

New Humanists
Ancient Language Institute
Join the hosts of New Humanists and founders of the Ancient Language Institute, Jonathan Roberts and Ryan Hammill, on their quest to discover what a renewed humanism looks like for the modern world. The Ancient Language Institute is an online language school and think tank, dedicated to changing the way ancient languages are taught.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 15, 2023 • 48min
Bread and Circuses for Rome | No Republic Was Ever Greater
Send us a textKing Tarquinius secures his hold on power by expanding the Senate, but encounters a roadblock to strengthening the military in the person of a famous augur. Tarquinius is ruthless, productive, and the first great Roman promoter of "bread and circuses" (among other things, according to Livy, Tarquinius builds the Circus Maximus). Despite his political saavy, however, he comes to a violent, borderline slapstick end.Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjVirgil's Aeneid: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780143105138New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Jun 1, 2023 • 1h 8min
Enter the Tarquins | No Republic Was Ever Greater
Send us a textStrange omens, plague, occult religious rites. King Tullus Hostilius' reign collapses in something like supernatural madness. The great Ancus Marcius takes over, but is finally deceived by a rich, mysterious newcomer to Rome: Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Join Jonathan and Ryan as they outline how the first of the Tarquins takes the throne after first disinheriting his own nephew, and then effectively disinheriting the sons of Ancus Marcius, whom Lucius was bound to protect.Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjRene Girard's I See Satan Fall Like Lightning: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781570753190Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana: https://amzn.to/3qgEcWNFustel de Coulanges's La Cité Antique (French): https://amzn.to/3yzATuZFustel de Coulanges's The Ancient City (English): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780648690542New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

May 15, 2023 • 1h 22min
Democracy Dies with Lysander, feat. Alex Petkas | Episode XLVII
Send us a textLysander is a troubling figure. As a child, he was a charity case who excelled his more affluent peers; he never cared for wealth, and yet overlooked the rapaciousness of his friends, allowing money and luxury into Sparta, corrupting it. He liberated the Greek world from the yoke of Athenian imperialism, but then installed oligarchic juntas to rule with an iron fist. He conquered Athens itself, but campaigned at a war council to spare the city from destruction. But once inside the city, he threatened the Athenians with extermination if they didn't obey him. Alex Petkas, the host of the Cost of Glory podcast, joins Jonathan and Ryan in discussing Plutarch's account of the extraordinary Lysander.Alex Petkas's Cost of Glory podcast (Lysander 1): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lysander-1-death-of-democracy/id1580153815?i=1000565510664Ancient Life Coach: https://ancientlifecoach.com/Speak Lead Retreat: https://ancientlifecoach.com/retreat/Herodotus' Histories: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781400031146Isocrates' Evagoras: https://amzn.to/40NyCaPPindar's Olympian Odes: https://amzn.to/429sk6mPlutarch's Parallel Lives, including Lysander (Loeb edition): https://amzn.to/3HjDnC8Plutarch's Parallel Lives, including Lysander (Penguin edition): https://amzn.to/44amYK5University of Chicago's Penelope Parallel Lives: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/home.htmlEuripides' Electra: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780226035598Xenophon's Anabasis: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780307906854Andrew Roberts's Napoleon: A Life: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780143127857Sean McMeekin's Stalin's War: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781541672796Alex Petkas's Cost of Glory episode 1 on the Anabasis: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xenophon-anabasis-i-power-highlights/id1580153815?i=1000597494893Xenophon's Hellenika: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781400034765Steven Pressfield's Tides of War: https://amzn.to/3oQF9EqPaul Cartledge's Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta: https://amzn.to/3LDaFi3New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

May 1, 2023 • 1h 52min
Education that Makes Aquinas Look Modern, feat. John Peterson | Episode XLVI
