The Basement: Alex Petkas | Julius Caesar's Final 24 Hours

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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AJ Gentile (0:30)

Today, I'm talking with Alex Petkas.

SPEAKER_3 (0:32)

He has a Ph.D.

AJ Gentile (0:33)

in Classics from Princeton and he failed history in high school. He was busy being the top monk on his EverQuest server.

SPEAKER_3 (0:38)

Top monk on EverQuest? I was once a level 60 dominatrix on a Turkish gambling server. I respect the grind.

AJ Gentile (0:46)

Now he hosts Cost of Glory, where he retells the lives of Plutarch's heroes. He sold the family business to go all in. Today, recovering out Plato got played by a tyrant in Sicily, a coup in Ancient Thieves pulled off by men in dresses, men in dresses pulled off a coup.

SPEAKER_3 (1:00)

Did I ever tell you a story when Uncle Sal tried to end Thanksgiving? We refer to it as the incident and I got him a lawyer.

AJ Gentile (1:08)

and the Roman Library, a volcano buried 2,000 years ago. AI just read one of its scrolls start to finish.

Alex helped produce the documentary about it with Ridley Scott's company. The night before Caesar was murdered, he asked the dinner table what the best way to die would be. One of his killers was sitting right there. That one gave me chills.

SPEAKER_3 (1:26)

Yeah, just one time. Would you please let me get...

AJ Gentile (1:29)

It's the middle of the night. Will you let me...

SPEAKER_3 (1:32)

Sorry, sorry. I forgot you get chills over a guy who didn't even clock his own murderers sitting right there.

AJ Gentile (1:39)

After our conversation, I'll come back and break down the talk. Let's go down to The Basement.

Thank you for being here, sir.

SPEAKER_3 (1:53)

Yeah.

AJ Gentile (1:54)

Alex Petras, Cost of Glory. I love your podcast. I'm obsessed with it, which is why today's going to be, it's going to be hectic. So there's going to be a lot of rifling through papers. It's so much to cover. I'm hoping you'll come back and we can drill down to specific stories like we can. I've got Catalyne here for 18 minutes. That's not fair.

So we're just going to have to muscle through it.

Alex Petkas (2:19)

Yeah.

AJ Gentile (2:20)

What I'd like to start with.

Alex Petkas (2:21)

Honored, by the way.

SPEAKER_3 (2:22)

Stop.

Alex Petkas (2:23)

I love your work. Get out of here.

AJ Gentile (2:25)

I won't accept it. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_3 (2:28)

Thank you.

AJ Gentile (2:28)

It was a lot of luck and accident.

Alex Petkas (2:30)

I was a little afraid because I know you do really good research. And look at that stack of papers.

AJ Gentile (2:36)

Why afraid? I've never heard anyone's feelings. I've only made six grown men cry.

Alex Petkas (2:41)

That's not fair.

AJ Gentile (2:43)

OK. Well, are you feeling emotionally open today?

Alex Petkas (2:46)

I am feeling quite OK.

SPEAKER_3 (2:48)

OK.

Alex Petkas (2:49)

Yeah.

SPEAKER_3 (2:49)

OK.

AJ Gentile (2:50)

I noticed the posture change when I asked.

SPEAKER_3 (2:51)

It's interesting.

AJ Gentile (2:54)

I want to learn about you, but I pride myself on on being novel and asking questions and that those that the guest doesn't expect that are fun for you, that people won't hear on the circuit because everybody does the circuit. But before we do that, if just maybe a five minute retelling of Caesar and the statue.

Alex Petkas (3:20)

Yeah. This is one of my favorite episodes. And I think the people don't read it right. They don't interpret it the way that I do, at least. So famous story. People might have heard of it. Julius Caesar is 32 He's a Quester in Spain, chief of staff for some, you know, provincial governor and paper. Paper, for sure. Yeah. You know, the the the document guy, the the gopher and he is, you know, they're doing the whole sizes tour, probably. You know, they're in Cadiz or Cadiz in Spain, which is an old Phoenician city. And there's a temple there that was probably a temple to Melkart. But the, you know, they converted to a temple to Hercules. Hercules is Melkart.

And in this temple, as one does, you know, they've put a lot of art, statues and paintings. And there's a statue. Caesar's going through there with his friends. It's kind of like a museum. And they're kind of appreciating the art, maybe toss a little incense on the pyre. And his friends at some point, they've kind of moving along from statue to statue. They look back and they see Caesar is not with them. He's standing in front of a statue of Alexander the Great.