Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

How to Be a Bad Emperor: An Ancient Guide to Truly Terrible Leaders

Series

1 of 47

Language
English
Format
Category

Non-Fiction

What would Caligula do? What the worst Roman emperors can teach us about how not to lead

If recent history has taught us anything, it's that sometimes the best guide to leadership is the negative example. But that insight is hardly new. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Suetonius wrote Lives of the Caesars, perhaps the greatest negative leadership book of all time. He was ideally suited to write about terrible political leaders; after all, he was also the author of Famous Prostitutes and Words of Insult, both sadly lost. In How to Be a Bad Emperor, Josiah Osgood provides crisp new translations of Suetonius's briskly paced, darkly comic biographies of the Roman emperors Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero. Entertaining and shocking, the stories of these ancient anti-role models show how power inflames leaders' worst tendencies, causing almost incalculable damage.

Complete with an introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, How to Be a Bad Emperor is both a gleeful romp through some of the nastiest bits of Roman history and a perceptive account of leadership gone monstrously awry. We meet Caesar, using his aunt's funeral to brag about his descent from gods and kings—and hiding his bald head with a comb-over and a laurel crown; Tiberius, neglecting public affairs in favor of wine, perverse sex, tortures, and executions; the insomniac sadist Caligula, flaunting his skill at cruel put-downs; and the matricide Nero, indulging his mania for public performance.

In a world bristling with strongmen eager to cast themselves as the Caesars of our day, How to Be a Bad Emperor is a delightfully enlightening guide to the dangers of power without character.

© 2020 Princeton University Press (Ebook): 9780691200941

Release date

Ebook: 4 February 2020

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason Justin Smith-Ruiu
  2. How to Innovate: An Ancient Guide to Creative Thinking Aristotle
  3. How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life Epictetus
  4. How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life Seneca
  5. The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World Catherine Nixey
  6. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars Suetonius
  7. The Practicing Stoic Ward Farnsworth
  8. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Paul Kriwaczek
  9. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, Weimar Centennial Edition Eric D. Weitz
  10. When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt Kara Cooney
  11. Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life Marie Kondo
  12. The Ancient Celts: Second Edition Barry Cunliffe
  13. Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Julia Annas
  14. Hegel: A Very Short Introduction Peter Singer
  15. Plato: A Very Short Introduction Julia Annas
  16. Ancient Greece, Second Edition: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times Thomas R. Martin
  17. Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization Richard Miles
  18. Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction Jonathan Barnes
  19. Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Steve Magness
  20. How to Be a Friend: An Ancient Guide to True Friendship Marcus Tullius Cicero
  21. Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt Barbara Mertz
  22. Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition Samir Okasha
  23. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Yuval Noah Harari
  24. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Richard H. Thaler
  25. The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life Bernard Roth
  26. Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World David Epstein
  27. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Julie Smith
  28. Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France Leonie Frieda