Showing results for "The Tyrant" in History

In Plato and the Tyrant, acclaimed historian and classicist James Romm draws on personal letters of Plato to show how a philosopher helped topple the leading Greek power of the era: the opulent city of Syracuse. There, Plato encountered two authoritarian rulers, a father and son both named Dionysius, and tried to steer them toward philosophy. At the same time, he worked on his masterpiece, Republic, in which he conceived a ruler who unites perfect wisdom with absolute power.

The greatest philosopher who ever lived. A dissolute tyrant in need of an education. What could possibly go wrong? Plato was the most brilliant thinker of his age. Head of the Academy in Athens, friend of the best minds of his generation, his philosophy was famous across the Greek world. But would he ever get the chance to try his ideas out?

A podcast dedicated to good cups of tea and not-so-good people: each week we dig into a historical leader and investigate their life, methods, and span of their rule, dissecting their brutal reputations and what they did to earn them. Join me (and occasionally my father) as we dive into some of history's deepest rabbit holes and uncover secrets about some of the past's most gruesome leaders as we ask ourselves over a nice cup of tea, "Were they really a tyrant, or were they just on the wrong side of history?"

Between 1796 and 1815, the continent of Europe was held in thrall by one of the most remarkable personalities of modern times, a man whose name was on the lips of every man, woman, and child: Napoleon Bonaparte. Certainly, one would have to go back to the time of Charlemagne to find his equal on the field of battle, in the halls of diplomacy, or in the courts of jurisprudence.