Cornell University Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies Barry Strauss will give the inaugural Donald Kagan Memorial lecture, established by the Buckley Institute through its Donald Kagan Memorial Fund in order to preserve the legacy Professor Donald Kagan left at Yale during his 40 years on campus.
Barry Strauss is a classicist and a military and naval historian and consultant. In addition to teaching at Cornell, he is also the Corliss Page Dean Fellow at the Hoover Institution. As the Series Editor of Princeton's Turning Points in Ancient History and author of nine books on ancient History, Professor Strauss is a recognized authority on the subject of leadership and the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of the greatest political and military leaders of the ancient world (Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander among many others).
He is a former Chair of Cornell's Department of History as well as a former Director of Cornell’s Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, where he studied modern engagements from Bosnia to Iraq and from Afghanistan to Europe. He also served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is an expert on military strategy. He is currently director as well as a founder of Cornell’s Program on Freedom and Free Societies, which investigates challenges to constitutional liberty at home and abroad. He holds fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Korea Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the American Academy in Rome, among others and is the recipient of Cornell’s Clark (now Russell) Award for Excellence in Teaching. In recognition of his scholarship, he received he received the Lucio Colletti Journalism Prize for literature and he was named an Honorary Citizen of Salamis, Greece.
His
Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization was named one of the best books of 2004 by the Washington Post. His
Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar and the Genius of Leadership was named one of the best books of 2012 by Bloomberg. His
The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination, (Simon & Schuster, March 2015) has been hailed as “clear and compelling” by TIME, “brilliant” by the Wall Street Journal, “engrossing, exhaustive yet surprisingly easy to read” by Barrons, and “an absolutely marvelous read” by The Times of London.
His bestselling
Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustine to Constantine (Simon & Schuster, March 2019) was called "an exceptionally accessible history of the Roman Empire ... much of
Ten Caesars reads like a script for
Games of Thrones (
Wall Street Journal), "enlightening," (
New York Times), "an excellent and eminently readable introduction," (
New Criterion), "a history page-turner which brings to life Rome's rulers," (
National Geographic), and "a captivating narrative," (
Publisher's Weekly). The book was named to five best book lists of the year.
Strauss's books have been translated into nineteen languages. Strauss is also author of over 60 scholarly articles and reviews.
Strauss is a well-known television personality with appearances on The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, CNN, PBS, and Netflix. He is host of the popular podcast, "ANTIQUITAS: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World," barrystrauss.com/podcast or on most platforms.
In March 2022 he will publish his latest book,
The War that Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium (Simon & Schuster).
