64- Smite My Womb: The History of Rome

After Nero came to power he was dominated by Agrippina. But it didn't take long before the 16-year-old Emperor got tired of his mother telling him what to do.

64- Smite My Womb

Comments

[David Feeser]

I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

A great podacast. It has great detail and listening to it is a joy. I have listened to each one more than twice to get all the information you provide.

[Detlef]

Is there a soundglitch at about 8.30? at the Armenian issue. Firstly you have an echo and then you sound like you're on helium. is it just me?

[Brax]

Mike, have you noticed that a Facebook group for your podcast now has 174 members. Brax

[Michael]

I just saw an article where it is claimed that Vespasian's birthplace has just been uncovered. I immediately thought of your podcast and his recent mention - love the show. Link follows:

http://tinyurl.com/njjzjr

[Juan Pablo]

Mmmm, I am hearing something weird at 8:30 too. Echo, then helium is a perfect way to describe it.

Other than that, great episode.

[Detlef]

@ Juan Pablo

Thanks for confirmation. Mike also confirmed it over e-mail. He had no idea what caused it. But he said he was re-recording the little tidbit.

Detlef

[David Tait]

Hi, Just listened to podcasts 22-63 in a week whilst on a beach holiday. It hasn't done my marriage much good, but I thought they were all wonderfully presented and a pleasure to listen to - I was a child fan of I Claudius. Can I ask why the podcasts seem to begin at number 22? Am I being daft?
David, London.
ps: Do you have any further histories up your sleeve? I hope so.

[Detlef]

@ David Tait

The RSS feed is fucking with the iTunes users for a long time. There is a limit of 50 posts, after that the early episodes are pushed of the list. That's why the podcast seems to start at episode 22. Mike started to compile the early episodes into bundles in order to fix the damned problem.

The first 20ish episodes can be found at "http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2008/11/index.html". You'll need to manually download the bundles.

Hope this will help. Also for people who will certainly ask again.

Detlef

ps. Mike mentioned somewhere that he was planning a podcast about the 20th century presidents of the U.S. Not sure if that's still on the agenda. Also there is a small movement to convince Mike to continue into the Byzantine Empire. You might want to look for "12 Byzantine Rulers" at iTunes or Google. It's one of the best Ancient/Medieval History podcast out there. Inspired Mike to start with THoR. IMO ThoR is better that 12 Byz. Rulers. Mike has a great sense of humour. Something which doesn't show on Brownworth's podcast.

[Detlef]

Another thing about Lars Brownworth. The Norman podcast he is working on... He and his brother will start recording next week and the first episode will probably be uploaded somewhere in september.

I've got this info via email contact. Just thought to give you all the heads up.

[Gregorian]

Thanks for the insight into Nero that cleared away the old cliches for me. He's not Caligula, he's just a naughty boy.

I'm really looking forward to the coming episodes now that you're getting to the end of the well known stuff with the Julio Claudians.

[Jim]

Okay, I had to look this up to be sure. You mention Agrippina's support of one Gaius Rubellius Plautus in the podcast but, unfamiliar with the name, it sounded like Gaius Rebellious Plottus. I thought your dry sense of humor was trying to pull one over on us.

[Yanni]

hi thought you might like these photos i took the other day of the ermine street guard a roman recreation society that was at something called the festival of history in England (i have so many roman photos wasn't sure you'd want them all. Your podcast has also inspired me to do a week long backpacking tour of Roman kent, so ill be seeing some old amphitheatres, roman forts and villas, send photos when I get them

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/lost_aesthete/002.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/lost_aesthete/039.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/lost_aesthete/054.jpg

(sorry didnt know how to link them so here are the direct links!!!)

[Detlef]

The Rebellious Plottus thing is funny indeed. How can you trust anyone with a name that sounds like that?

Detlef

[Jonas Olsen, DK]

Great addition to the series.. Mike

I especially love the humour you bring into it.

[Sebastian]

i have a suggestion, why not do a history of byzatinium/ istanbul after history of rome finishes. doesnt the history of byzantinians spring from a point in history of rome.

[nadim]

yes please do byzantine history as Byzantium is also known as the later roman empire and there would be nobody better to to the history of Byzantium and there's also the point that everybody is dreading the end and would want your pod casts to last as long as possible getting through my third round of the podcast now i can not get enough

so please let us know would you do the history of Byzantium

[Detlef]

To repost one of my above comments in response to the byzantine question.

