#455 - 2,000 Years of the Roman Empire: A Dialogue with Edward Watts

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Edward Watts about the 2,000 years of the Roman Empire. They provide an overview of the Roman Empire and the origins of the Romans, Greek influence and building institutions, Roman citizenship and identity, and the transition from Roman monarchy to Republic. They also talk about Cincinnatus, Carthage, transition from Republic to Empire, Marcus Aurelius, succession and Constantine, along with Christianity and rise of Islam. They also discuss Charlemagne, Macedonia, collapse of the Roman Empire, and many more topics. Edward Watts is an author and historian and holds the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Endowed Chair and is professor of history at the University of California, San Diego He has BAs in Classics and Ancient and Medieval Culture at Brown University, and received his PhD in History from Yale University in 2002. His research interests center on the intellectual, political, and religious history of the Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire. He is the author of seven books, including the most recent, The Romans: A 2,000-Year History. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sven Beckert about a global history of capitalism. They discuss how capitalism has always been global, positive and negative aspects of capitalism, origins and trading from a distance, capitalism within the state and in the countryside, slavery, working class, wealth and income inequality, capitalism in the 21st century, and many more topics. Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. His research and teaching center on the history of the United States in the nineteenth century, with a particular emphasis on the history of capitalism, including its economic, social, political and global dimensions. He is co-chair of the Program on the Study of Capitalism at Harvard University , co-chair of the Weatherhead Initiative on Global History (WIGH) and co-editor of a series of books at Princeton University Press on “America in the World.” His work has been supported by the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Humboldt Foundation, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, and the New York Public Library’s Center for Scholars and Writers, among others. He is the author of the latest book, Capitalism: A Global History. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Quico Toro about the current trends with modern charlatans. They talk about how charlatans have become more mainstream in present society, who is their audience, infamous charlatans, astrology, belief, social media, Trump, and many more topics. Quico Toro is a writer and editor who serves as the global opinion columnist for the Washington Post. He is based in Tokyo, Japan. He is the co-author (with Moises Naim) of the book, Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robin Waterfield and Polly Low about the new translation of Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War. They talk about the various plot points of the history, historical writing, inspiration from Herodotus, Polis city-states, and ethnicities and people groups. They also talk about authorship, oral vs. written history, translating from Attic Greek to English, translation choices, and many more topics. Robin Waterfield is a British classical scholar, translator, and editor, specializing in Ancient Greek philosophy. He has written and/or translated many works, including the recent English translation of Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War. Polly Low is a historian of ancient Greece, with particular interests in the political history of the Classical Greek World, and in the history (and ideology) of Greek interstate relations. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stanley Bill and Ben Stanley about the modern political themes of Poland. They discuss the rise of the Law and Justice party (PiS) and neoliberalism, Poland post-1989 and liberalism, and the impact of globalization and Western influence on Poland. They also talk about “Poland A” and “Poland B” and the rural and urban regions, cultural issues and backlash, institutional challenges, Poland’s current economics, future of Poland, and many more topics. Stanley Bill is Professor of Polish Studies, University of Cambridge. He is Chair of the Cambridge Committee for Russian and East European Studies (CamCREES). Ben Stanley is Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, SWPS University. They are the authors of the book, Good Change: The Rise and Fall of Poland’s Illiberal Revolution. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Cynthia Paces about the history of Prague. They talk about Prague as the heart of Europe, cultural diversity, and origins of Prague. They discuss Charles IV, Rudolph II, Maria Theresa, and Frantisek Palacky as major figures in developing Prague as a modern and cosmopolitan city. They talk about Prague throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and many more topics. Cynthia Paces is a historian and professor of history at The College of New Jersey. Her main interests are in East-Central Europe and an interdisciplinary approach to history, incorporating art, architecture, film, gender, religion, and medicine into her teaching and research. She is the author of the book, Prague: The Heart of Europe. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michael Gurven about humans living for seven decades. They discuss our evolution for seven decades, post-reproductive life, healthspan vs. lifespan, subsistence populations, multigenerational cooperation, older age, seven decades in the future, and many more topics. Michael Gurven is an evolutionary anthropologist and professor at University of California-Santa Barbara. He has conducted fieldwork for two decades with South American indigenous populations, and his work takes an evolutionary perspective on behavior, health, physiology and psychology. Since 2002, he has co-directed the Tsimane’ Health and Life History Project to better understand how aspects of environment and lifestyle affect health and lifespan in subsistence-level societies. His research applies an evolutionary lens to help inform our understanding of today’s complex diseases. He is the author of the book, Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with John Burt about Lincoln and moral conflict. They discuss Lincoln’s tragic pragmatism for morals and public engagement, on slavery and emancipation, implicit concepts, freedom, moral obsessions, and liberalism. They also talk about morals and violence, popular sovereignty, cultural shifts, the Whig party, Rawls, modern comparisons, America as an idea, and many other topics. John Burt is a professor of American literature at Brandeis University. His main research interests are 19th-century American literature, 20th-century American literature (especially poetry), Southern Gothic fiction, American romantic fiction, composition, and rhetoric. He is the author of the book, Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, and Moral Conflict. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Audrey Truschke about the history of India. They discuss India as a subcontinent, the Indus Valley civilization, nomadic to cities and empires, trade, Indo-European language and Sanskrit, Vedas and Hinduism, and development of other religions. They also talk about Ashoka, the caste system, Muslims, Ghurids, Sikhism, the Mughal Empire, British Raj, India today and the future of India. Audrey Truschke is Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. She is the author of four books, including the most recent book, India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Scott McGill and Susannah Wright about their new English translation of The Aeneid. They discuss past English translations of The Aeneid, plot of The Aeneid, and comparisons with Homer’s epics. They discuss authorship of Virgil, The Aeneid as Roman propaganda, translating from Latin into English and the oral vs. written tradition. They also talked about the Iambic vs. Dactylic meter, relationship between humans and gods, why The Aeneid is still relevant for the 21st century, and many more topics. Scott McGill is Deedee McMurtry Professor in Humanities at Rice University. work focuses on Latin poetry, Roman history and culture, and on the reception of classical antiquity. He is an expert on Virgil and the Latin poetry of late antiquitySusannah Wright is an assistant professor of classical studies and Roman history at Rice University. Her research centers on Greco-Roman literature, history, and culture and its medieval and modern receptions, as well as Latin and Greek epic texts of all periods, women and gender in antiquity, politics and literature in late republican and imperial Rome, and ancient and medieval histories of the Trojan War. They are the co-translators of the new English translation of The Aeneid. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe