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The Truth Perspective - Julius Caesar and the transformation of Rome - Interview
- Thread starter Approaching Infinity
- Start date
I think some divine power was trying to protect us from listening to this show, but no, we had to keep reloading!
I can't believe that this guy spend so much time reading up on Caesar and from him, and all he has to say is that "If I see any leader today that is like Caesar, I will warn the country about him, he will bring destruction"! (paraphrasing, but honestly he said something like that) What a waste of "scholarship"
I can't believe that this guy spend so much time reading up on Caesar and from him, and all he has to say is that "If I see any leader today that is like Caesar, I will warn the country about him, he will bring destruction"! (paraphrasing, but honestly he said something like that) What a waste of "scholarship"
Alana said:I think some divine power was trying to protect us from listening to this show, but no, we had to keep reloading!
I can't believe that this guy spend so much time reading up on Caesar and from him, and all he has to say is that "If I see any leader today that is like Caesar, I will warn the country about him, he will bring destruction"! (paraphrasing, but honestly he said something like that) What a waste of "scholarship"
Yeah, I certainly didn't agree with THAT, either. I do think Stevenson's approach is refreshing on the whole, though. His book really is good (just a few points where I disagree with him). He debunks a lot of the myths about Caesar, which is good. I think he's coming from a modern, 'humanist' perspective that would see ANY Roman leader as evil. So despite knowing the context, he can't really see that Caesar was essentially the JFK of his time and place.
We'll talk a bit about it on next week's show and try to set the record straight.
In the meantime, I still recommend his book. It's probably the best one to start out with. Detailed, accessible, pretty comprehensive.
Great show! Thanks, guys!
Yeah, I was a little disappointed in his overall assessment of Caersar. After studying him for so long, you'd think he would have come to a more accurate appraisal of what Caesar was all about. But it seems he's very skeptical of Caesar's charisma and sees him as more of a spellbinder type than being a strong moral leader and role model.
Alana said:I think some divine power was trying to protect us from listening to this show, but no, we had to keep reloading!
I can't believe that this guy spend so much time reading up on Caesar and from him, and all he has to say is that "If I see any leader today that is like Caesar, I will warn the country about him, he will bring destruction"! (paraphrasing, but honestly he said something like that) What a waste of "scholarship"
Yeah, I was a little disappointed in his overall assessment of Caersar. After studying him for so long, you'd think he would have come to a more accurate appraisal of what Caesar was all about. But it seems he's very skeptical of Caesar's charisma and sees him as more of a spellbinder type than being a strong moral leader and role model.
Approaching Infinity said:Alana said:I think some divine power was trying to protect us from listening to this show, but no, we had to keep reloading!
I can't believe that this guy spend so much time reading up on Caesar and from him, and all he has to say is that "If I see any leader today that is like Caesar, I will warn the country about him, he will bring destruction"! (paraphrasing, but honestly he said something like that) What a waste of "scholarship"
Yeah, I certainly didn't agree with THAT, either. I do think Stevenson's approach is refreshing on the whole, though. His book really is good (just a few points where I disagree with him). He debunks a lot of the myths about Caesar, which is good. I think he's coming from a modern, 'humanist' perspective that would see ANY Roman leader as evil. So despite knowing the context, he can't really see that Caesar was essentially the JFK of his time and place.
We'll talk a bit about it on next week's show and try to set the record straight.
In the meantime, I still recommend his book. It's probably the best one to start out with. Detailed, accessible, pretty comprehensive.
dugdeep said:
As AI wrote, his background work seems pretty comprehensive, so it is something that I might order. The host's, too, were very considering, especially with a lot of the background work done here on the forum (along with other books written and such) in hearing him out. It seemed, as a reflection of this, some of the questions lead him to expand, and the responses were divergent from what he could have said i.e. he did say, Caesar might remind me of Bush Jr, type of thing (hmmm) - don't think Caesar in 5d would appreciate that association. I agree, too, with what dudeep mentions above.
Overall, I get the sense (yet can't exactly say) that outside of his scholarly work, Stevenson's personal ideology, based on some of his replies, seems to have walls around it where he just can't go, resulting in associations more in historical lines with what is repeated in the main - the host's polity with their questions (or not pushing them) seemed aware of this, osit.
