Alex Petkus

And they're kind of becoming less and less Roman and more and more cosmopolitan as... The empire is bigger and there's there's money to be made far off a field. And I think that you start to see this. I mean, this could be kind of compared to America in the early 20th century when we won one world war than a second. And our influence is just skyrocketed.

And they're kind of becoming less and less Roman and more and more cosmopolitan as... The empire is bigger and there's there's money to be made far off a field. And I think that you start to see this. I mean, this could be kind of compared to America in the early 20th century when we won one world war than a second. And our influence is just skyrocketed.

We still think of ourselves as salt of the earth, country folk. in the, you know, the heartland, that contrast between the cosmopolitan wealthy elites versus who we used to be, like the salt of the earth that represents our best qualities, you definitely see that happening already in the mid-second century BC, like the 160s, 170s BC.

We still think of ourselves as salt of the earth, country folk. in the, you know, the heartland, that contrast between the cosmopolitan wealthy elites versus who we used to be, like the salt of the earth that represents our best qualities, you definitely see that happening already in the mid-second century BC, like the 160s, 170s BC.

This is like a good hundred years before the heyday of Julius Caesar is like...

This is like a good hundred years before the heyday of Julius Caesar is like...

the the pressure starting to build on the republican system all this money coming in and the problems of elites becoming disconnected from the activities that are proper to the political class like military leadership this is something momson talks about the great roman historian like the equestrians and the senators were they had all these opportunities to go speculate on land and uh

the the pressure starting to build on the republican system all this money coming in and the problems of elites becoming disconnected from the activities that are proper to the political class like military leadership this is something momson talks about the great roman historian like the equestrians and the senators were they had all these opportunities to go speculate on land and uh

you know, hunt out great lucrative government contracts and they're telling themselves, oh, I can use this money to run my political campaign. But maybe they just go and they make a lot of money. They spend the rest of their life doing that and they don't ever get around to the campaign for consulship or the commanding of armies. And so you start to get this

you know, hunt out great lucrative government contracts and they're telling themselves, oh, I can use this money to run my political campaign. But maybe they just go and they make a lot of money. They spend the rest of their life doing that and they don't ever get around to the campaign for consulship or the commanding of armies. And so you start to get this

branching of talent and they get very disconnected from the concerns and lives of regular Romans and the kind of tastes and culture of regular Romans. So I think empire in the sense of not being a monarchy, but in the sense of having this great overseas

branching of talent and they get very disconnected from the concerns and lives of regular Romans and the kind of tastes and culture of regular Romans. So I think empire in the sense of not being a monarchy, but in the sense of having this great overseas

influence puts new stresses on a state that is part of what we're dealing with in america in the 20th and the 21st century you know foreign wars who gets who pays the bill who who who reaps the profits is this really expanding our influence in the way that we think it is is making us more powerful in the world or just more hated etc etc so the romans are dealing with a lot of similar questions

influence puts new stresses on a state that is part of what we're dealing with in america in the 20th and the 21st century you know foreign wars who gets who pays the bill who who who reaps the profits is this really expanding our influence in the way that we think it is is making us more powerful in the world or just more hated etc etc so the romans are dealing with a lot of similar questions

Yeah, great question. Well, if it starts in the 150s, 140s, it gets worse for a long time before you have this tipping point. The Gracchi are the 130s BC, and the Gracchi are basically these two brothers who

Yeah, great question. Well, if it starts in the 150s, 140s, it gets worse for a long time before you have this tipping point. The Gracchi are the 130s BC, and the Gracchi are basically these two brothers who

are aristocrats themselves, but they see this great wealth inequality dividing the Roman state and profiteering on the part of senatorial and equestrian landholders, hoarding land and wealth for themselves. They're trying to redistribute public lands and reward the soldiers better for their service. And, you know, the senators, let's just say that the rich

are aristocrats themselves, but they see this great wealth inequality dividing the Roman state and profiteering on the part of senatorial and equestrian landholders, hoarding land and wealth for themselves. They're trying to redistribute public lands and reward the soldiers better for their service. And, you know, the senators, let's just say that the rich

are bringing in a lot of foreign slaves to work their lands as, you know, because they're basically doing agriculture for profit. And I think that this dynamic is really what makes the Gracchi kind of similar to, say, the populists on the right today, even though they would have been seen as left-wing populists. You know, there is a real sense of, like,

are bringing in a lot of foreign slaves to work their lands as, you know, because they're basically doing agriculture for profit. And I think that this dynamic is really what makes the Gracchi kind of similar to, say, the populists on the right today, even though they would have been seen as left-wing populists. You know, there is a real sense of, like,