Julius Caesar Saw it Coming

Announcing, the finale of the Cost of Glory Caesar series.

I just finished a long biography series on Julius Caesar for the Cost of Glory podcast. This was hard—his life took way more work than any of the others. (We’ve done 12 now, with many detours along the way that seemed relevant. I still plan to finish all of Plutarch’s Lives (50 in total) in a… timely manner).

You can listen here:

I have this eerie feeling, after reviewing all the sources and trying to connect them with what I know about the man, that Caesar kind of went willingly to the sacrifice.

He didn’t know for sure they would kill him that day in the Senate, but he had been warned many times about plots and conspiracies against his life. He knew many powerful people hated him, and that the rumors were almost certainly true. But he dismissed the suggestion to have a bodyguard, and eventually told his advisors that he would punish anyone bringing more reports of assassination plots.

Shakespeare portrays Julius Caesar as a kind of vain dodderer. A more charitable interpretation, reflected in Plutarch’s account and many others, is that Caesar suffered from a kind of blindness characteristic of great figures in Greek tragedy.

But it fits the evidence pretty well to suppose that Caesar had a bad hunch about the day, and that he faced it nevertheless with a soldier’s resolve. The night before, at dinner with friends (including one of the conspirators), he proposed that they discuss the topic, “What is the best kind of death?”. After various answers were proposed, he told his companions he thought death was best when it was quick, sudden, and unexpected.

It’s a good way to live your life, to approach every day, or at least most days, with the sentiment: It’s a good day to die.

They’ll probably get you somehow, someday. But that’s no reason to live in fear or stop taking risks. Caesar lived his whole life that way.

The Classical Society

I recently launched a network with several friends, most especially Ben Wilson of How to Take Over the World podcast. It’s for gentlemen of achievement who love the ancient ideals of excellence, and want to emulate the Greats in their personal and professional lives. One of the key principles we focus on is cultivating the Art of Rhetoric as a path to developing your full powers, and bringing about the kind of world you want to live in.

We have online programs, and host in-person events like dinners and retreats. (We’re doing a retreat in Austin this coming week, for example).

Since launching in July of last year, we’ve got more than 40 seriously excellent members.

Currently our program is best suited to people who are mid-career or have had some significant success, and want to take their rhetorical skills, personal development, network, and readiness for action to the next level. But we plan to launch a more accessible junior tier very soon, in Q2 / late spring.

If you want to find out more, check it out at https://theclassicalsociety.com.

Coming up on Cost of Glory

Big thanks to all my paid subscribers, your support means a lot.

And thanks to all for your patience with this latest Caesar series - many have expressed friendly concern about whether everything was OK, whether I’d be posting biographies ever again, etc. Fear not. Now that Caesar’s done (so many sources and scholarly debates to untangle), the pace should pick back up.

Currently, I’m planning next to do a detour into The Odyssey, probably 6 episodes worth, over 2 or 3 months. After that, Alexander the Great. Then Brutus, Cicero, Antony, Augustus (to round out the Visions of Caesar series) Very likely I will do some of the parallel Greek bios in conjunction (Dion and Demosthenes in particular).

Also some interviews along the way - I recently recorded a great episode with Victor Davis Hanson that will come out soon, on Alexander’s sack of Thebes.

Cost of Glory Video - Editor(s) needed!

I’ve been working to get nice video set to Cost of Glory audio with images, maps, quotes etc, on YouTube. Here’s the latest:

Friends have been encouraging me to step up my marketing, to get Cost of Glory in front of more people who could benefit from it. The Wise are in agreement: video is a good way to do this.

My current editor is close to capacity, and I have some plans to ramp up video production. So I could use another editor (or two?)… as well as a Thumbnail specialist. In case you know anyone, have them reach out to info@theclassicalsociety.com.

Stay Ancient,

Alex