Send us a textIn his wise and humane Didascalicon, the teacher, canon regular, and mystical theologian Hugh of St. Victor lays out his advice and instructions for teachers and students engaged in liberal study. The heir of centuries of thought in Christendom on the liberal arts, Hugh and his contemporaries were on the precipice of a revolution--the western rediscovery of Aristotle and the subsequent revolution of theology and philosophy, championed above all by Thomas Aquinas. University of Dallas professor John Peterson joins Jonathan and Ryan to discuss the Didascalicon and its role in liberal education.Classical Education Graduate Program at the University of Dallas: https://udallas.edu/braniff/academics/ma/classical_education/Richard M. Gamble’s The Great Tradition: https://amzn.to/3Q4lRnOHugh of St. Victor's Didascalicon (Latin): http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1096-1141,_Hugo_De_S_Victore,_Didascalicon,_LT.pdfHugh of St. Victor's Didascalicon (English): https://archive.org/details/didascaliconmedi00hugh/mode/2upBruce A. Kimball's The Liberal Arts Tradition: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780761851325Ryan N.S. Topping's Renewing the Mind: https://amzn.to/41xlb08W.H. Cowley's The Seven Liberal Arts Hoax: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27565196New Humanists episode on Giambattista Vico: https://podcasts.apple.com/hr/podcast/messing-up-your-kids-education-episode-xxxviii/id1570296135?i=1000591833664Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion 3.0: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781119712619John Peterson's Review of Teach Like a Champion 3.0: https://www.pdcnet.org/principia/content/principia_2022_0001_0001_0119_0123+Plato's Republic: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780465094080Augustine's Confessions: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780199537822Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjJacob Klein's The Idea of Liberal Education: https://www.scribd.com/document/46831695/The-Idea-of-Liberal-Education-Jacob-KleinMartianus Capella's The Marriage of Philology and Mercury: https://amzn.to/41NZh8tNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Apr 15, 2023 • 50min
The Danger of Plato | Episode XLV
Send us a textDoes Plato, and philosophy more generally, belong in schools? In a lecture, professor and Davenant Institute VP Colin Redemer suggests that Plato is too dangerous to be allowed into classical schools. Jonathan and Ryan take a look at this lecture and at the response it received, focusing on esoteric writing, reason versus revelation, and the Platonic-Christian-American synthesis.The Davenant Institute's Reforming Classical Education: https://davenantinstitute.org/reforming-classical-educationAustin Hoffman's Awkward Family Dinner: A Review of Reforming Classical Education: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2023/02/awkward-family-dinner-a-review-of-reforming-classical-education/Colin Redemer's Revisiting Platonic Education: The Ever Shareable Feast: https://adfontesjournal.com/web-exclusives/revisiting-platonic-education-the-ever-sharable-feast/Leo Strauss's Persecution and the Art of Writing: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780226777115Plato's Theages: https://amzn.to/3UE4DRlT.S. Eliot's Second Thoughts About Humanism: https://muse.jhu.edu/document/408New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Apr 1, 2023 • 53min
Can Humanism Replace Christianity? | Episode XLIV
Send us a textIrving Babbitt was the architect of New Humanism. He was also T.S. Eliot's mentor at Harvard. But in 1928, the newly Anglican Eliot's essay criticizing his old mentor's humanistic project was published, which provoked a terse, and sharp, rebuke from Babbitt. What is the relationship between traditional religion and humanistic learning? Can humanism provide society with the standards needed for democratic life? In this episode, we take a look at Babbitt's and Eliot's writings on the subject.T.S. Eliot's The Humanism of Irving Babbitt: https://muse.jhu.edu/document/374T.S. Eliot's Second Thoughts About Humanism: https://muse.jhu.edu/document/408Irving Babbitt's Democracy and Leadership: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780913966556Jay Parini's Irving Babbitt Revisited: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3856831The Davenant Institute's Reforming Classical Education: https://davenantinstitute.org/reforming-classical-educationT.S. Eliot's Little Gidding: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/winter/w3206/edit/tseliotlittlegidding.htmlNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Mar 15, 2023 • 57min
Wars of Ancient Religion | No Republic Was Ever Greater
