Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece's Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece

[E]xcellent . . . a deft and engaging work of history, philosophy and biography . . . a kind of intellectual thriller. Becca Rothfeld, Washington PostFrom an eminent historian and classicist, an incisive portrait of the philosopher Plato, showing how the ideas in his masterwork, Republic, were tested by violent events in the most powerful Greek city of the era.Plato is one of historys most influential thinkers, the sublime philosopher whose writings remain foundational to Western culture. He is known for the brilliant dialogues in which he depicted his teacher, Socrates, discussing ethical truths with prominent citizens of Athens. Yet the image we have of Platoan ethereal figure far removed from society and politics, who conjured abstract ideas in peaceful grovesis a fiction, created by Platos admirers and built up over centuries. In fact, Plato was very much a man of the world.In Plato and the Tyrant, acclaimed historian and classicist James Romm draws on personal letters of Platodocuments that have long been kept in obscurityto show how a philosopher helped topple the leading Greek power of the era: the opulent city of Syracuse. There, Plato encountered two authoritarian rulers, a father and son both named Dionysius, and tried to steer them toward philosophy. At the same time, he worked on his masterpiece, Republic, in which he conceived a ruler who unites perfect wisdom with absolute power. That dream has echoed down through the ages and given rise to a famous term, one that Plato himself didnt actually use: philosopher-king.As Romm reveals, Platos time in Syracuse helped shape Republicand also had disastrous results for Plato himself and for all of Greek Sicily. The younger Dionysius, emotionally unstable but intellectually curious, welcomed Plato with open arms, but soon the relationship soured. Platos close friendship with Dionysiuss uncle, Dionpossibly a bond of romantic lovecreated a rift in the ruling family that led to a chaotic civil war.Combining thrilling political drama with explorations of Platos most cherished ideas, Romm takes us into the heart of Greeces late classical age, a time when many believed that democracy had failed. Platos search for solutions led him to write his fervent plea for a new political order, and also led him to a place where he believed his theories might be put into practice. But Plato and the Tyrant demonstrates how Platos experiment with enlightened autocracy spiraled into catastrophe, and also gives us nothing less than a new account of the origins of Western political thought.