Timothy Wutrich, Ph.D. – Senior Instructor, Department of Classics, Case Western Reserve University

Rachel Sternberg, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Department of Classics, Case Western Reserve University

Dear Colleagues:

President Trump’s election, the nature of his appeals to the public and some of his behavior have prompted some discussions of “Caesarism”: the term used by Antonio Gramsci for nations turning to a “strong leader” who offers a return to national glory and escape from the disorders of a failing political system. It’s a nice term to symbolize the gravest worries about the consequences of current political trends. But what might we learn if we take the allusion seriously, and think about the classical examples?

We might, first, think that President Trump is very different from Julius Caesar – who was, after all, an established political leader with a long record of service (and a literary stylist in more than 140 characters). We might carefully compare the political contexts of Caesars’ and Trump’s rises, including the failures of existing elites in each system and the tensions within republics that have already begun, in some ways, to act like empires. Considering Roman emperors might also encourage thinking about courts (or White Houses) – the rivalries within them and questions of loyalty and competence. And we might pay close attention to the challenges and cleavages that offer opportunities for takeovers by strong leaders – such as of Athens by Peisistratos. So there is lots to think about, and we can do so with Tim Wutrich, a specialist in ancient Rome, with comments by Rachel Sternberg, whose work focuses on ancient Greece.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Timothy Wutrich is the author of the book Prometheus and Faust: The Promethean Revolt in Drama from Classical Antiquity to Goethe. His scholarly interests include all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman drama, Vergil, and the Classical Tradition in literature and the arts.

At CWRU, Dr. Wutrich teaches Greek and Latin language and literature, Greek and Roman drama and theater in translation, Greek and Roman literature surveys, Greek and Roman civilization, and Greek and Latin etymology. He also regularly teaches in the university’s SAGES program.

Rachel Sternberg’s courses include Greek Civilization, Greek History, Classical Mythology, Women in the Ancient World, Elementary Ancient Greek, Sophocles, and Xenophon. The highlight of each year is a study trip to Greece. Sternberg holds a B.A. in archaeology and history from Cornell University, an M.A. in classics also from Cornell, and a Ph.D. in Greek from Bryn Mawr College. Her monograph, Tragedy Offstage: Suffering and Sympathy in Ancient Athens, was published by University of Texas Press in 2006, and her edited volume, Pity and Power in Ancient Athens, by Cambridge University Press in 2005. She is interested in the history of emotion, emotional discourse and moral rhetoric, and the reception of the classical tradition in the age of Jefferson. She is writing a book on how Athenian humane discourse relates to modernity’s Human Rights.

Where We Meet

Mather House is located next to the Thwing student center two buildings to the right of Kelvin Smith Library on Euclid Avenue. Please enter the front door to Mather House and turn right. Mather House Room 100 is at the end of the hall.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level labeled as Thwing Center. Then turn to the right and walk down the pathway between the Thwing Center on the right and the new Tinkham Veale University Center on the left. The next building on your right is Mather House.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

October 19: The Context of Coverage: Ohio’s Medicaid Expansion. With Loren C. Anthes, Public Policy Fellow and Director, Medicaid Policy Center, Center for Community Solutions.

October 26: The Impact of Conflict on Health: A Family Physician’s Report from Bosnia and Afghanistan. With Geoff Hodgetts MD, Professor, Queens University School of Medicine.

November 2: Biennial Pre-Election Forecast Discussion. With Joseph White, Luxenberg Professor of Public Policy, and Andrew M. Lucker, Adjunct Professor of Political Science Alternate Location: Mather House Room 100, 11201 Euclid Ave.

November 9: Too Much Trust? Older Patients and Their Doctors. With Eva Kahana, Distinguished University Professor and Pierce T. and Elizabeth D. Robson Professor of Humanities, Department of Sociology.

November 16: Questions and Answers About Recycling Plastics. With John Blackwell, Leonard Case Jr. Professor Emeritus, Macromolecular Science and Engineering.

November 23: Thanksgiving break.

November 30: Just How Powerful is Putin? With Stephen Crowley, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Oberlin College.

December 7: Union Decline in a Populist Era: The Experience of Western Democracies. With Chris Howell, James Monroe Professor of Politics, Oberlin College.