The Classical Antiquity Sidequest

Sidequest 23 - All Roads Lead to Rome with Rhiannon Garth Jones

#rome #ancientrome #romanhistory #allroadsleadtorome #romanempire #classicalantiquity #antiquity #historyAs we all know, people spend a lot of time thinking about Rome. If you've ever wondered why that is, Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones just published All Roads Lead to Rome, a book that attempts to answer and explain just why it is that so many of us think about Rome and why we've done it for so long. In addition to that, we cover a lot of topics including writing styles, an ongoing issue with historical cognitive dissonance when it comes to our understanding of Rome and some troubling and problematic invocations of Rome. We also cover a very interesting want to know more section of her book and how it incorporates new and emerging forms of scholarship.Your reading assignments include Strike by Dr. Sarah E. Bond (who I would love to have on the pod one day) and Dr. Kaldellis' The New Roman Empire.And while you're reading stuff, why don't you pick up a copy of Dr. Garth Jones' book? It's pretty darned good.The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 22 - Caesar's Civil Wars with Jen Gerrish

#caesar #juliuscaesar #rome #romanrepublic #ancientrome #romanhistory #civilwar #civilwars Our old friend Dr. Gerrish returned to the podcast to explain how it is that Caesar's Civil War happened. While we all may know that Caesar and Pompey ended up fighting, we would all probably struggle to explain why that happened. During our interview, Dr. Gerrish explains the factors that led to the war, who ended up on which side and what the result of the war was for the Roman state. We also cover how some Roman elites during this era relied on "the people" as a power base without actually caring about "the people". Consistent with that, we talk about how Caesar committed lots of crimes and then toppled the Roman state to avoid prosecution for said crimes. Cheerful stuff. In addition, we discuss Dr. Gerrish's books which I recommend to all of you.And I also go full "Old Man Yells At Clouds" complaining about the problems created by the Social Media Age. To paraphrase Sideshow Bob, I'm aware of the irony of utilizing social media in order to decry it, so don't bother pointing that out.Your reading assignment is the Robin Waterfield translation of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 21 - Benjamin Straumann on The Roman Republic's Constitution

#ancientrome #romanrepublic #rome #romanempire #constitution #constitutionalcrisis #romanhistory #ancientrome #antiquity #classicalantiquityAfter our episode with Dr. Nat Katz on Roman regime change, I wanted to learn more about the Roman state's governmental structures. That led me to an excellent article by Dr. Benjamin Straumann about whether Rome had a constitution. After reading it, I reached out to Dr. Straumann to see if he would be willing to discuss the idea of Rome's constitution and, fortunately, he agreed to. The result is an episode covering whether Rome had a constitution, the ways in which Rome's leaders expressed constitutional norms and how the framework of Rome's constitution came into existence.We also discuss the concept of a "constitutional crisis", which is a term that is used a lot but is probably not well-defined and is imprecisely utilized. Turns out Dr. Straumann wrote a book on the subject which I would recommend to you.Your reading assignments include The Constitution of the Roman Republic and The Roman Republic in Political Thought (Millar).The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 20 - Madeleine Duperouzel on Empress Theodora

#byzantine #theodora #byzantineempire #ancientrome #romanempire #classicalantiquity #antiquity #justinian #justinianthegreatIn an effort to help bridge the gap between "Byzantine" and Roman history, I reached out to Madeleine Duperouzel to see if she'd be interested in talking about Empress Theodora. Madeleine was more than happy to, so the result is an outstanding episode regarding a legendary figure in Roman history. After briefly covering finicky weather patterns, we discuss Theodora's life, her historical significance and how she has been treated by her contemporaries and by later historians. This naturally involves a discussion about the historical inkblot that is The Secret History (I explain the inkblot reference in the episode, but if you search for "Bork 9th Amendment inkblot", you'll find what I'm talking about). We also cover the general hostility that a specific group of men felt towards Theodora and the unique control over her life that she possessed.To get more updates on history from Madeleine, please check subscribe to her Substack, The Empress of Byzantium. It's really good!Your reading assignments include The Alexiad, Doppelgänger and The Name of the Rose.The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 19 - Ben and Victor Review Two Terrible Movies Set in Roman Britain

#moviereview #romanhistory #ancientrome #antiquity #classicalantiquity #thelastlegion #centurionFirst, apologies for my audio at times in the podcast. I'm not sure what happened. Second, apologies for the two movies we're about to review. While the Centurion squandered a chance to be good, The Last Legion is just awful. As we discuss these movies, we reference the brilliant Black Zeus X and then try to figure out what it is that Hollywood gets wrong when it makes movies "based on" Antiquity. We also discuss how great actors are constantly wasted in these movies and resurrect the term "McNulty Subplot".Our next movie review episode will combine Troy and Helen of Troy.The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.