J. Rufus Fears

Professor J. Rufus Fears presents his choices of some of the most essential writings in history. These are works that shaped the minds of great individuals and that offer an extraodrdinary gift of wisdom to those willing to receive it. Focus is on intellectual history and ethics, taking the underlying ideas of each great work and revealing how these ideas can be put to use in a moral and ethical life. From the Aeneid and the Book of Job to Othello...

Thirty-six lessons in 3 parts on the world history taught by Professor J. Rufus Fears from University of Oklahoma.

An introduction to Roman history focusing on the lives of great individuals. Examines lives from the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.) through the Empire during the first and second centuries A.D.

The son of the consul of 218 B.C., Africanus earned his sobriquet by crushing Hannibal in 202 at Zama (now Tunisia), one of the most decisive battles in world history. Here we compare Scipio and Hannibal and the lessons they offer.

To Rome's top politicians, Caesar at first seemed nothing more than a political hack of little ability and less character. The challenge of conquering Gaul transformed Caesar and changed world history, laying the foundations for the civilization of France and Western Europe.

Born a slave, he was exiled from Rome for speaking too freely to the emperor. Despite offers to return, he lived on in a backwater, becoming one of the greatest exponents of that vastly influential approach to life known as Stoicism.

In 49 B.C., Caesar crossed the Rubicon and plunged Rome into civil war. He did it in the cause of liberty for the Roman people, but his goal was to establish himself as dictator. In this crisis, the supporters of republican liberty turned to Pompey.

Amid the turmoil and corruption of the late Republic, men of towering capacity strove to impose their will on Rome's destiny. Crassus made himself the richest man in Rome, and then sought political and military triumph.

Hadrian, Trajan's successor, is a gifted, perplexing, and controversial figure. A fine soldier and public servant, he was also an intellectual innovator and an architect of genius. But few of his contemporaries understood him.

Rome had conquered Carthage, only to wind up divided against itself as wealth displaced virtue and undermined the constitution. Seeing the urgent need for reform, these descendants of the Scipio line prepared to sacrifice everything to achieve it.