Send us a textThe duel between the Horatii brothers and the Curiatii brothers seemed to settle the Roman-Alban dispute and give Rome authority over Alba. But wily Mettius Fufetius has a trick or two up his sleeve. Meanwhile, the one surviving Horatius brother strikes down his sister in cold blood, an incident Jacques-Louis David drew but never ended up painting. The civilized three-on-three duel now threatens to give way to an all-out war of extermination between Rome and Alba. This is the sixth episode of "No Republic Was Ever Greater," a podcast series examining the rise of the Roman Empire through the work of Livy and Machiavelli. Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjFustel de Coulanges's La Cité Antique (French): https://amzn.to/3yzATuZFustel de Coulanges's The Ancient City (English): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780648690542Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_HoratiiNicolas Poussin's Rape of the Sabine Women: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women#/media/File:L'Enl%C3%A8vement_des_Sabines_%E2%80%93_Nicolas_Poussin_%E2%80%93_Mus%C3%A9e_du_Louvre,_INV_7290_%E2%80%93_Q3110586.jpgArlette Clavet's Unpublished Studies for 'The Oath of the Horatii': https://www.jstor.org/stable/1552932Corneille's Horace: https://amzn.to/41zF1IyNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

7 snips
Mar 1, 2023 • 54min
The Roman Will to Power | No Republic Was Ever Greater
Send us a textAfter the long peace of Numa's reign, Rome gets a new king, even more ferocious than Romulus: Tullus Hostilius. As soon as he comes to power, he begins looking for a way to start a war (while keeping a good conscience about it). This is the fifth episode of "No Republic Was Ever Greater," a podcast series examining the rise of the Roman Empire through the work of Livy and Machiavelli. Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjFustel de Coulanges's La Cité Antique (French): https://amzn.to/3yzATuZFustel de Coulanges's The Ancient City (English): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780648690542Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780140449235J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780547928210Hesiod's Theogony: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780199538317Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_HoratiiNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Feb 15, 2023 • 1h 8min
Lincoln with the Bard, feat. Ted J. Richards | Episode XLI
Send us a textAbraham Lincoln spent less than 1 year of his life going to school. Nevertheless, he became a lawyer, a surveyor, and one of the greatest statesmen in American history. He also carried on correspondence with one of the country's leading Shakespearean actors about the relative merits of different plays and speeches in Shakespeare's dramatic oeuvre. In no speech is the self-educated Lincoln's close attention to the Bard more in evidence than in his political comeback speech, the Peoria Address denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. What do the veiled Shakespearean references in that speech reveal about Lincoln and the crisis that slavery posed to free government?Abraham Lincoln's Peoria Speech: https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/peoriaspeech.htmTed J. Richards's Lincoln and Shakespeare at Peoria: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10457097.2021.1983355?journalCode=vpps20Lewis E. Lehrman's Lincoln at Peoria: https://amzn.to/3WXKW6pLord Charnwood's Abraham Lincoln: A Biography: https://amzn.to/3wXmTdwFolger Shakespeare Library's Hamlet: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780743477123Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69379/an-essay-on-criticismHarry Jaffa's Crisis of the House Divided: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780226391182Harry Jaffa's A New Birth of Freedom: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781538114322John Channing Briggs's Lincoln's Speeches Reconsidered: https://amzn.to/3xnDyqVDiana Schaub's His Greatest Speeches: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781250763457New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Feb 1, 2023 • 53min
Numa Numa Yeah | No Republic Was Ever Greater, Ep. 4
Send us a textWhen Romulus dies, the city of Rome is riven by ethnic conflict between Romans and Sabines, and class conflict between senators and plebeians. The city cannot agree on its next king; an interregnum ensues. The stalemate is eventually resolved in favor of Numa Pompilius, who is crowned king of Rome in a mysterious, mystical ceremony which almost seems like a human sacrifice. This is the fourth episode of "No Republic Was Ever Greater," a podcast series examining the rise of the Roman Empire through the work of Livy and Machiavelli. Livy's Ab Urbe Condita: https://amzn.to/3gYwtbhMachiavelli's Discourses on Livy: https://amzn.to/3NtNBSjRené Girard's Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780804722155Plato's Republic: https://amzn.to/3H2XOU1New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com


