How do you trick a disciplined opponent with state-of-the-art equipment into entering a killing field? How do you turn an enemy’s strengths into his weaknesses? How do you get inside an enemy’s head?
These are some of the questions asked in “Great Battles of the Ancient World,” the new season of the popular podcast, “Antiquitas: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World,” presented by Barry Strauss, Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies in the Departments of History and Classics. The season premiere October 3.
“Great Battles” will tell the stories of ten classic battles, bringing them to life with all their drama and terror. It includes five engagements involving the Greeks and five involving the Romans, ranging from Marathon (490 BC) to Teutoburg Forest (AD 9). Most of the battles in the series were waged against foreign foes: respectively, the Persians, Carthaginians, and Germanic tribes.
“These are exciting and awful tales of great deeds and horrific violence, of heroism and butchery,” says Strauss.
“The battles make stirring stories. Reconstructing them offered challenging exercises in historical detective work,” he added. “But they are also rich in lessons for today’s world, a source of principles with broad applications, whether on the battlefield or in the boardroom.”
One highlight of the season: an interview with Brett McKay, founder of The Art of Manliness, the largest independent men’s interest magazine on the web. McKay is also author of "The Spartan Way: What Modern Men Can Learn from Ancient Warriors."
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