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

A single speech can start a revolution.

6 lessons on persuasion from Catiline,

who almost overthrew the Roman Republic: Nietzsche called Catiline "The antecedent form of every Caesar"

The trial of his conspirators later divided Rome

Caesar pled for mercy
Cato and Cicero argued for death.

Lessons from the speech Catiline made to begin his conspiracy:

1. The Speech is the End, not the Beginning:

How to eliminate a political opponent.

Here are 20 classic tricks.

1. Arrest & prosecute them. Aemilius Scaurus once prosecuted the Stoic Rutilius Rufus for bribery.

It was ridiculous. Rufus was honest.

Even if the charge doesn't stick, you tar their reputation,

Maybe enough to get a conviction next time.

See also: Critias and Theramenes of Athens.

These 10 architectural marvels of Rome will inspire you to greatness.

See them with your own eyes before you die. 1. San Carlo at the Four Fountains

By Borromini, mad genius of the Baroque period,

Who usually had to work to his patron's specifications,

But here, got permission to do whatever he wanted.

The result is a stunning, absolutely unique chapel:

Julius Caesar: Consul 4 times

(consul=Rome's highest office)

Pompey - 3x
Sulla - 2x

Gaius Marius: SEVEN times

(Record holder for the Roman Republic)

Marius, "Third Founder of Rome," was Caesar's uncle.

Here is the most important speech of his career and how he nailed it: Setup 1/5

Before he conquered the Cimbri or started the Roman Civil War,

Gaius Marius was an obscure provincial

BUT, at age 50, the PEOPLE elected him consul (his first time)

(Marius: first "new man" in >30 years)

...In anger at the ESTABLISHMENT elites of Rome

Marius:

8 ancient Christian texts every Atheist should read.

I have spent just as much time on classic Christian books as classic Pagan ones.

I'm not an atheist, but if I were,

These are the ones these are the ones that would help me find God.

(besides the Bible) Even if they don't convert you, these are worth reading.

Selected because they are:

-Short
-Influential
-Accessible
-Narrative driven mostly

I find stories about real, amazing people more engaging than theology.

These illustrate why Christianity conquered Rome.

Sulla was Rome's deadliest general.

He almost had young Julius Caesar executed.

But thousands loved Sulla, too.

9 keys to Sulla's effectiveness, that can make you just as deadly: Brief bio:

Born in 138 B.C. into an obscure branch of a noble Roman clan,

Sulla rose from humble beginnings to be Praetor, Consul (2x), Dictator.

He is most famous for winning the First Roman Civil War

Then slaughtering his defeated foes to punish them (w/ "Proscriptions").