Free Republic

At the twilight of the Roman republic, few figures loom larger -- or cast darker shadows -- then Lucas Cornelius Sulla. Born into a once proud but impoverished family Sulla's journey from obscurity to unmatched power is one of the most tumultuous, ruthless, and consequential sagas in Roman history. His life traverses a landscape of war, betrayal, political manipulation, and personal ambition- all set against the backdrop of a crumbling Republic and the rising intentions that would ultimately birth an Empire.This episode doesn't just recount Sulla's meteoric rise; it explores the deeper currents that carried him forward in the...

Thomas Jefferson famously adapted key passages of John Locke’s Second Treatise in his draft Declaration of Independence. An 18th century gentleman could hardly regard himself as learned without the ability to quote a few Lockean passages from memory. Yet, what of the average colonial? Books were expensive imports. How were the yeomanry educated well enough in Lockean concepts to readily understand and accept this radical document, the Declaration of Independence? Through newspapers. Like modern Americans, our colonial forebears were also political junkies. Freewheeling editorials, letters to the editor that criticized parliamentary and colonial governments were standing features of public life....