What Can Ancient History Tell Us About Revolutions?

What Can Ancient History Tell Us About Revolutions?

Author: Classical Wisdom March 12, 2026 Duration: 1:21:38
Long before crowds stormed Bastille or Winter Palace, Greek thinkers treated revolution as the ultimate civic nightmare. So how did an existential danger morph into a promise of liberation—and what happens when that promise curdles into violence? In this dynamic online forum, Dan Edelstein, Professor of French at Stanford University, is joined by classical-political heavyweights Josiah Ober, Professor of Political Science and Classics at Stanford University, and Melissa Lane, Professors...

There's a quiet conversation happening across the centuries, and tuning into Classical Wisdom Speaks lets you overhear it. This isn't a dry lecture series, but a place where the vivid stories, enduring philosophies, and complex lives of the ancient world are examined for what they can tell us today. Each episode, brought to you by Classical Wisdom, feels like a thoughtful discussion with experts who are passionate about making these ideas accessible and relevant. You'll hear about the strategic dilemmas faced by Athenian generals, the poetic insights of Sappho, or the ethical questions posed by Stoic thinkers, all framed in a way that connects directly to contemporary life. The goal is to listen to these foundational voices not as historical artifacts, but as active participants in our own modern dilemmas. This history podcast thrives on the belief that the struggles for meaning, justice, and a good life are timeless, and that the ancients still have a lot to say if we know how to listen. The dialogue between past and present is surprisingly lively, and each episode invites you to join in, finding unexpected guidance and perspective from some of history's most profound minds.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Classical Wisdom Speaks
Podcast Episodes
The Story of Thebes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:28:46
Everyone knows Athens and Sparta...and yet, THEBES is not the common household name it should be. From its captivating mythology to its fantastic history, we’ll look at the archeology, the military, the legends and the t…
Magnus Maximus & Roman Britain in the 4th Century AD [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:44
In the boom time in Roman Britain, 3rd century AD, one Roman Emperor made his mark on the chaotic island before he was canceled in his own time... and afterwards. But was the treatment of Magnus Maximus unfair? Was he ju…
Why Myths Matter - With Stephen Fry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:26
The famed actor and comedian, Stephen Fry, discusses the ancient languages, etymology, and the joy of discovering the Classics through ancient Greek. We question whether Odysseus... or any of the other great names were r…
Who Was Julian? Rome’s Last Pagan Emperor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:15
Flavius Claudius Julianus turned the world upside down. Also known as Julian the Apostate as well as Julian the Philosopher, he ruled Rome as sole emperor for just a year and a half, from 361 to 363. Nonetheless, his imp…
Who Was the Legendary Aeneas and Was He Real? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:22
Is there evidence to the tales of Aeneas and the Trojan refugees migrating to Italian shores? Classical Wisdom presents Petros Koutoupis, as he explores this narrative and attempts to shed light on the archaeology of the…
Apocalypse Now... Versus Apocalypse Then [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:59
Throughout the ages people have imagined “apocalypses”... but how they determined the end of the world shaped their philosophies... as is still the case. From natural disaster and moral revenge to our modern situation of…
Game Theory in the Ancient World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:40
How aware are we when we make choices? From playing rock paper scissors and gambling to complex ethical decisions like the trolley problem and self-driving cars, game theory and choice theory are hugely important and imp…