Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy
What made Athenian democracy so strong and vibrant? Jiang Xueqin explains that theater taught Athenians how to be democratic citizens. The three major dramatists were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripid...
25 Touko 55min
The Trial of Socrates and Plato's Allegory of the Cave
In 399 BCE the Athenian people condemned Socrates to drink hemlock. In this lecture to Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin examines the significance and legacy of the trial of Socrates. During ...
25 Touko 42min
The Greatness of Philip II of Macedon
In this talk Jiang Xueqin examines how Philip II of Macedon turned his kingdom from a poor and weak nation into the military hegemony that would conquer Persia. In his youth, Philip was a hostage at T...
25 Touko 55min
The Tyranny of Alexander the Great
We celebrate Alexander the Great as one of the greatest conquerors of history. What motivated him? Was he truly a strategic genius? What is his ultimate legacy?Professor Jiang Xueqin presents a revisi...
25 Touko 52min
Aristotle and the Greek Legacy
Plato and Aristotle are considered the two most influential philosophers of Western antiquity. But there are three central paradoxes surrounding the life and work of Aristotle. He is considered a bril...
25 Touko 54min
Hannibal Barca, Lucius Brutus, and the Triumph of Rome
In 216 BCE, Hannibal Barca of Carthage defeated Rome at the Battle of Cannae. After three devastating defeats to Hannibal, Rome had lost twenty percent of its adult male population, and one-third of i...
25 Touko 1h 13min
The Myth-Making Genius of Julius Caesar
Professor Jiang Xueqin examines the life and times of Julius Caesar. What motivated him? What made him so successful? Why was he assassinated? In 100 BCE, Julius Caesar was born into the "Imperial Rep...
25 Touko 1h 6min
Julius Caesar's Will and Octavian's Birth of Empire
In 44 BCE, an eighteen-year old Octavian arrived in Rome without an army and without political alliances, and seventeen years later he became Rome’s first emperor. How did he do it?Professor Jiang Xue...
25 Touko 51min
