008– Masters of the World

Listen:

Ever compared yourself to the great figures of history?  Ever been tempted to run 3 times, arse-naked, around the ruins of Troy?  Ever been in a fight outside a dodgy nightclub at two in the morning?  Then this podcast is for you. 

We look at the beginnings of Biography and Autobiography, comparing Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.  Do they deserve their reputations?  Who was greater?  Can we podcast coherently after an all-night party, without any sound issues?  (Spoiler warning: not entirely)  Join us to find out - the die is cast!

Battle of the Books - Round 8

• Arrian – Anabasis

• Plutarch – The Parallel Lives (here we discuss his Alexander vs Caesar, but he did dozens of other comparative lives of ancient Greeks and Romans, including Demosthenes vs Cicero)

• Caesar – The Gallic Wars (and if you enjoy it, he follows up with The Civil Wars)

• Wildcard:  Suetonius – The Lives of the Caesars (continued by Pseudo-Suetonius: don’t miss the Life of Elagabalus)

Shortcuts

Oliver Stone’s Alexander is sadly flawed (and miscast), but has a couple of excellent and historically-accurate scenes.

2 classic TV series cover the early Caesars in the spirit of Suetonius: I Claudius, and Rome.

Battle of the Booze

Double Dutch Old Bols Genever gin and Rubicon (mango, guava, or lychee) – in honour of Caesar.  Almost as good a morning-after cocktail as Breakfast of Champion’s own creation: the infamous Bowel Buster TM (double vodka and Yakult, stirred with a Barocca vitamin bomb)

Poll of Champions

We want your votes!  Which book would you save?  Vote here!

Feedback

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