The Roman Caesars' Guide to Ruling

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Roman caesars were the rulers of the Roman Empire, beginning in 27 BC with Julius Caesar’s heir Augustus, from whom subsequent caesars took their name, and lasting until around the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD. The caesars transitioned the Roman Republic to autocratic rule, consolidating vast territories under centralized authority and shaping Western governance, law, and culture. Their reign marked one of history's most influential periods, laying the groundwork for modern empires and enduring legacies in political and architectural innovation. They also left behind some instructive leadership lessons, in both what and what not to do. Here to unpack some of the Roman Empire's most significant caesars as both histories and leadership case studies is Barry Strauss, who is a classicist, professor, military historian, fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, and the author of numerous books, including Ten Caesars. Today on the show, Barry shares how Augustus consolidated power by initially cleaning house, a redeeming quality of the otherwise infamous Nero, the strategies Vespasian and Severus used to gain legitimacy as outsiders, why Marcus Aurelius was an insightful philosopher but struggled as an emperor, the emperor under whose rule the empire began its decline, what Constantine understood about the idea that if you want things to stay the same, everything must change, and much more.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast. The Roman
0:12.2	Caesars were the rulers of the Roman Empire, beginning in 27 BC with Julius Caesar's
0:16.9	Er Augustus, from whom subsequent Caesars took their name, and lasting until around the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD. The Caesar's Eric Gustus, from whom subsequent Caesars took their name, and lasting until around
0:20.9	the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD.
0:24.6	The Caesars transitioned the Roman Republic to autocratic rule, consolidating vast territories
0:29.3	under centralized authority and shaping Western governance, law, and culture.
0:33.8	Their reign marked one of history's most influential periods, laying the groundwork for modern
0:37.7	empires and enduring legacies in political and architectural innovation. They also left behind
0:42.3	some instructive leadership lessons in both what and what not to do. Here to impact some of
0:47.6	the Roman Empire's most significant Caesars as both histories and leadership case studies is Barry
0:51.7	Strauss, who is a classicist, professor, military historian,
0:55.9	fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, and the author of numerous books, including Ten Caesars.
1:01.1	Today in the show, Barry shares how Augustus consolidated power by initially cleaning house,
1:05.7	a redeeming quality of the otherwise infamous Nero, the strategies Vespasian and Severus used
1:10.7	to gain legitimacy
1:11.4	as outsiders, why Marcus Aurelius was an insightful philosopher, but struggled as an emperor.
1:17.1	The emperor under whose rule the empire began its decline, what constantly understood about
1:20.9	the idea that if you want things to stay the same, everything must change and much more.
1:25.5	After shows over, check out our show notes at at AWIM.
1:27.5	com.
1:27.7	I.S.
1:28.4	Cesar's.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Art of Manliness, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Art of Manliness and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.