In today’s episode I will talk with Dr. Barry Strauss about the madness and genius of Roman Emperors, how Western civilization might never have emerged if the Persian Wars would have ended differently, and what it all means for today.

Barry S. Strauss is a historian and Professor of History and Classics at Cornell University. He is an expert on ancient military history and has written numerous books, including The Battle of Salamis (2004), The Trojan War (2006), The Spartacus War (2009), Masters of Command (2013), and The Death of Caesar (2015). His books have been translated into sixteen languages.

His most recent book is “Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine” in which professor Strauss takes a closer look at 10 out of Ancient Rome’s over 60 imperial rulers. In addition to being a prolific writer, professor Strauss is also a commentator on contemporary issues from modern leadership to politics, and he publishes regularly in magazines like the New Criterion, the Wall Street Journal, and others.

He is also a podcaster himself, and his podcast Antiquitas can be found on his personal homepage at www.barrystrauss.com. I highly encourage my listeners to take a look, because engaging with professor Strauss’ work is both educational and, due to his engaging writing style, entertaining and capturing. He is also a contributor to the Netflix original series “Roman Empire.”