Pay Attention to the Occasion
Sometimes we take things to extremes in our zeal to live according to Nature. Scipio Aemilianus, the grandest Roman of his day, died at the height of his career....
The Most Famous Widow in Rome
The most famous widow in Rome, in Marius’ younger years, was Cornelia. She was the mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, the famous Roman populist reformers. At one point...
Turning Pain into Art
Plato had friends in the literary community. One time he was attending a festival on the island of Samos. He was supporting a poet friend of his named Antimachus,...
Learning to Lose is Learning to Win
How can we turn bad luck in our lives into a good thing? Plutarch offers a strategy. In classical Athens, the first well known democracy in the West, most...
What is the Opposite of Chance?
Aristides was sitting in court, listening to an accuser prosecuting his cousin. It was a major trial. His cousin, Callias, was one of the richest men in Athens. But...
Keepers of the Eternal Fire
The Romans attributed many of their religious institutions to an early king of the city named Numa. Numa set up a cult of the goddess Vesta, the goddess of...
What is the coin of friendship?
Plutarch had many friends. Many of the subjects of his biographies did too. Eumenes of Kardia had friends in the enemy’s camp. They advocated for Eumenes to be spared...
Another story about Fabricius and Pyrrhus
Plutarch tells a story about Fabricius and Pyrrhus (one we did not cover in the podcast). After Fabricius’ famous embassy to the king, he was made consul – one...