No ancient ruler inspired more legends than Julius Caesar. Under his leadership, Rome conquered territory throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, reaching the North Sea and conducting the first Roman invasion of Great Britain. His tactical acumen and intuitive understanding of how armies work birthed a military structure that allowed Roman generals to expand the boundaries of the empire for generations, and his vision of a unified Europe inspired military leaders for hundreds of years. Yet, in addition to his commanding leadership of Roman troops, Caesar was also a gifted orator and skilled politician who successfully maneuvered within the most complex and well-established bureaucratic system in the world. In this fast-paced look at one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen, acclaimed author Bill Yenne charts the major events that shaped Caesar's leadership, his rise to power, and his crashing fall.

Analyzes the leadership and strategies of three forefront military leaders from the ancient world, offers insight into the purposes behind their conflicts, and shows what today's leaders can glean from their successes and failures.

“Ancipreneur: Ancient paths for Modern Success” stands as a pioneering tome, masterfully bridging the chasm between the profound insights of ancient philosophies and the exigencies of contemporary business enterprises. Within its pages, this book undertakes a profound exploration of the enduring wisdom encapsulated within venerable scriptures such as The Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, and the Vedas, while also drawing inspiration from the sagacious doctrines of Stoic philosophers, Chinese sages, and tribal chieftains. It deftly illustrates how these age-old teachings from different parts of the World can serve as a wellspring of invaluable counsel within modern commerce's dynamic and rapid-paced milieu. Far more than a mere historical voyage, this book emerges as a pragmatic guide, offering a blueprint for the seamless integration of ethical decision-making, tenacious resilience, and sustainable practices into the very fabric of contemporary business strategies. Enriched with poignant parallels drawn between contemporary brand exemplars and momentous historical occurrences, it stands as an illuminating revelation, an indispensable companion for entrepreneurs seeking to beat competition and maintain a steadfast connection to their moral compass. This profoundly insightful composition is tailor-made for entrepreneurs, astute business leaders, and anyone with a vested interest in personal growth. It proffers an invigorating perspective on the very essence of success, fervently accentuating the significance of communal collaboration, enduring sustainability, and the unwavering pursuit of ethical principles. By adroitly intertwining the wisdom of antiquity with the multifaceted challenges of the present era, this book assumes the role of a guiding beacon, offering direction to those navigating the intricate labyrinth of contemporary entrepreneurship and leadership.

The Peace of Utrecht (1713), which brought an end to the War of the Spanish Succession, was a milestone in global history. Performances of Peace aims to rethink the significance of the Peace of Utrecht by exploring the nexus between culture and politics. For too long, cultural and political historians have studied early modern international relations in isolation. By studying the political as well as the cultural aspects of this peace (and its concomitant paradoxes) from a broader perspective, this volume aims to shed new light on the relation between diplomacy and performative culture in the public sphere. Contributors are: Samia Al-Shayban, Lucien Bély, Renger E. de Bruin, Suzan van Dijk, Heinz Duchhardt, Julie Farguson, Linda Frey, Marsha Frey, Willem Frijhoff, Henriette Goldwyn, Cornelis van der Haven, Clare Jackson, Lotte Jensen, Phil McCluskey, Jane O. Newman, Aaron Alejandro Olivas, David Onnekink. This book is available in Open Access.

What actions are justified when the fate of a nation hangs in the balance, and who can see the best path ahead? Julius Caesar has led Rome successfully in the war against Pompey and returns celebrated and beloved by the people. Yet in the senate fears intensify that his power may become supreme and threaten the welfare of the republic. A plot for his murder is hatched by Caius Cassius who persuades Marcus Brutus to support him. Though Brutus has doubts, he joins Cassius and helps organize a group of conspirators that assassinate Caesar on the Ides of March. But, what is the cost to a nation now erupting into civil war? A fascinating study of political power, the consequences of actions, the meaning of loyalty and the false motives that guide the actions of men, Julius Caesar is action packed theater at its finest.

At its very center, The Cultivation of Character and Culture in Roman Rhetorical Education: The Available Means is a study of the subtle, organic ways that rhetoric can work to cultivate a particular character. This is an extension of the current work in composition studies, which focus on the ways that writing instruction contributes to the development of individual power and agency in students, combined with an ancient understanding of the ways that students learned to act within a particular, accepted cultural framework. It recognizes and reclaims a lost dimension of rhetoric, a dimension that is conceptually linked to the martial culture of the ancient world, to show how ancient rhetorical theory framed the discipline as an education in thinking, speaking, and acting in ways that were necessary to be both a persuasive speaker and an effective leader. Through close readings and analysis of particular rhetorical exercises, the book shows how rhetorical education shaped characters that were appropriate in the eyes of the dominant culture but were also capable of working independently to progressively alter that culture. In showing the ways that rhetorical education shaped a particular character, the book demonstrates the ways that the combination character, culture, and virtue are vital to leadership in any time.

