His sentiments are echoed by countless other travelers to Greece.  

A single day can change the course of your life - a chance meeting, a deep insight, a new sense of clarity and resolution.  How much more could a whole week, in an awe inspiring and evocative place, surrounded by friends dedicated to the pursuit of excellence?

If you want to improve your speaking skills, and form relationships with other men dedicated to reviving the classical spirit of leadership in business, politics, and life, we’ve designed this Leadership Retreat for you.

In our experience, the most transformative part of these retreats are the people you meet.  The people who come on our retreats are interested in the long game, in building things, and finding other people determined to actively engineer the world they want to live in.

That said, our subject matter focus is more concretely transformative: it is the ancient art of oratory and persuasion, known to the ancients as “rhetoric”.  We have designed an entire curriculum, including a 6-week online lead-up, to improve your confidence, clarity, and depth as a speaker, writer, and reader.  The ancients did not merely believe that leveling up your speaking ability gave you a skill to increase your options in life; they created a process that itself brings about a profound mental transformation as well.

You will deliver many speeches, some prepared, some impromptu; you will participate in formal, Oxford-style debates, learning to argue both sides of interesting questions; you will deliver a keynote speech on an issue you are passionate about; you will practice presenting real business and political problems you are struggling with, and improve the way you elicit quality, decision-critical feedback.

Our focus in all activities, both sessions and informal discussions, will be on applying the lessons of great leaders of history to our own business, institutional, and personal work.

And we will do all this in Greece.  We’re taking our cue from great orators, philosophers, and ancient writers, retreating in the classic Roman spirit of Otium Honestum: “dignified leisure.”  Otium is the time and space that Romans would dedicate to deep thought and self-sharpening, all while enjoying the company of like-minded friends, old and new.

The setting is important: you can’t do proper Otium in your office or your house, or on the internet; you have to get away and free your mind.

We will begin our sessions in Athens, where, as Cicero noted, “Everywhere we go in the city, we tread on hallowed ground”. Then we will move on to the Peloponnese, see Corinth, Epidaurus with its famous theater, and the palace of Agamemnon at Mycenae. But interest is not just in the historical sites, but in the natural landscape - the mountains and valleys which inspired poets and determined the successes of great generals.  Thus we will climb Mount Parnassus, home of the Muses, overlooking the Oracle of Delphi.  We will see the ancient battle sites at places like Chaeroneia, where men like Philip, Alexander, and Sulla won eternal fame.

You will leave with lessons in the tactics of persuasion and habits of powerful oratory that you will use for the rest of your career; you will have experiences that will inspire you for the rest of your life; you will expand your network of people to draw on for projects of joint action. You’ll eat great food, too.

Participants will also be eligible to apply for our exclusive online training community, The Rostra.

Registration is restricted to men. Space is limited and many slots are already filled.  Apply soon.

Stay Ancient,

Alex Petkas