Roman Leadership Patterns in Antiquity

Abstract

From the founding of Rome to the informal establishment of the Roman Empire, leadership played a crucial role in the way history unfolded. More compelling than the leaders themselves, however, is the way history repeated itself in two of Rome’s most vital periods of (re)formation. The purpose of this essay is to examine the parallels between one of Rome’s most popular origin myths, the story of Remus and Romulus, with two of the most important figures, Marcus Antonius and Gaius Octavianus, at the turn of the Roman Republic as it transformed into the beginnings of the Roman Empire. More specifically, the leadership capacities of these four Roman figures are analyzed and related to more contemporary
examples of leadership.