History’s most effective weapon never killed anyone…

Yet it toppled empires, crushed civilizations, and is destroying us right now.

The French revolutionaries discovered it.

The Soviets perfected it.

And for the past decade, we’ve been drowning in it... 🧵 “Demoralization” is the weapon of choice for revolutionaries.

Their ambition?

Break the will of the mighty without direct conflict (spiritual warfare).

Their method?

Make the strong doubt their own strength (disillusionment).

The result?

The undefeatable become self-defeated.

How do you convince terrified people to face their worst fears?

Julius Caesar mastered this in 58 BC with a framework so powerful, it's still taught in leadership courses today.

Here are his 7 tactics…🧵 Rome’s Darkest Hour:

• Caesar had just won his first major victory (vs. Helvetii)

• His 5-year command hung by a thread

• German tribes threatened Roman allies

• His aristocratic officers sought to flee from Ariovistus's army

• The whispered M-word: mutiny

A perfect case study in crisis leadership.

Cato never wore a crown, yet corrupt Roman officials TREMBLED at his name.

Rome’s most unyielding senator revealed a paradox of power that’s been hiding in plain sight for 2,000 years... 🧵 1. Make disagreeable choices with conviction

While Roman senators wore purple-trimmed togas to flaunt status, Cato entered the Senate with simplicity, dressed in a plain tunic.

When Caesar offered him a lucrative provincial post to get him out of Rome, he refused.

Cato did not budge, his statements held true integrity.

Even his enemies had to admit it: Cato could not be bought.

When both Caesar and Pompey tried to draw him into political alliance through family marriage offers, he rejected them. Every refusal amplified his independence.

In 54 BC, Caesar faced impossible odds in Britain.

His response revealed 3 principles that can separate a world historical conqueror from a forgotten also-ran... 🧵 1: Adaptability wins. Be the Fox.

Caesar's legions were struggling against British charioteers who were riding up and down the field around like Indo-European warlords. (They used effective hit-and-run tactics). So, Caesar didn't stick to Roman doctrine. Instead, he innovated.

His heavy infantry was outmaneuvered, so he adapted his cavalry tactics:

He ordered them to fight in loose formation, to maintain gaps between riders, thereby dispersing the momentum of the chariots in useless pass-throughs. It's kind of wu-wei.

Then, his enemies refused open battle.

He changed his strategy:

- Burned villages in "King" Cassivellaunus's territory.

- Destroyed British grain fields that were ready for harvest.

They eventually came out to fight, and exposed themselves to defeats on the battlefield.

Great leaders evolve fast (and Caesar was faster than most)

This is what they said about Cato the Younger.

Before he faced off with Julius Caesar,

Cato was the worst nightmare of crooked Roman elites and the bureaucrats who protected them.

To DOGE and other anti-corruption crusaders:

Here are some lessons from your founding hero 🧵 As a young man Cato was elected Quaestor.

Duties consisted of accounting and paperwork.

For most ambitious youths, this bookish role was just a stepping stone, a formality.

"Don't piss anyone off" was the going wisdom.

But Cato used it to take on Rome's most powerful men.

Emperor Julian gets unlimited power, has one goal: Kill Christianity and restore the old gods.

20 months later, he is dead.

His legacy?

One dead goose, several humiliations, and a nickname that stuck:

“Julian the Apostate.”

His lessons on how (not) to revive a religion:
🧵 Context: 4th c. AD.

The old ways are dying.

The traditional paganism of Rome and Greece of Homer, Plato, Caesar, Aurelius – is losing its edge.

Despite decades of persecution – thousands of martyrs burned, crucified, and fed to lions — Christianity is booming.

America needs Education reform. BUT

Great Books is for Losers.

If you think they (or concepts like "the Canon") provide the solution for restoring American education, you might be a loser too.

Some highlights from my latest piece for the American Mind. 🧵 1/ A list of Great Books is not what forged men of the great ages of the past

Steve Bannon called for "Rough Roman Justice" last week.

10 Lessons from a century of Rough Roman Justice:
🧵 1). Implicate the Senate

Sulla, seizing Rome (88 BC) had the Senate declare Marius & friends Public Enemies.

Marius escaped with his life, but

--> The establishment was now determined to keep the "Enemies" down/away when Sulla was absent.

Out of fear, if nothing else.

In the late Roman Republic, "legal" tampering with voting rolls caused the great First Civil War.

This happened by sudden, massive additions of "new citizens" by legislative fiat.

