121- Phase Three Complete

The Crisis of the Third Century finally ended with the mini dynasty of Carus and his two sons. In 284 Diocletian rose to power, ushering in a new age in Roman history.

121- Phase Three Complete

Comments

[Simon C]

You didn't say award winning!

[Miguel]

Welcome back Mike :)

And I agree with Simon: it's the Award Winning Podcast© The History of Rome.

[BrianMac]

I have to say the SETI podcast is rather good from the podawards!! THOR rocks though!!

[Aapte]

Very happy Mike DIDN'T say "award winning" again. Once was enough as a tip-of-the-cap to the fans but anything more than that implies that Mike is a braggard and that he needs the Podcast award to justify his podcast (and THOR is so good that he doesn't need to brag or justify himself).

Of course, if iTunes were to publish that THOR won an award, that would be great as it would hopefully draw more people in.

We're coming to the point where we can contrast THOR's style and Lars Brownworth's style directly when it comes to this history. It seems to me that Brownworth almost always takes the source material as given and doesn't question it while THOR will take a more open and skeptical view. Contrast this most recent podcast with Brownworth's 12 Byzantine Rulers podcast on Diocletian.

[Jonathan Vega]

Mike- Thanks to your podcast I was able to write some sweet lesson plans on important Romans. Thanks for the great work! Loved this episode! I cannot seem to download on iTunes though. Anyone else having this issue? Thanks so much
- Jonathan V

[LB]

I usually see Aper translated as 'boar' rather than 'ass'. Did I miss something?

[Jeremy]

Hey, I just discovered this and went through about 50 episodes in a week. I love the bite sized format (even though i'm eating like it's thanksgiving dinner). Thanks for making a difference!

[Steven]

Fantastic podcast Mike,

I just saw this fascinating article linking the crisis of the third century to a period of climate variability, discovered through the analysis of tree rings in wooden artifacts:

"Wet and warm summers occurred during periods of Roman and medieval prosperity. Increased climate variability from 250-600 AD coincided with the demise of the western Roman empire and the turmoil of the migration period," the team reported.

"Distinct drying in the 3rd Century paralleled a period of serious crisis in the western Roman empire marked by barbarian invasion, political turmoil and economic dislocation in several provinces of Gaul."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12186245

[Richard]

I was reading that Aper did translate as 'wild boar' in Germanic languages. At least that is how it was described in Kousoulis' book on Constantine. Either way, this is an exciting time period, I'm really looking forward to Sunday's episode. Thanks Mike.

[Rob Shinnick]

I came aboard late, started with Augustus, and now I'm finally caught up! I guess I'll be going back to the beginning to learn more about the Republic and the earlier period, now.

I've been a semiprofessional numismatist (which is to say, a coin collector and smalltime coin dealer) for several years, and I got involved with Roman coins a little while ago. They swept me up into the whole historical drama, and taught me a lot I didn't know about that period in time (since the public school education I received was very weak in ancient history and the Classics).

Anyway, since we just passed Aurelian and Mike had an episode entitled "Restitutor Orbis", I would like to offer a Roman coin giveaway. I have a nice silvered bronze antoninianus (double denarius) coin of Aurelian, which just so happens to have the "Restitutor Orbis" reverse on it. It's of modest value, but not your typical junkbox Roman coin, being worth $35-40 or so. (Remember Mike mentioning the terrible inflation of the period, and the debasement of the coinage? Well, by this time the previously-silver antoninianii coins were little more than bronze with an thin outer wash of silver, which didn't always survive being buried in the ground for 1,700 years). This one's pretty nice, though, with sharp detail and a fair amount of the original silvering intact. It was part of my original collection. (I've since downsized and am focusing exclusively on coins of the "12 Caesars".)

If Mike approves, perhaps he could post a giveaway thread here, and everybody who's listening could post one reply. I could then randomly select a winner a few days or a week or so later (using a random number generator), and ship the coin to that person. (If he decides to do this, I can post a link to some pictures of the coin later- I haven't got any at the moment.)

Just let me know if anybody's interested.

[Rob Shinnick]

PS- Here's a very similar example to the coin I am offering for the giveaway:

http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/aurelian/RIC_0368.1.jpg

(Mike, if you prefer I send the coin to you so you can select the winner or do with it as you please, that's fine by me, of course.)

[Scott Scheule]

What's the source on "aper" as "ass"?

I typically translate it as "wild boar." "Ass" (as in donkey) in Latin is "asinus."

[Matt Webster]

I was also under the impression that Aper was Boar
http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=aper&ending=

my first post on the board. Have been listening all summer and have nothing but respect and gratitude for all your efforts.

Keep up the great work!

[Elisabeth]

Just wanted to agree with those who are pointing out that 'aper' means 'wild boar' not 'ass' or donkey, which is asinus. Also, it's pronounced AH-pear.
I absolutely love this podcast! Thanks for putting in the work.

[here]

Leather is the most durable material for making bags and despite what you may assume.

[mulberry bags]

So fun article is! I know more from it.