Mar 1, 2019
More stories from the ancient sources about what a nice guy Tibbo was. Most of the time. In the early years. Before he went all sex-dungeon-y. And more stories about how the Senate became increasingly spineless. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If you’re...
Feb 22, 2019
In the year 21 CE, Tacfarinas, the African Arminius, is still causing trouble for the poor old Romans. So Tibbo, who is busy, off building his sex dungeon, asks the Senate to deal with it. They, of course, wet themselves, because it means doing some actual work. ...
Feb 16, 2019
We’re still looking at stories showing how moderate Tiberius was in the early years – and how the Senate gradually became more and more useless. One great example is the inability to appoint a proconsul of Africa to deal with Tacfarinas, the African...
Jan 29, 2019
We look at some of the controversies that Drusus had to deal with when he was sole consul in the year 21 CE. For example – Caecina Severus made a strong case that the wives of provincial governors should no longer be allowed to accompany their husbands abroad....
Jan 24, 2019
Claudius, son of Drusus and Antonia Minor, grandson of Livia and Mark Antony, was born in 10 BCE. He’s so disabled, his mother refers to him as a monster and uses him as a synonym for stupidity. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If you’re seeing this message, it...
Jan 18, 2019
Edward J. Watts is a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, and author and editor of several prize-winning books, including The Final Pagan Generation, and a great book about Hypatia. He’s got a great new book out about the collapse of...
Dec 28, 2018
Abandoned by everyone, Piso walks off the stage. Plancina gets a pardon. Tiberius pulls a Trump and says Piso betrayed his trust. And then there’s this how thing about erections and electrocution that we are slightly ashamed about. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If...
Dec 21, 2018
Agrippina and Piso arrive (separately) back in Rome. And the trial of Piso begins. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If you’re seeing this message, it means you aren’t logged in as a subscriber. If want to listen to the premium episodes of the series – 200...
Dec 15, 2018
Meanwhile in Rome, people are just getting news that Germs is ill and they are furious at Tibbo and Livia. Aha! They said. Now we know why he was sent into the middle of nowhere. He has probably been poisoned like his father Drusus was, because they both wanted to...
Dec 4, 2018
I just launched my second and last Kickstarter campaign for the Jesus film! Check it out, promote it, support it, lick it, rub yourself all over it!
Nov 29, 2018
Why did Germanicus go to Egypt? To get to the other side. His real motive, according to Tacitus, was tourism HOWEVER a couple of papyrus fragments discovered in Oxyrynchus in the 20th century, contains a fragment of a speech to the Alexandrians And it confirms that...
Nov 23, 2018
To Germanicus, Piso’s appointment will have been clear proof that Tiberius still did not trust him. To some extent it followed the pattern whereby a tried and trusted man was sent to watch over a young and inexperienced prince. But Germanicus was neither so young nor...
Nov 17, 2018
Problems in the East. It had started back in 15, when the Parthians expelled their king, Vonones. Although I’ve also read 12. Vonones was the eldest son of Phraates iv and had been handed over to Augustus as a hostage in the 20s BCE along with his three brothers....
Oct 24, 2018
The other problem Tibbo had in 16 was a belated consequence of the removal of Agrippa Postumus. As soon as he heard of Augustus’ death, Clemens, one of Agrippa’s slaves, had decided to sail to Planasia and engineer Agrippa’s escape to the German armies, where he...
Oct 20, 2018
Meanwhile, while Germs was off in Germany fighting Germans… Tibbo had major problems to deal with. SILK CLOTHING. CASSIUS DIO: Tiberius forbade any man to wear silk clothing and also forbade anyone to use golden vessels except for sacred ceremonies. And...
Oct 13, 2018
We are very excited to welcome back to the show our favourite history detective Lindsay Powell, author of several terrific books on Agrippa, Augustus and Germanicus. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If you’re seeing this message, it means you aren’t logged in as...
Oct 5, 2018
Germs got a FULL triumph and a triumphal arch, which was erected the following year only 150 yards from the arch erected by Augustus to celebrate the return of the standards from Parthia. This suggests Tibbo wanted people to think about the campaign as...
Sep 28, 2018
After witnessing the Varus killing fields, They were furious and wanted revenge against Arminius and the Cherusci. Maybe Germs had calculated this? Or maybe it was an accident? With the Bructeri out of reach Germanicus set out in pursuit of Arminius, who skillfully...
Sep 23, 2018
Remember Arminius, the leader of the Cherusci tribe of Germans? The complete bad-ass who took down Quinctilius Varus at the Varian Disaster aka the Clades Variana aka The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ? Well around 14 he’s having some issues with his...
Sep 7, 2018
Poor Tiberius has to live up to Augustus! He’s already rich. He’s inherited Augustus’ fortune. He could just retire, get a nice little house by the beach, with a pool, some pretty girls, Netflix and chill for the rest of his life. Why should he deal with all...
