Pater Society Meeting: Augustus and authority
Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, did not simply create the Roman Empire; he also emerged as the personification of the idea of authority for centuries to come.
This talk will explore the question why the quest for authority constitutes the principal political and philosophical theme of the drama of human history. It will outline why the Romans were the first culture which succeeded in endowing the idea with meaning. Finally it will look at the enduring appeal of Augustus’s idea of auctoritas and ask the question why it had such appeal for so many influential but otherwise very different figures such as Voltaire, Marx, Cromwell, Napoleon and Mussolini.
6.30pm – Drinks and meet the speaker
7.00pm – Talk begins
St Augustine’s Undercroft
