What's the Difference Between a Roman General and a King?

There's a tradition of being very suspicious of anyone who looks like they might want to be a king. And caesar really looks like a king. He's got too much power in a system where no one person is supposed to have it. You can argue that he uses it quite sort of positively, that a lot of what he does seems to be popular. But the reason you would seem as a dictator is simply, no one should have that supreme authority,. That's the great ambiguity about caesar - there is much that is very impressive, very good, very noble about what he achieved. There's also a lot that's savage.

Transcript

Play full episode

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.