Julius Caesar

8 minute lives · Aug 1, 2026 · 8m

Hi there, and welcome to 8 Minute Lives, the show where we tell the story of a remarkable life in about the time it takes to make a decent cup of coffee. Today's story begins with a kidnapping. Around 80 BC, a young Roman nobleman was sailing in the waters near the island of Pharmacusa when pirates captured his ship. They demanded a ransom of twenty talents of silver. The prisoner, a man in his mid-twenties, laughed at them. He was worth at least fifty, he said, and insisted they raise the price. While his companions went off to collect the money, he treated his captors like an unruly…