Founding an Empire: Lessons from Augustus with Dr Barry Strauss скачать в хорошем качестве

Founding an Empire: Lessons from Augustus with Dr Barry Strauss

In this lecture, historian Dr Barry Strauss examines Augustus as the architect of Rome’s imperial settlement, tracing how a young heir of extraordinary ambition transformed a republic struggling with civil war into an enduring political order. Tracing events from the turmoil following Julius Caesar’s assassination to the victory at Actium, the creation of the Pax Romana, and Augustus’s claim to rule as Rome’s “first citizen,” Strauss highlights how Augustus secured power by building trust, managing rivals, and reshaping public life through law, ritual, architecture, and art. The talk concludes by asking what is preserved and what is lost when a society exchanges republican freedom for imperial stability, and what the study of ancient leadership can still teach us about prudence, courage, and political responsibility today. Learn more and apply today at www.ralston.ac/apply Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: Winston Churchill William Shakespeare Herod the Great Homer Virgil’s Aeneid Cicero Mark Antony Julius Caesar Cleopatra – Chapters — 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:05:32 - Lecture Begins 00:08:05 - Youth 00:13:50 - The Republic’s Commanders 00:19:13 - The Magnitude of an Emperor's Ambition 00:26:05 - The Rulers of the Western Roman Empire 00:34:40 - Cleopatra 00:41:08 - King Herod 00:49:54 - The Golden Age of Treachery 00:56:35 - Information Warfare 01:02:08 - Roman Architecture 01:03:15 - Adopting Sons 01:08:03 - Sacrificing to Augustus 01:13:35 - Q&A: On Being the Sole Heir 01:15:05 - Pontifex and Augury 01:17:05 - From Polis to Empire 01:20:30 - Becoming More Audacious 01:23:20 - On the Counterfactual 01:26:00 - Pietas 01:27:53 - Virgil’s Attitude toward Augustus 01:33:50 - Closing Remarks