Interview on the Roman Republic
A short time ago, I did an hour long talk with Leila Conners on the Roman Republic. Leila is a good friend, colleague, and co-conspirator of many years. She’s an accomplished filmmaker, writer, thinker, and most rare in this era, a genuine citizen. I met Leila when she founded Tree Media. She recently established N2K (Need to Know), where you can find and discuss many thoughtful works on the environment, politics, and meeting the challenges humanity faces today.
Here is the link for our talk.
Funnily enough, this is the most comprehensive look I’ve ever put in one place on Rome, either talking or writing. Not sure why that is as I’ve spent decades studying Roman history. The many similarities between that ancient republic and its modern progeny, the United States, I always found striking and informative. Most importantly, Rome’s republican system imploded from the forces of the empire they had created. In the end, the inability of the Romans to vigorously reform their republic, it really never crossed their minds as things fell apart, I always found particularly disconcerting. Well, as the Old Moor said, “History repeats, first time tragedy, second time farce.”
So, hope you’ll find this of interest and greatest thanks to Leila.
Here’s a short list of great books on the Roman Republic for any further interest:
- Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic, Thomas Holland, 2005 (a good, recent popular history)
- The Greatness and Decline of Rome, Guglielmo Ferrero, 1909
- History of Rome, Theodor Mommsen, 1856
- Discourses on Livy, Niccolo Machiavelli, 1520
- Lives, Plutarch, 1st century AD
- From the Founding of the City, Livy, 1st century BC
- Histories, Polybius, 2nd century BC