Plato and the Tyrant

Saturday, September 20, 2:00 PM at the Norfolk Library

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Acclaimed historian James Romm, author of Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece’s Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece, will share the stage with Frederic Hof, author of Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace, to talk about political drama and cherished ideals in times when many have believed that democracy failed.

With its powerful articulation of the “just society,” Plato’s Republic is required reading for many in the course of their education. And yet hardly anyone is familiar with how this “just society” was tested during Plato’s lifetime, nearly destroying his reputation and stoking controversy in the cities he aspired to transform. Through a set of little-known, revelatory personal letters, Romm tells the thrilling story of one of the most consequential episodes in ancient Greek history: the tyrannical reigns of Dionysius the Elder and Younger, Plato’s disastrous role as an advisor to these rulers, and the fall of Syracuse, at the time the most powerful state in the Hellenic world. In an age of upheavals and tensions between democracies and autocracies, Plato and the Tyrant asks anew whether philosophy acts in service of, or fights against, tyranny.

In due course, Plato’s insertion into the court of Syracuse helped bring about a rift in the ruling family that led to a chaotic and violent civil war. Plato took the side of Dion and assisted his party in seizing Syracuse from Dionysius the Younger and rebuilding it. Against the grain of The Republic, Plato argues in the Eighth Letter that successful states are a blend of democracy and autocracy: “Both slavery and freedom in excess are entirely evil,” he writes, “but in due measure, entirely good.” Insights such as these raise confounding questions about Plato’s character. Romm asks whether Plato, while extolling the Good as the source of transcendent joy, ended up collaborating with evil. How far did he bend the noble ideals of The Republic—its unwavering commitment to justice—when he entered a world where injustice prevailed?    

James Romm is the James H. Ottoway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College and the editor of the Ancient Lives biography series from Yale University Press. He is the author of several other studies of Greek and Roman history, and his reviews and essays appear regularly in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Review of Books.

Frederic C. Hof has had a distinguished career with the US Army, Department of State, and the international consulting firm AALC, specializing in the Mideast region. He served as ambassador and special adviser for transition in Syria under President Obama and as special coordinator for regional affairs in the US Department of State’s Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. His publications include Galilee Divided: The Israel-Lebanon Frontier, 1916–1984; Line of Battle, Border of Peace? The Line of June 4, 1967; Beyond the Boundary: Lebanon, Israel, and the Challenge of Change; and Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace. He also contributes to Foreign Policy and The Atlantic.

"James Romm has taken a little-known episode from ancient Greek history―the somewhat shady-sounding relationship between Plato and the tyrants of Syracuse―and developed it into a fascinating, richly detailed narrative. I may yet have to read the Republic."Mary Norris, New York Times best-selling author of Between You and Me and Greek to Me"Written with sparkling wit and intelligence, this book will change the way you think about the ancient world’s greatest philosopher." Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Rebellion

“Israelis and Syrians not able to reach an agreement? Nonsense! When a knowledgeable, experienced, and tough-minded diplomat is involved, it can happen. Hof reveals the oh-so-close agreement he negotiated in secret. If not for the murderous rampage against his own people by Assad and the reluctance of the Obama administration to use its influence to stop it, the Middle East map would certainly be changed. Opportunity squandered.” --Ambassador Richard L. Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State