Aug 11, 2017
In 17 BCE Augustus decided to throw a huge party, The Secular Games, which was held only once every 110 years. Somehow this gets us talking about sex, animal sacrifices, holy trinities, Barabbas and Leviticus. Don’t ask me. I just work here. ...
Aug 4, 2017
There’s a story about how Augustus dined one night with an old friend, Vedius Pollio, an equestrian known for his wealth, love of luxury, cruelty – and his pet lampreys. [powerpress] HOW TO LISTEN If you’re seeing this message, it means you...
Jul 28, 2017
Augustus was a pretty approachable guy (like us!). We tell some stories about how he made himself readily available to everyone from Senators to the general public. And yet they weren’t trying to assassinate him, which says a lot about his popularity by 18BCE....
Jul 13, 2017
Julia the Elder, the only legitimate biological child of Augustus (which makes her the daughter of the son of god), was definitely hot stuff. She had what you might politely call “a reputation”. We don’t know much about Julia’s childhood or early teenage...
Jul 7, 2017
In this episode, we’re dealing with events around 18 BCE: The most important innovation Aug created around this time was his new small council, the consilium principis (advisers to the princeps). Another thing he did to reduce the numbers of the Senate was...
Jun 15, 2017
A quick break from the Augustus story and the usual frivolity to have one of our long-time listeners on to tell us his incredible story. Arsen Nisanyan has just graduated from the Classics department at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and has...
