eumenes

Full Show Notes Available at https://plutarch.life/eumenes

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Key Virtues and Vices

• Bravery (ἀνδρεῖος) - Eumenes, in spite of being the head secretary, is no pencil pusher. Plutarch wants to emphasize this even from the beginning. His education in and prowess in wrestling impress Philip equally as much as his intelligence. Both become an asset to Philip and then Alexander. On top of that, he's able to defeat many of Alexander's most competent generals in battle and gain a reputation among the Macedonians as a bold leader.
• Justice (δικαιοσύνη) - Eumenes, of all the successors, seems most motivated to keep the dynastic succession in order and rule Alexander’s new domains along the lines the Persian leaders had set up before. In other words, he considers it just to step into his role as satrap and leave it at that. As the other kings become greedier and more prideful, Eumenes serves the interests of the regent and, as he sees it, the rightful kings on the throne. He even tells Antigonus that he values his life less than the trust people have placed in him. He is just and willing to put his life on the line for it. How’s that for skin in the game?
• Wisdom (σοφία) - As much wiliness in this life as wisdom, Eumenes has the ability to convince those hostile to him to listen, to ourmaneuver even talented generals, and to inspire confidence through competence. He’s also smart enough to recognize all his enemies and finds ways to profit from his enemies: somethine Plutarch would be proud of, since he wrote a whole essay on the topic in the Moralia.
• Arrogance (ἀλαζονεία) - Categorized by Aristotle as the excess beyond honesty, this vice is rooted in a form or self-deception: seeing yourself as greater than you are. Other definitions include pretension and imposture. Plutarch points out the successors of Alexander suffer under this vice, unaware of their limitations and unwilling to accept that none of them measure up to Alexander.

What would you do if your closest friend died unexpectedly, leaving an incredible legacy, and an infant son. How far would you go to defend his rights? Would you give your life? 

In this episode Eumenes emerges onto the world stage as one of antiquity’s brilliant generals.

What is it like to believe in a divine kingship?  Or, at least, to act as though you do believe?

Eumenes fought rebel Persian satraps, upstaged Macedonian warrior nobles, arranged dynastic marriages, fought in hand to hand combat with great commanders.  He was visited in his dreams by the gods.  He strove mightily against fate.

Like the figures he worked for and fought with, he seems larger than life sometimes.  What can we take away from his biography? 

Eumenes stayed true to his principles, kept his word in an increasingly faithless age, and though all adversity, by gradually taking on larger and larger challenges and responsibilities, he transformed himself, and became an equal of the great lords who were deciding the fate of the throne of Alexander.

On today’s podcast:

• Why you should be careful who you marry
• How to remain loyal to yourself and the cause you believe in
• How the The first great War of the Successors began
• How to get the gods to fight on your side
• Eumenes’ transformation from a man of letters to a man of war

Links:

• https://ancientlifecoach.com/

This episode provides a brief summary of the life of Sertorius (spoiler alert), recounts events at Rome after his death, and offers a few practical takeaways.

Go deeper! Sign up for Ancient Life Emails at ancientlifecoach.com. 

Life of Sertorius Cheat Sheet - ancientlifecoach.com/quintussertorius

(To skip the summary, go to 6:00) 

There is some closure to the story - the wicked are punished, at least some of them.  But in the wake of the civil war, Sertorius' legacy was, for now, in jeopardy.  The narrative was controlled by his enemies.  But this situation did not last forever.

Some Takeaways: 
How to work your hardest
Which game to play
How to survive when death and failure threaten
How to bring people in to your dream