New Episode · Dropped 5 days ago · Free Preview

CROWNS FROM THE TEMPLE – Vespasian #20

VES · 20 May 26, 2026 ★ Free Preview

On this episode, the siege of Jerusalem is over and Titus is handing out medals, melting down temple gold to crown his best soldiers, and carving up his legions for their next postings around the empire. We dig into what happened to the early Christian community in Jerusalem…

Now playing · Megaphone
Tap play to load the episode
00:00–:–
VES · 20 XX CROWNS FROM THE TEMPLE – Vespasian #20
I
What you’re getting into

Roman history told the way it actually happened — bloody, horny, and frequently profane.

We started in 2013 with a series on Julius Caesar. Then a hundred on Augustus. Then Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero. Then, like the Lord God, we rested. Now we are BACK, working our way through the Year of the Four Emperors and into Vespasian.

We don’t do hot takes. We don’t do ten-minute summaries. We take a single emperor — sometimes a single year — and we sit with him until we understand him. That usually takes fifty to a hundred episodes. We’re aware this is unhinged. You’ll come for the geopolitics and stay for the swearing.

— Ray & Cam · The Podcast Network

▌ FILE · 753 BCE — 476 CE
373Episodes
10Emperors covered
13Years on air
560+Hours of audio
1Civil wars per series (avg.)
Footnotes
▌ Topics we obsess over
Julius Caesar Augustus The Senate Legions Civil War Cleopatra Sex scandals Assassinations Gladiators Christianity Jerusalem Praetorian Guard Stoicism Pompeii Slavery
III
The Timeline

We’re working our way down the imperial line, one civil war at a time.

Series I · 67 eps

Julius

Complete
Series II · 103 eps

Augustus

Complete
Series III · 42 eps

Tiberius

Complete
Series IV · 26 eps

Caligula

Complete
Series V · 15 eps

Claudius

Complete
Series VI · 46 eps

Nero

Complete
Series VII · 4 eps

Galba

Complete
Series VIII · 12 eps

Otho

Complete
Series IX · 20 eps

Vitellius

Complete
Series X · 20 eps

Vespasian

★ Currently here
Series XI · upcoming

Titus

Next up
Series XII · upcoming

Domitian

After that
Series XIII · upcoming

Nerva

Five Good Emperors
Series XIV · upcoming

Trajan

Five Good Emperors
Series XV · upcoming

Hadrian

Five Good Emperors
Series XVI · upcoming

Antoninus

If we live that long
IV
The Perpetrators

Two old blokes. Thirteen years. An unreasonable number of footnotes.

Ray RAY
▌ Host file · The Editor

Ray

History buff. Reads Suetonius on the train and underlines the rude bits. Specialises in pretending he knows what Cam is talking about. A big hit with the ladies and various farm animals.

“Augustus was basically the world's first PR consultant. He just had the budget to murder the journalists.”

Cameron CAM
▌ Host file · The Mastermind

Cameron

Literally invented long-form history podcasting in 2006. Obsessed with dirty Latin words. Handles the jokes, most of the swearing, and pushing Ray towards the edge of madness.

“Every Roman story is a love story between two ambitious men who absolutely would have stabbed each other given fifteen minutes alone.”

VI
For the true believers

Get the full episodes. Get the back catalog. No ads.

Seven bucks a month gets you the full version of every premium episode, the entire back catalog all the way back to Julius #1, and an ad-free feed forever. Cancel anytime. We’ll cope.

▌ Caesar Premium USD
$7 / month
  • Full versions of every premium episode
  • The complete back catalog · 373 eps
  • Premium-only bonus episodes
  • Ad-free Megaphone feed
  • Cancel anytime · no judgement
OR MEGA BUNDLE $232 / yr Get the lot →
VII
The Dispatch

Get the weekly dispatch. No spam. Mostly footnotes.

A weekly note from Ray & Cam — what we’re working on, what we’re reading, what new mad Roman thing we just discovered that didn’t fit in the episode. Free, and probably worth more than the price.