Vespasian #9 – Blessed Are the Cheesemakers… and the Siege Engines

In this episode we veer joyfully between kung fu bloodletting, the perils of super-semen, and the siege tactics of first-century Jerusalem. Once the digressions slow down enough to let history through, we paint a vivid picture of Jerusalem at the outbreak of the Jewish War: a bustling pilgrimage city with deep valleys, hard defensive geometry, three mutually homicidal factions, and a food-supply situation so dire it feels like a lesson in how not to run a rebellion. Josephus pops up, alternately describing civic suicide and divine protection for Titus, and the episode closes on a cliffhanger as Titus finds himself pinned in a kill-zone outside the city walls. Violence, incompetence, theology, and Monty Python references all mix together into a fun, chaotic stroll toward the Roman siege line.