Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
In this lecture, historian Dr Barry Strauss examines Augustus as the architect of Rome’s imperial settlement, tracing how a young heir of extraordinary ambition transformed a republic struggling with civil war into an enduring political order. Tracing events from the turmoil following Julius Caesar’s assassination to the victory at Actium, the creation of the Pax Romana, and Augustus’s claim to rule as Rome’s “first citizen,” Strauss highlights how Augustus secured power by building trust, managing rivals, and reshaping public life through law, ritual, architecture, and art. The talk concludes by asking what is preserved and what is lost when a society exchanges republican freedom for imperial stability, and what the study of ancient leadership can still teach us about prudence, courage, and political responsibility today.
Learn more and apply today at www.ralston.ac/apply
Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode:
Winston Churchill
William Shakespeare
Herod the Great
Homer
Virgil’s Aeneid
Cicero
Mark Antony
Julius Caesar
Cleopatra
– Chapters —
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:05:32 - Lecture Begins
00:08:05 - Youth
00:13:50 - The Republic’s Commanders
00:19:13 - The Magnitude of an Emperor's Ambition
00:26:05 - The Rulers of the Western Roman Empire
00:34:40 - Cleopatra
00:41:08 - King Herod
00:49:54 - The Golden Age of Treachery
00:56:35 - Information Warfare
01:02:08 - Roman Architecture
01:03:15 - Adopting Sons
01:08:03 - Sacrificing to Augustus
01:13:35 - Q&A: On Being the Sole Heir
01:15:05 - Pontifex and Augury
01:17:05 - From Polis to Empire
01:20:30 - Becoming More Audacious
01:23:20 - On the Counterfactual
01:26:00 - Pietas
01:27:53 - Virgil’s Attitude toward Augustus
01:33:50 - Closing Remarks
In this lecture, historian Dr Barry Strauss examines Augustus as the architect of Rome’s imperial settlement, tracing how a young heir of extraordinary ambition transformed a republic struggling with civil war into an enduring political order. Tracing events from the turmoil following Julius Caesar’s assassination to the victory at Actium, the creation of the Pax Romana, and Augustus’s claim to rule as Rome’s “first citizen,” Strauss highlights how Augustus secured power by building trust, managing rivals, and reshaping public life through law, ritual, architecture, and art. The talk concludes by asking what is preserved and what is lost when a society exchanges republican freedom for imperial stability, and what the study of ancient leadership can still teach us about prudence, courage, and political responsibility today.
Learn more and apply today at www.ralston.ac/apply
Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode:
Winston Churchill
William Shakespeare
Herod the Great
Homer
Virgil’s Aeneid
Cicero
Mark Antony
Julius Caesar
Cleopatra
– Chapters —
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:05:32 - Lecture Begins
00:08:05 - Youth
00:13:50 - The Republic’s Commanders
00:19:13 - The Magnitude of an Emperor's Ambition
00:26:05 - The Rulers of the Western Roman Empire
00:34:40 - Cleopatra
00:41:08 - King Herod
00:49:54 - The Golden Age of Treachery
00:56:35 - Information Warfare
01:02:08 - Roman Architecture
01:03:15 - Adopting Sons
01:08:03 - Sacrificing to Augustus
01:13:35 - Q&A: On Being the Sole Heir
01:15:05 - Pontifex and Augury
01:17:05 - From Polis to Empire
01:20:30 - Becoming More Audacious
01:23:20 - On the Counterfactual
01:26:00 - Pietas
01:27:53 - Virgil’s Attitude toward Augustus
01:33:50 - Closing Remarks