The parallels to today offer many lessons. 🧵 Background:
in the 100s BC, there was widespread discontent with the elites.

The oligarchic establishment was getting rich

Forever Wars, Petty plundering, government contracts, foreign bribes, importing cheap labor

Inequality skyrocketed

The Gracchi Brothers were the first to try to do something about it, in the previous generation

Assassinations: a telling sign of Late Republic turmoil.

History is not over, it is accelerating.

Some classic case studies from Rome and their lessons: 🧵 1: Servilius Glaucia was running for consul for the year 99 BC.

His candidature was illegal (he had been praetor the year before, you're supposed to wait 2 years).

Fearing a challenge from a more respectable candidate (Memmius), Glaucia simply had the man murdered by a mob in broad daylight.

If you think one man can't change the course of history,

You're underestimating the power of influence.

Here's how a world without Julius Caesar would look:🧵 Let's start with politics.

Without Caesar, the First Triumvirate would never have existed

Crassus and Pompey might have never consolidated their power.

Republican government in Rome could've lasted *much* longer.

The title Kaiser, Tsar, even the concept "Emperor" ?

Poof.

The US is entering uncharted waters.

Political prosecutions are what brought down the Roman Republic.

Here's how. 🧵 Donald Trump is the first US president to be indicted, let alone ruled a felon by a US court.

The court system of any society is designed to be a neutral arbiter of disputes;

Trust in the courts is crucial to prevent spirals of retributive violence.

Everyone should understand the real reasons behind Julius Caesar's assassination.

Unfortunately, most don't...

A deep dive into the untold story from the eyes of one of Caesar’s closest ally, Brutus: 🧵 1/
Brutus was a firm believer in the principle that no single man should hold too much power.

His belief stemmed from a personal connection - he claimed descent from Lucius Junius Brutus,

the man who helped overthrow a tyrannical king in the past.

Cicero was Rome's greatest orator.

His most famous speech is a character assassination.

Here are 8 tools from it you can use

(or be on guard against) Background:

The politician Catiline campaigned on a populist ticket (debt relief, property redistribution)

But he also had many allies among the Roman nobles.

When he failed to be elected consul 2 times,

He started planning a Revolution.

Were the Spartans losers?

A response to Devereaux's claim

That we should stop looking to the Spartans for inspiration: @bretDevereaux has criticized the Spartans at great length on his blog,
"A collection of Unmitigated Pedantry."

He is admirably learned, but this may be a case of missing the forest for the trees.

There are also some misleading and wrong claims in his FP article.

The story of the speech that defeated Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar's greatest opponent was Cato the Younger.

Their rivalry pushed Rome to Civil War.

But 13 years before that, in a different crisis, they sparred in the Senate.

Cato's speech is a master class in stirring complacent men to action.

Here are 9 lessons from it:

Julius Caesar was Rome's 2nd greatest orator

(after Cicero)

Here are 9 lessons from a brilliant early speech of his,
that made his career take off. Early in his career, Caesar had no military victories to his name.

Even though came from a good family, most serious politicians didn't take him seriously.

He was in deep debt, and had a reputation as a playboy.

But at age 37, he took a stance everyone would remember.

Have you heard of the Roman Eagle?

Before it symbolized Roman imperial power,

The Romans thought it stood for something else.





The eagle was a military standard.

In battle, one soldier's *entire job* was to hold the eagle up for his unit.

It was Gaius Marius (157-86 BC) who standardized the eagle for the Roman army.

He is pictured below triumphing over one of Rome's great enemies, Jugurtha.

What is the true Spartan mindset?

15 insights from Sparta's greatest King

That will help you build a legacy that outlasts you. "The greatest and most illustrious of the Greeks in our time;"

Under King Agesilaus, Sparta grew to its greatest power and influence, in the era of Plato and Xenophon.

Today, he has his critics.

But he inspired Philip II, and Alexander the Great.

Here are his words:

If you attempt a coup...

and fail,

What might happen to you?

Some classic examples: Machiavelli's warning on coups and conspiracies:

"No more hazardous or desperate undertaking can be engaged in by any private citizen; whence it comes that while many conspiracies are planned, few effect their object."

He had some of the following examples in mind.

In response to @davidsacks,

@elonmusk wondered if the US needs a modern day Sulla.

What would that mean?

Why are people still fascinated by this ancient Roman dictator? Here is the post:

(Analysis towards the end)

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1668673066115711011