"Mike mentioned somewhere that he was planning a podcast about the 20th century presidents of the U.S. Not sure if that's still on the agenda. Also there is a small movement to convince Mike to continue into the Byzantine Empire. You might want to look for "12 Byzantine Rulers" at iTunes or Google. It's one of the best Ancient/Medieval History podcast out there. Inspired Mike to start with THoR. IMO ThoR is better that 12 Byz. Rulers. Mike has a great sense of humour. Something which doesn't show on Brownworth's podcast."

Also, 12 rulers is very focussed on specific rulers, unlike the broad swipes that Mike uses to tell his story. A 'History of Byzantium' could very much fill in the gaps left by Lars Brownworth.

And Mike, could you please confirm if you're still planning to do the presidential podcast?

[Nic Payton]

Thanks for the pod cast Mike, still the best as always. Someone mentioned the face book group for fans of "The History Of Rome Podcast Listeners". Membership as I speak, having just joined, is now 205. it is called:

"The History Of Rome Podcast Listeners"

Here's hoping you'll continue all the way to the end of the Byzantine empire.

Nic

[Claude]

My vote is to take the HOR podcast to Rome's half-millionth day mark, which would take us to the early 7th century. Things in Byzantium get pretty boring after that point.

[JohnGrandin]

Dactylic Hexameter. Isn't that the bad guy out of the Harry Potter movies?

[Greg]

I agree, all of the podcats on Byzantium are just so stale and dont show any of the real drama or comedy which are in Mikes Podcast , Mike i emplore you carry on the good work (even if it is a little further than your original finish line)

p.s was aggripina really aware that her son was trying to kill her or diid she think all the assasination attempts were random accidents (obv apart from the final one)

Many thanks

[Richard Tseng]

Hey Mike,

Love your podcast and am a big Julius Caesar fan, so I downloaded the podcasts about his life and am now going back and getting the rest, while also listening to the new ones. I'm a poli sci buff myself and really enjoy your approach. Anyhow, I don't know if you or all the commentators here have seen what Caesar 'actually looked like'.

It's the most ancient bust of the dictator (made while he was alive and not glamorized like later portraits of were). It was found some time last year in the Rhone River:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1954876/Divers-find-bust-of-Julius-Caesar-in-Rhone-River.html

[Colin Zwanziger]

Hi Mike,
I figured I'd repost this response to ep. 54 up here because I wasn't sure if you would check comments on much earlier episodes.
Colin

Mike,
One quibble from a Latin pronunciation in the episode: the legal term is not "causus belli" but "casus belli"- "the incident of war", with casus pronounced ka-SOOS. The Latin closest in meaning to "cause of war" would be "causa belli".

Other slight errors I noticed in earlier episodes: Hannibal's father's cognomen Barca (this itself actually a romanization of the Semitic baraq as in Barack Obama or Ehud Barak) should be BAR-ka, not bar-A-ka. Also, Cannae is perhaps best pronounced KAHN-eye, not kan-EI, although this is based on the conventional scholastic pronunciation as opposed to church pronunciation.

Anyway, I really enjoy your podcast and can't thank you enough for the time you put into it.
Colin

[Augustin]

Hi Mike

in his very entertaining book "The Roman Empire" Isaac Asimov says Nero was the most infamous villain ever to have lived. Caligula was clearly a lunatic, which is not the case for Nero. So I guess that's why Lucius Domitius ranks higher in wretchedness for Asimov.

Also, I noticed that you recommended the BBC series "I Claudius", but you failed to mention that it was based on the extraordinary homonymous novel by Robert Graves. For what I know historiography had considered Claudius a complete ass until "new documents" were discovered in the early XX century, proving that he was a very capable ruler and an extraordinary scholar. Do you know what those documents were and the circumstances in which they were discovered?

Finally, you mentioned tangentially that Tiberius became a lascivious debauched old fart in Capri. However many historians dismiss this based on the spartan habits of his youth. Why would such a gloomy and rather shy character suddenly become a sexual monster in the last years of his life? Especially since viagra was almost 2 millennia away.

I enjoy your effort immensely and spend the whole week waiting for the next episode to be out. Can I recommend that you interrupt the chronological narrative to describe the day-to-day life of a regular Roman? I am curious about domestic matters such as food, clothing, family, etc. I think it would be a valuable addition. Thanks heaps!

Cheers and keep them coming

Augustin

[Robert]

I really love your podcast, look forward to it every week. Thought I knew a lot ablout Roman history and culture, guess I was wrong.
Robert, The Netherlands

[darkfall gold]

You might want to look for "12 Byzantine Rulers" at iTunes or Google. It's one of the best Ancient/Medieval History podcast out there. Inspired Mike to start with THoR.

[Roy Thomas]

Really love this whole period! Keep up the good work.