Cost of Glory

How does a great commander handle being undermined by his government back home?  How should we treat opponents we defeat?  And how do we negotiate the best deal when our backs are against the wall and our counterparts know it? In this episode: Sulla goes to Greece, to war against Rome’s arch rival Mithridates of Pontus.  Can he hold out against a vastly superior enemy army?  And can he weather the escalating crisis in Rome?  --People--Sulla, The HeroPlutarch, The NarratorMarius, The ScoundrelSulpicius, The HenchmanCinna, The PoliticianMithridates, The King Aristion, the TyrantArchelaus, The FoeFlaccus, The ReplacementFimbria, The BackstabberApellicon, The Book CollectorAndronicus, The Editor   --Places--RomeAthensPiraeusEpidaurusOlympiaDelphiBoeotiaMt ParnassusChaeroneaThebesLivadeiaOrchomenusLake KopaisAsia (Minor)The DardanellesDardanusEuboeaHalae --Divinities--MaBellonaMinervaVenusAphroditeApolloAsclepiusTrophonius

How do we get Fortune on our side?  What are the qualities necessary for daring unthinkable, unspeakable acts? When is it justifiable to massacre your enemies?   Sulla: A man of contradictions.  Enjoyer of dramas and hedonistic pleasures; most successful general of his generation, and one of the greatest of all time.  Patriot and champion of the ancient constitution; the Roman responsible for more Roman deaths than perhaps any other man in history.   Was Sulla one who broke the Republic? In this episode learn the arts of:-Wisdom-charm-gift giving-deception People:Gaius MariusJugurthaKing BocchusThe Cimbri and TeutonesQuintus Lutatius CatulusThe MetelliAemilius ScaurusMithridates of PontusThe ParthiansQuintus Pompeius RufusManius Aquillius (cameo)Publius Sulpicius Rufus  Places:RomeNumidiaGaulCiliciaCappadociaArmeniaEuphrates RiverPersiaParthiaNola

A principle for building exercises to control your anxiety or fear.  Favorinus, a philosopher from the time of Plutarch, offers some deft observations about Socrates.

Plutarch offers insight on relating to people above your station

Plato gives some insight in how to undermine your enemies.

How to turn bad luck around.  SPOILER: it's not just more effort.Stories of Timotheus and Sulla

What happened after Lysander died?  What was his legacy?  What can we learn from his life?  

Lysander returns from his setbacks at Sparta with a revolutionary plan.  He consults the gods about the Spartan Kingship; and some of his own prophecies about Greek geopolitics come true.In this episode: How should protegés treat mentors?  How do you change a deeply conservative state?  And, as always, what is the cost, for an individual, for a state, of striving for supreme glory?Characters:Alexander Hamilton (cameo)LysanderTissaphernes, Satrap of LydiaThe PythiaAgesilausCyrus the YoungerKing PausaniasThrasyboulus of AthensPlaces:SpartaOracle of DelphiOracle of Dodona, in EpirusOracle of Zeus Ammon (Amun Ra), LibyaEphesusThebesHaliartus

Lysander - The Spartan who took down Athens.  In this episode: the dangers of success.How (and why) Lysander installed the notorious "Thirty" at Athens, and how he came to be worshipped as a god.  Could Sparta contain such a man?Characters:LysanderSocratesTheramenesCritiasKing PausaniasKing AgisThrasyboulusThe ThirtyThe Mob Key Virtues:PatienceFlexibilityObedienceIndifference to MoneyResilience Key Places:AthensSpartaThebesSamosMiletusDelphi

A Spartan; first Greek honored as a god during his lifetime; destroyer of Athenian naval supremacy. In this episode: his rise to power, how he pulled off the greatest naval upset in Greek history, and WHY he did it. Characters:LysanderSocratesXenophonAlcibiadesPrince Cyrus the YoungerAgesilausKing AgisKallikratidasThe Mob Key Virtues:PatienceFlexibilityObedience Key Places:AthensSpartaEphesusDardanelles / Hellespont