Barry Strauss is a leading authority on ancient military history and a master storyteller of the classical world. He’s the best-selling author of numerous acclaimed books, including The Death of Caesar, The War That Made the Roman Empire, and The Spartacus War—all praised for their fresh perspectives and page-turning prose. His work has been translated into multiple languages and featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. At Cornell, he acts as a Professor of History and Classics and is the former Director of the Cornell Institute for Archaeology and Material Studies, Strauss is known for combining scholarly rigour with cinematic storytelling. He also hosts the podcast “Antiquitas: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World”, where he distils lessons from the past for today’s world.
Why did we invite him on?
Barry is one of our favourite guests. He joined us for the first time in 2024 to share an abridged story of the leaders of antiquity, before returning last year to chart the collapse of Rome. Not only was it one of our most popular interviews of the year, it was one of our favourite conversations on history to date.
Just 9 months later, we’re thrilled to have him back.
This time, we wanted to explore a subject that still shapes geopolitics today, arguably more than ever: Israel.
”I’m going to talk as a secular historian. Nothing I say should shake anyone’s faith or challenge anyone’s faith.”
In case you’ve missed it, the country’s been in the news lately. But how much is actually known about it? Almost all exploration of the nation’s history traces back to 1948. But that’s only part of the story. Is it all we need to know?
We wanted to answer that question and last year, Barry released a book on this very subject: Jews Vs Rome. There was no debate: he was the obvious choice.
What did we learn?
Before we carry on, we should know: Is this a conversation worth having?
The story of Rome and Israel is undoubtedly a fascinating one - nobody present disputes that. But given how ferocious the situation now is, is it the time to look back like this? Is any of it relevant today?
”Sure.”
Why’s that? Because this story goes back much further than 1948.
”The earliest evidence we have of Jews comes from 1210 B.C., at the end of the Bronze Age: a stele [upright stone slab] which declares the defeat of Israel … Going forward, we have lots of archeological evidence. Letters that refer to Jews, mentions of the god of Judaism… Lots of evidence of them being there. But also across the region, in the diaspora. Turkey, Greece, Rome, Iraq (ancient Mesopotamia)…”
The Zionist argument, if it’s to even be considered, depends on a very serious, core claim: the Jews have always been there. If that’s not true, the entire project is built on a false premise.
”[History tells us that ] the Jews are indigenous to this land. To Judea, to Palestine, to Israel. It’s not like the Zionists threw a dart at the map and said ‘We’re going there!’ They went there because it’s the Jewish ancestral land. Jewish prayers from antiquity talk about it, and Jewish settlers returned to it again and again and again. It never stopped. They weren’t always the majority, but they are a presence there.”
We’ve heard this argument before. It’s a common retort deployed by Israel’s defenders. In fact, Melanie Phillips has made it on our very show.
But is that good enough? Is that enough, in the 21st century, to stake a claim to land?
