Join Boris Johnson, Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, as they debate the significance of the world’s most timeless civilizations: Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Mr. Johnson defends the culture, art, and philosophy of Ancient Greece, while Dr. Beard argues for the supremacy of Roman law, literature, and influence. In the debate, originally hosted by Intelligence Squared, Mr. Johnson weighs the brutality of the Roman government and society against the democratic and flourishing city-state of Athens, while Dr. Beard reminds the audience of the imperialism of the Athenians in The Melian Dialogue and their tyranny and corruption in the trial of Socrates. With which do you side: the city that was the birthplace of democracy and the home of the legacies of Homer, Plato, and Sophocles; or the Eternal City with its rich tradition of Virgil, Cicero, Plutarch, and the Triumvirates?
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Neither side has perfection, if that’s possible, both sides have much to say in their favor. Is that elusive enough for you? It certainly is for me. I do wonder what kind of audiences we would have were these two combatants Americans, or do such exist as such. Perhaps I’ve missed it. The classical age is forever tempting us in its richness, always beckoning us to follow it, always teaching and surprising us, so be it.
‘Greece or Rome?’ Both. Ultimately the Roman Empire incorporated Greek Philosophy, art and music and added Hebrew Theology in subjecting itself to Christ. New Rome was founded on the shores of the Bosphorus and the Christian Greco-Roman Empire endured for around 1000 years.