113- Three Empires

Following the capture of Valerian in 260 AD, the western provinces broke away to form a seperate Empire and the east became controlled by the city of Palmyra.

113- Three Empires

Comments

[Grandpa D]

Wow. You got #113 posted in the middle of a move to new digs in Austin. Well done, Mike.

[Simon]

More than 2,000 members on the ThoR Facebook page. Ave Mike.

[Luke]

Hi Mike

I've recently moved to Beirut for work, and I love your podcast even more given the centrality of this region in the Empire, and the amazing Roman ruins throughout the Levant, including in the most unlikely of places. For example, there's a lonely Roman column at the end of my street, and yesterday in the mountains I saw a prohibition chiseled into a rock by Hadrian, banning the felling of four kinds of trees.

I extend an open invitation to you and Mrs The History of Rome to come and stay whenever you wish. I would be more than happy to take you to Baalbek and beyond.

Luke

[Morgan]

Hey Mike, great work on the Podcasts! Fascinating. One question I have though is at the end of the second episode, you mention that transcripts of the episodes can be found here. Is that still the case? Where can I find these transcripts?

Thanks!

[Matthew Cohen]

Technical issue: my android player BeyondPod is downloading the title but not the actual file. Any hints?

[Erik Rieske]

Great Podcast. I've been listening for awhile and thoroughly enjoy the episodes. Since going to the fall of Constantinople has been pretty much ruled out, I was wondering if we could convince you to take the podcast to the end of Justinian's reign instead? I think it falls neatly into the scope of this podcast as Justinian was the last emperor who really thought on a imperial scale. He sought to retake the empire's lost territories, was the last emperor (I believe) who possessed Rome, and is considered by many historians to be the last Roman Emperor of the East. He still spoke Latin unlike his sucessors and the retaking of Italy is a really amazing story that would be a much better ending to the podcast rather than the disappointing removal and retirement of a teenage boy.

[Mainframe]

As Erik Rieske said, I'd love for the Podcast to go on for as long as possible after Romulus Augustus. Since I hope Mike enjoys making these shows, it'd be preferable that he expands upon what he's already gone so far into building a cohesive narrative with, rather than jumping to a new era.... Unless it'd be ancient China or something, since I know far too little about the dynasties! :D

After hundreds of years of abandoning territory and depressing defeats both militarily and for their society it'd be nice to end on something on an upbeat note, however temporary, rather than "Well, now the Roman west fell completely and Europe will fall into petty squabbling until the present day. TEH END!".

Although I'm not sure how many more times I can listen to the Empire falling into petty in-fighting about pointless theological nitpicking when there's massive issues all over the country. Makes me want to punch Constantine in the face.

[Jared Roberts]

@Luke, any chance we could get a picture of that column and the prohibition? That sounds so neat!

[Val in Vancouver]

Thanks for the great podcast Mr. THoR.
@Luke yes please, pictures please[:)]

[Joe]

Mike,

Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this podcast. I studied ancient history in college and was fortunate enough to have an excellent professor for all of my Greek/Roman classes. Like him, you do a great job at making history come alive.

I'm also impressed by how much you use the original sources (Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio, etc) and how you explain their potential and occasionally blatant biases. I'm only on episode 70, but catching up quickly!

Thanks again.

[Phil in HK]

I used to live in the town of Sitges (just south of Barcelona). I loved the drive to Tarragona (Tarraco), the old Roman HQ of Hispania Tarraconensis (Hispania Citerior in Republican days).

There is a fabulous and enormous Roman aquaduct just off the highway into town. There is no tourist office, no queues, no crowds, barely even a sign. It is the best place in the world to take your tea & bikkies, then sit and marvel at Roman engineering. You can walk right across and go down below and gaze up. (Then look down and wonder at the foundations they must have built underneath!)

The town of Taragonna is also a great place to spend a day (if you can tear yourself away from the aqueduct!)
How can I past a photo?

I only discovered the podcast a few months ago. I have finally caught up and I'm looking forward to 114!

[Jason from the Navy]

Love the podcast. I'm in the Navy, recently returned from being forward deployed in East Asia, and currently going to graduate school for an engineering degree. Anyway listening to your podcast has really peaked my interest in the whole period of history and I'm reading a couple books now about the period. I'm very impressed with how you always mention sources and their potential biases and admit when you're not 100% sure of what might have happened (cause most poly-sci guys think they know everything of course :) ). Anyway I remember at the Academy we would talk about many of the battles and wars from that era in history and though obviously the weapons and technologies have changed, many of the fundamentals of the Greco-Roman military doctrine and structure are still relevant and practiced today. Anyway, thanks for the great podcasts, keep them coming. Cheers.

[Indoor Fountains]

It is good to know the Historical information about Kings and Kingdoms in 260 AD. It is very difficult to gather the information like this kind very rare.
Thanks and regards,
Gunjan.