The loss of a job can result in the complete destruction of your personal wealth. In unsettled economic times, remaining employed is even more critical because a lost job may be impossible to replace. In such periods, a different set of rules needs to be followed-rules far more Darwinian than in normal times. Author Robert Lerner examines the decisions and actions of an ancient Roman businessman named Titus Pomponius Atticus, who lived in the cut-throat world of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Marcus Brutus, and Cicero. Atticus was a sophisticated financier who did business with these giants of history, witnessed their rise and fall, and endured the years of civil war they engendered. Atticus was a survivor who knew how to manoeuvre through the political traps and intrigues of this dangerous world. From Atticus' ancient decisions and actions, Lerner has developed 20 lessons that can be applied to situations found in today's workplace. The goal of this book is to help readers better prepare for periods of career turbulence and survive in the modern jungle we call "the marketplace."

It was fall and the late summer rains had produced an overly-abundant grape harvest. Such a large harvest was driving down grape prices but, since volumes were up, the grape producers would probably do well in the end. But what about the middlemen? Sophisticated growers were selling their grapes many months in advance into the futures market. With a decrease in prices at harvest time, grape brokers who bought grape futures at premium prices early in the summer would be selling at a tremendous loss. The largest grape growers faced a dilemma: maximize profits and hold the brokers to their contracts, forcing many into bankruptcy and causing longer-term disruption in the futures market; or renegotiate supply contracts to ease the financial burden on the brokers, ensuring a stable marketplace and building customer loyalty. What may surprise you is that while this challenging scenario may be found today in Bordeaux, Tuscany, or California, the example discussed in this book is older - 1,900 years older - from the ancient Roman Empire. Business practices were quite sophisticated at the time, and many of our modern problems were confronted then - and resolved - without the aid of modern technologies. Pliny the Younger was a wealthy Roman politician, ascending to the heights of the Roman hierarchy. His surviving writings show that he was a very astute financial manager and a canny businessman. This book analyzes his writings to reveal how he overcame a number of significant business challenges, much like those faced in business today. The book addresses Pliny's approaches to maintaining customer loyalty, sales channel management, motivating people, conflict resolution, resolving ethical dilemmas, and more. The author of this book, former head of a Fortune-500 company himself, reveals business and ethical lessons to be learned from Pliny's actions that can be applied to today's business environment.