Will your team work together with energy and enthusiasm, fear and frustration, or just go through the motions? With a proper understanding of how emotions work, the choice might just be up to you! Emotion, more than any million-dollar tool in your highly educated arsenal, spells the difference between stellar and mediocre team performance. Fear, anger, frustration, and other negative feelings can endanger a group's dynamic. But positive emotions have the power to transform it into a high-performance engine. Their minds sharpen. They find creative solutions. Everyone operates at their peak.Drawing on the latest research, Primal Teams shows how anyone can control potentially damaging emotions, while triggering the kind of passion and energy that supercharge performance. Illustrated with compelling examples, this groundbreaking guide reveals how to: • Transform fear and negativity• Energize primal emotional systems• Activate insight and intuition• Foster emotional bonds and team spirit• Connect the team to a deeper purpose• And moreDon’t let your team’s performance hinge on what side of the bed someone woke up on. With the array of insights and practical tools in this one-of-a-kind resource, you can learn how to inspire an unprecedented level of performance by harnessing the power of positive emotion.

A history of western medicine

“Pugh’s first novel is a magnificent achievement. Let us hope he returns to enthral us with another very soon.” David Dickinson, author of the Powerscourt series The Otiosi? As far as Mathew Longstaff knows, they’re just a group of harmless scholars with an eccentric interest in the works of antiquity. When they ask him to travel east, to recover a lost text from Ivan the Terrible’s private library, he can’t think of anything but the reward – home. A return to England and an end to the long years of exile and warfare. But the Otiosi are on the trail of a greater prize than Longstaff realises – the legendary ‘Devil’s Library’. And they are not alone. Gregorio Spina, the pope’s spymaster and chief censor, is obsessed with finding the Library. It’s not the accumulated wisdom of centuries he’s after – a swamp of lies and heresy in his opinion – but among the filth, like a diamond at the centre of the Devil’s black heart, Spina believes that God has placed a treasure, a weapon to defeat the Antichrist and pitch his hordes back into hell. Only Longstaff, together with the unpredictable physician, Gaetan Durant, can stop Spina using the Library to plunge Europe into a second Dark Ages. The two adventurers fight their way south, from the snowfields of Muscovy to the sun-baked plains of Italy, where an ageing scholar and his beautiful, young protégé hold the final piece of the puzzle. But is it already too late? Can the four of them take on the might of the Roman Church and hope to win?

"A brilliant book on a number of different levels. Lascelles has an engaging prose style and an amazing eye for detail and apposite anecdote. Surely only purblind Catholic zelanti will object to this outstanding analysis.” – Frank McLynn, author of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and 1066 “Lascelles has achieved the seemingly impossible: a concise and highly readable history of Catholic Popes that manages to be extremely entertaining and informative at the same time.” – Gerald Posner, author of God’s Bankers “Lascelles has taken an overwhelming subject, and not been overwhelmed by it in any way. A highly enjoyable read. ” – Paul Strathern, author of The Medici For many people, the popes are an irrelevance: if they consider them at all, it may be as harmless old men who preach obscure sermons in Latin. But the history of the popes is far from bland. On the contrary, it is occasionally so bizarre as to stretch credulity. Popes have led papal armies, fled in disguise, fathered children (including future popes), and authorised torture. They have been captured, assaulted and murdered. While many have been admired, others have been hated to such a degree that their funeral processions have been disrupted and statues of them torn down after their deaths. Many have been the enemies of freedom and progress – divisive rather than unifying figures. In a fascinating and engaging read, best-selling author Christopher Lascelles examines the history of the popes through the ages, laying bare the extent to which many of them fell so very short of the Christian ideals they supposedly represented. He explains how it was that, professing to follow a man who said ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ and 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth’, they nevertheless became the heads of a rich state that owned more land in Europe than any king, relying on foreign military aid to keep power; and how pride, greed and corruption became commonplace in an institution founded on love, faith and forgiveness. This book is aimed at the general reader who is short on time and seeks an accessible overview unencumbered by ecclesiastical jargon and scholarly controversies.