his era.

Eumenes has the choice at multiple points to retire in peace.  But he fights on.  Why? And what can we learn from his example? 

Eumenes knew the secrets of how to secure the loyalty and admiration of followers, and the compliance of reluctant subordinates. 

He took his men on grand campaigns from the steppes of central Turkey to the marshes of Babylonia, the death valley of Susa, and the Iranian highlands.

As Plutarch remarks: “Success… makes even men of smaller character look impressive to us, as they stare down upon us from the heights, but it is when misfortune strikes, that the truly great and steadfast man becomes unmistakeable.”

On today’s podcast:

• How to secure loyalty from reluctant followers 
• How to wait out a siege
• The brittle peace after Antipater’s death, and the wrench that smashed it
• How Eumenes made it into the Babylonian Chronicle
• Why the debtor rules the creditor
• The way Eumenes fought when the odds were against him

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

In this episode Eumenes emerges onto the world stage as one of antiquity’s brilliant generals.

What is it like to believe in a divine kingship?  Or, at least, to act as though you do believe?

Eumenes fought rebel Persian satraps, upstaged Macedonian warrior nobles, arranged dynastic marriages, fought in hand to hand combat with great commanders.  He was visited in his dreams by the gods.  He strove mightily against fate.

Like the figures he worked for and fought with, he seems larger than life sometimes.  What can we take away from his biography? 

Eumenes stayed true to his principles, kept his word in an increasingly faithless age, and though all adversity, by gradually taking on larger and larger challenges and responsibilities, he transformed himself, and became an equal of the great lords who were deciding the fate of the throne of Alexander.

On today’s podcast:

• Why you should be careful who you marry
• How to remain loyal to yourself and the cause you believe in
• How the The first great War of the Successors began
• How to get the gods to fight on your side
• Eumenes’ transformation from a man of letters to a man of war

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

As a young man, Eumenes couldn’t possibly have known that the Mediterranean world he lived in was on the cusp of the most dramatic political and cultural shift in its recorded history, up to that point. And that he would be at the very center of the administrative and military machine that brought that change about. 

But just when Eumenes was on top of this new world order he had helped forge, Alexander died. And things suddenly looked like they were starting to unravel. When this happened, Eumenes was determined to keep it all together, because he was one of the only people who could.

Not many people can expertly pivot their position so smoothly, but in the aftermath of Alexander’s unexpected death, Eumenes adroitly converted his position and influence into political power. 

In this first part of The Life of Eumenes of Kardia, we learn why King Philip of Macedonia initially hired Eumenes as his secretary, how Eumenes grew close to Alexander, why Eumenes got on Olympias’ good side, and on Antipater’s wrong side, the expeditions Eumenes accompanied Alexander on, why the expedition into the Punjab region transformed Eumenes from administrator to taking charge of an elite division of cavalry, Eumenes’ role in settling the succession of Alexander at the Partition of Babylon, and finally why Perdiccas sent Eumenes to Cappadocia.

From the outset, Eumenes displayed the traits of a great leader - his ability to be an effective follower of the right cause, and a loyal servant to the decision makers in the situation he found himself in. He was able to slow his mind down and comprehend the situation as a whole, and find where the real potential for action was, the real leverage points. But more importantly, Eumenes performed all his roles, no matter how minor, with excellence, because he saw in them the clear potential for much greater roles.

So, if like Eumenes, you’re looking for a way to sharpen your present self, download and listen to this latest episode. 

On today’s podcast:

• How to excel in the service of charismatic leaders
• That some accountants can wrestle
• Philip II of Macedon’s conquest of Greece, and subsequent Murder
• The importance of being trustworthy
• Alexander’s conquest of Asia and beyond
• How to build up creds and respect as an outsider
• Eumenes’ role in the Partition of Babylon - The post- Alexander settlement

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

Some Figures mentioned:

Sertorius
Eumenes, 
Philip II of Macedon
Alexander the Great
Dionysius I, Tyrant of Syracuse
Philoxenus the Poet
Pindar
Empedocles
Plato
Democritus
Ismenias, wealthy citizen of Thebes
Epaminondas, Theban general
Euripides

Quotes:
"Know Thyself"
"Rule the Sparta you got"

Treatise mentioned: On Tranquility of Mind (from the Moralia)
People Mentioned:
Paccius - a Roman senator, not known outside of Plutarch's works.  Possibly a friend or acquaintance of Pliny the Younger, Tacitus.
Epaminondas - Famous Theban general and statesman.  Major character in the Life of Pelopidas, brief mention in the Life of Eumenes.
Fabricius - Famous Roman general and statesman.  Major character in the Life of Pyrrhus (also coming soon)

Tool discussed: reframing the conception of external circumstances, in order to alter one's inner state.

Go deeper! Sign up for Ancient Life Emails at ancientlifecoach.com. 

Life of Sertorius Cheat Sheet - ancientlifecoach.com/quintussertorius

(To skip the summary, go to 6:00) 

There is some closure to the story - the wicked are punished, at least some of them.  But in the wake of the civil war, Sertorius' legacy was, for now, in jeopardy.  The narrative was controlled by his enemies.  But this situation did not last forever.

Some Takeaways: 
How to work your hardest
Which game to play
How to survive when death and failure threaten
How to bring people in to your dream

In his quest to win a better life for himself and the men he led, Sertorius shows what talented and determined people can do when they justly feel they have been wronged and have been given no recourse. 

He makes allies with unexpected leaders, he mentors those beneath him, and inspires thousands of people, time and again, to fight alongside him. 

In this third and final installment of the Life of Sertorius, we follow Sertorius’ stunning and improbable rise to the leadership of a rival Roman state.  Hunted by his enemies, he throws in his lot with pirates from Cilicia.  When they abandon him, he battles against them in a proxy war in Mauretania (Morocco).   The Lusitanians, a Spaniard tribe, invite him to be their leader.  He persuades them to join him in a bold mission to restore Rome from Spain. 

He evades the great Metellus Pius, using guerrilla tactics, and sets about Romanizing the native peoples of Spain.  The Senate sends in Pompey the Great.  Sertorius schools him too.  

But the greatest challenge Sertorius faces is in sharing his power - in trusting other Romans who are not like him, who lack his vision, humility, and discipline.

Sertorius’ life provides many valuable lessons for leaders: lessons on strategy and tactics, the importance of preparation, surprise, speed, knowing your territory, but also the power of trustworthiness, empathy, and patience.

A great Roman historian, a nobel laureate, Theodor Mommsen, called Sertorius, “one of the great men, perhaps the greatest of all Rome had produced, and one who in more fortunate circumstances could perhaps have become the regenerator of his country.”

If you’re looking for a way to sharpen your present by learning from the lives of famous leaders such as Sertorius, download and listen to this latest episode. 

On today’s podcast:

• The Pirates of Cilicia
• Usurpers and the Giant’s tomb in Morocco
• Guerilla Warfare, Roman style
• The Lusitanians and their role in the great Sertorian rebellion
• Diana, the Hunter goddess, and her divine “gift”
• Sertorius’ famous opponents: Metellus Pius, Pompey the Great
• Spectacular military exploits at Lauro, Sucro, Saguntum, and more
• Beginning the Romanization of Spain
• A rival Senate, a rival State
• Sertorius’ final achievement

Links:

• https://costofglory.com/

Sponsors

• The Paideia Institute - classical tours and classical language teaching 
• www.paideiainstitute.org 

Very few Camp Aides go on to great things, like becoming General. If you want to be one of those people, the ones who make the most of the opportunity to level up, what do you do?

Hamilton, like many ambitious people before and after him, read Plutarch’s Lives, taking notes on the biographies of the founders and lawgivers of Athens, Rome, and Sparta, learning how they overcame challenges in order to triumph.

Sertorius, at this point in his career, as a political outsider, had to perform that much harder than his peers from noble families.  In this episode we trace his rise to political prominence.  He performs deeds of shocking daring and decisiveness when there are opportunities, and when all doors seem shut he patiently bides his time. In all cases, he maintains an iron will to survive and thrive.

We learn how Sertorius permanently secures two cities in Spain in one night. How he becomes Quaestor. How he loses his eye in the Social wars.  We listen as he’s enrolled as a member of the senate, as he runs for Tribune of the Plebs only to have Sulla form a cabal and block him. We witness the return of Marius - Marius 2.0, Make Marius Great Again. We listen as Sertorius makes an alliance with Cinna, before he, Cinna and Marius take back control of Rome. And finally, we hear how Sertorius is sent back to Spain as Governor, in the midst of a great civil war before being forced to take to the sea in a desperate attempt to keep hope alive for his cause.

So, if like Hamilton, you’re looking for a way to sharpen your present by learning from the lives of famous Greeks and Romans, such as Sertorius, download and listen to this latest episode. 

On today’s podcast:

• How Sertorius became Quaestor
• Why Sulla blocked him from becoming Tribune of the Plebs
• Marius 2.0: Make Marius Great Again
• The Social Wars and Civil Wars
• The alliance between Sertorius, Cinna and Marius
• Becoming Governor of Spain
• Sertorius’ decision to challenge the power of Rome

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

Sponsors

• The Paideia Institute - classical tours and classical language teaching 
• www.paideiainstitute.org 

Plutarch’s biographies gave Beethoven the strength and determination to carry on, to cope, to overcome his aural tragedy and go on to become one of the greatest composers of all time. 

But what is it about Sertorius’ story that Beethoven, and many famous and ambitious people who followed him, admired? What can we take from Sertorius’ story that will sharpen us, and prepare us to face the present, whatever it throws at us?

“Sertorius was a traitor in the eyes of many, and a hero to others. He went on to be perhaps the greatest Roman Rebel, and certainly he was the greatest Roman Guerilla warrior.”

We start with his early career.

We meet Sertorius as he attends his first triumphal parade. We hear about that hot August day in 105 BC when the Romans were defeated by the Cimbri in battle. We learn that as a kid from Nursia, trying to get ahead in this world, he was looking for ways to stand out in front of the people who could make or break his career. But when there weren’t any great battles where he could win glory, he realized he’d have to create an opportunity. When he met with setback, he knew there was no use wallowing in resentment, waiting for yet another big shot to notice him. 

“He focused on what he could control, and that is… honing his craft, the art of war.”

On today’s podcast:

• How world class performers deal with setbacks
• Why Beethoven turned to Plutarch 
• What Sertorius can teach us about learning to defy fate
• The Battle of Arausio and the Cimbrian Wars
• The rise and fall of General Gaius Marius
• Saturninus the rogue Tribune
• The Gold of Tolosa
• The origins of the Roman Civil War

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

Sponsors

• The Paideia Institute - classical tours and classical language teaching 
• www.paideiainstitute.org 

For more information, visit https://ancientlifecoach.com