Cornell Classics Historian Gleans Wisdom from Greco-Roman Political Thought

Athens and the Roman Republic may have crumbled thousands of years before today’s ascension of elites, but Prof. Barry Strauss ’74, history, argues those ancient civilizations reveal that “building bridges is better than building walls.”

Strauss, an author of eight books and a historian of war, leadership and democracy, detailed the historical roots of populism dating back to ancient Athens and the Roman Republic at a lecture on Wednesday.

Dismantling the two most revered models for government — ancient Athens and ancient Rome — Strauss claimed both were models of “failure” in the ways that the elites balanced populist sentiments. 

In this way, “the problem of populism is the problem of elitism,” Strauss said. 

The failures illustrated in these classical settings, he said, can advise people today, especially in these polarizing times. 

“My advice is that we seek a middle ground,” Strauss said. “Bipartisanship certainly but also compromise. A recognition of both the grievances of “fly over” country and the two coasts. … That building bridges is better than building walls. And finally, a rededication to the ideals of citizenship and self-government.”

However, Strauss did make an important distinction, saying that there was one important exception to compromise — bigotry.

“Part of leadership is saying no,’ he said. “Our leaders must always say no to bigotry; they must always insist that the will of the people ends where injustice begins; and that a good society does some things not because they are popular but because they are right.” ...