He did however say some very interesting things - so all and all this was a nice interview - good job guy's, thanks!
voyageur said:
Yeah, I really appreciated the things he had to say about women in Caesar's life, the idea of looking at his decisions case by case and not in hindsight, the stuff about Roman religion, the extreme competition and individualism and the effects those would have on Caesar's career, the nature of Caesar's reforms (though I disagree with how he interpreted the fact that Caesar wasn't a grand revolutionary), his early life, the optimates and their beefs with Caesar. In other words, he gave a lot of the raw material for what I think would be a more accurate assessment of Caesar the man.
voyageur said:
This is a good assessment I think because Stevenson makes specific mention of Theodor Mommsen's 'The History of Rome,' which is a very well respected book which speaks highly of Caesar's accomplishments, and yet he, Stevenson, still somehow tends to discount the book's position. I haven't read it yet but it would be interesting to see how exactly Mommsen credits Caesar, or comes close to an objective analysis given the times and conditions Caesar lived in and the system he had to work within to attain any power or influence.
Wu Wei Wu
Jedi Master
Having listened to the entirety of the podcast I found it quite informative. Although I've read a few of the Caesarian works and am diving into more I found his take refreshing.
When I began my research into Caesar, upon seeing and reading the progress the Cass group was making on that front, I began with cultural works, like Shakespeare's plays, moving into documentaries and historical re-enactments, and then into primary and scholarly works. There is this pervading theme that Caesar was some kind of devilish dictatorial totalitarian democracy killer which I found just silly but was at loss to respond. Why the venom?
After reading Caesar: Life of a Colossus and other works help cleared that up. Further revelations into the nature of the Roman elite themselves as fairly disgusting characters shined further light on the issue. It really was them and not him. However history has made certain to largely stamp out benevolent depictions of him, or so I've found so far.
This is why I found the interview refreshing. He took a very reasonable and measured perspective of the matter: What if Caesar was responding moment by moment? What if his piety was legitimate?
I think he drops the ball on charisma and the statesmanship comments but that may be because he goes beyond his experience. He was clearly uncomfortable and lacking knowledge with regards to the nature of charisma, and that's understandable. As noted previously by Approaching Infinity his attitude is very humanist and a little naive, but thats understandable too. The modern world doesn't like to face such things and demonizes even though our world reflects a dynamic far more violent and destructive than Rome's ever was. I was also surprised he didn't mention anything about Caesar's planned infrastructural works which were very significant, I think. Those seemed very statesmanlike to me, but I digress.
All said, I enjoyed it. I may grab his book later this year to further flesh out my knowledge. I'm still working my way through the Assassination of Julius Caesar at the moment.
When I began my research into Caesar, upon seeing and reading the progress the Cass group was making on that front, I began with cultural works, like Shakespeare's plays, moving into documentaries and historical re-enactments, and then into primary and scholarly works. There is this pervading theme that Caesar was some kind of devilish dictatorial totalitarian democracy killer which I found just silly but was at loss to respond. Why the venom?
After reading Caesar: Life of a Colossus and other works help cleared that up. Further revelations into the nature of the Roman elite themselves as fairly disgusting characters shined further light on the issue. It really was them and not him. However history has made certain to largely stamp out benevolent depictions of him, or so I've found so far.
This is why I found the interview refreshing. He took a very reasonable and measured perspective of the matter: What if Caesar was responding moment by moment? What if his piety was legitimate?
I think he drops the ball on charisma and the statesmanship comments but that may be because he goes beyond his experience. He was clearly uncomfortable and lacking knowledge with regards to the nature of charisma, and that's understandable. As noted previously by Approaching Infinity his attitude is very humanist and a little naive, but thats understandable too. The modern world doesn't like to face such things and demonizes even though our world reflects a dynamic far more violent and destructive than Rome's ever was. I was also surprised he didn't mention anything about Caesar's planned infrastructural works which were very significant, I think. Those seemed very statesmanlike to me, but I digress.
All said, I enjoyed it. I may grab his book later this year to further flesh out my knowledge. I'm still working my way through the Assassination of Julius Caesar at the moment.
