So the History of Rome went to the ER on Friday complaining of abdominal pain and we wound up having our appendix removed about six hours later*. I'm doing fine and am resting comfortably, but unfortunately that means this week's episode has been cancelled. Shouldn't have any trouble getting back to work next week though, so I'll see you then.
C'est la vie,
Mike
*No word on whether my footnotes were also removed, but thanks for your concern Scott...
Hope you are feeling better, look after yourself. I am sure I speak for all listeners when I say, don't force yourself. The fall of Rome has waited 1600 odd years, I am sure we can wait another week while you recover.
Am dreading the end. Is there any way we can convince you to recalibrate the end of the history of Rome. There are other alternatives to Romulus Augustus: 1453, Last Holy Roman Emperor, Berlusconi, he does represent the end of times in so many ways, it would seem appropriate.
Posted by: Luke Baxter | November 06, 2011 at 02:06 PM
You are in our thoughts and prayers. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Fr. Bill McNeeley
Posted by: Bill McNeeley | November 06, 2011 at 02:47 PM
Sorry to hear that. Speedy recovery, Mike.
Posted by: Jiachen | November 06, 2011 at 03:09 PM
Sorry to hear this. May you recover quickyly!
Posted by: Conrad Robinson | November 06, 2011 at 03:16 PM
Get better soon! Thank you for all the great work on the History of Rome.
Posted by: Scott Lewis | November 06, 2011 at 03:17 PM
Ouch. Hope ya feel better soon, Mike. :)
Posted by: Mainframe | November 06, 2011 at 03:32 PM
Sorry to hear this and ,,gute Besserung'' from Germany!
Take your time to recover before you continue with your excellent work, history won't run away.
Posted by: Matthias | November 06, 2011 at 03:39 PM
Get well soon Mike!
Posted by: Nick | November 06, 2011 at 04:28 PM
Zoinks! Sorry about all you've been through this weekend. Glad your recovery is going smoothly.
Posted by: Claude | November 06, 2011 at 04:35 PM
Wow! back next week...
Think about it,
This would have killed an emperor by then.
Take your time and recover.
Posted by: Martin | November 06, 2011 at 04:56 PM
Mike, As others have said I hope for a speedy recovery but make sure you are well enough before you return to your work. My wife and I groaned at the 'footnote' comment.
Posted by: Andrew Lowry | November 06, 2011 at 05:02 PM
Take care of yourself and feel better.
Posted by: Bob | November 06, 2011 at 05:02 PM
Ouch. Take care of your self and don't rush it. Hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: jonathan | November 06, 2011 at 05:20 PM
Good one Luke!!
Get well soon and rest up.
Posted by: Luise (Tasmania,Australia) | November 06, 2011 at 05:58 PM
...and I second Fr. Bill's post as well...
Posted by: Luise (Tasmania,Australia) | November 06, 2011 at 06:00 PM
major bummer glad you pulled through feel better asap
Posted by: robert | November 06, 2011 at 06:11 PM
I certainly hope that you have a speedy recovery, but that you can enjoy convalescing! Read something good.
Posted by: Josephine | November 06, 2011 at 06:42 PM
I hope you are feeling better soon. I will miss the episode. Look forward to next week!
Posted by: Carl Brodie | November 06, 2011 at 06:45 PM
St. Ambrose called and says you're gonna be fine. Feel better and get well soon!
Posted by: Des | November 06, 2011 at 07:24 PM
Best wishes for a quick recovery.
Posted by: David | November 06, 2011 at 07:31 PM
Get well soon. The show is wonderful, but your health is more important.
Posted by: Ralph | November 06, 2011 at 07:32 PM
I knew it! I saw a flock of birds flying erratically and wondered what was up. So that's what the auspices were trying to say. So what did they use? The Promethean technique is probably the most appropriate given the circumstances. But sometimes it's difficult finding a large enough rock when you need it.
Convalescas ex aegroto mox!
Posted by: Charlie | November 06, 2011 at 08:53 PM
Get Well Soon!
Posted by: Hovig Maghakian | November 06, 2011 at 09:16 PM
Yikes! Take good care and feel better soon.
Posted by: pasta fresca | November 06, 2011 at 09:30 PM
Shame it wasn't Gall Stones. Then I cold use the line about "Only the Penitent Man shall pass..."
Enjoy the icecream.
(Or is that for Tonsils?)
Posted by: Gregm | November 06, 2011 at 09:59 PM
Take care and make a full recovery! Don't try to come back to form too hastily! You and your health is more important than the podcast. It's your opinion and your style we keep coming back for, not merely a weekly fix.
Posted by: Hume's Bastard | November 06, 2011 at 11:27 PM
Get well soon, mate!
You're not allowed to fall until after the Empire falls. And we're all dreading the day.
I went on a History of Rome fast recently so I have about six or seven precious episodes on which I intend to feast some day.
To all those who groaned when they found no episode this week, History of Rome is addictive. Listen to it in moderation.
Ah, as to whether the footnotes had been removed, it took me a few minutes to get in on the joke but, in my uninformed opinion, if you're gonna take out the appendix you might as well take out the footnotes, too. :)
Posted by: sHx | November 06, 2011 at 11:33 PM
I've been there man. With an appendix surgery, I was tied up for a good four days. Take care. And make sure that you negotiate down the hospital bill once they give it to you. It'll be a doozy.
Also, I share Luke Baxter's assessment. A recalibration of the end of the Roman empire would certainly benefit the other listeners and myself. With less than 100 years before the stated end, maybe something to consider:
Some options for an "alternate ending":
-565: The death of Justinian (if I'm not mistaken, the last Latin speaking Roman Emperor and the last Roman Emperor of the Italian peninsula)
-May 29th, 1453 (Fall of Constantinople and symbolic end of the Byzantine Empire)
-The end of WW1 (the end of the Kaiser and the Tsar, both rooted from Caesar, also the end of the Ottoman Sultan who may have still claimed the title Caesar of Rome) [okay wishful thinking probably, but I'd still listen every week]
Posted by: Aapte | November 07, 2011 at 12:10 AM
Ow! - get well!
Posted by: Nick Taylor | November 07, 2011 at 01:29 AM
Recently saw a great documentary called 'The Destiny of Rome'. Can't seem to find a link to the full episodes, however, I thought I'd post a link to the trailer. It's in Latin with english subtitles... i'm sure all you history nerds out there will enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65h_JfTpwN4
Get well soon Mike...
Posted by: Steven S. | November 07, 2011 at 01:46 AM
Get well! Rome can wait*>)
Posted by: lou | November 07, 2011 at 03:06 AM
Get well soon Mike!
Posted by: Shane | November 07, 2011 at 03:14 AM
Yikes! Feel better and have a fast recovery!
Posted by: Ron | November 07, 2011 at 03:53 AM
Get well soon Mike. Thanks for hot brilliant work.
Posted by: Josh | November 07, 2011 at 04:01 AM
Hope you have a speedy recovery Mike!! Take care!!!
Posted by: Richard Eppert | November 07, 2011 at 05:03 AM
Feel better Mike. Flirt with the nurses and make them laugh . You'll find yourself getting a little more of everything you need . And don't forget to work this pain and trauma into a damn good care package . Your family should understand that only an iPad2 will help you past the wrenching experience of having your appendix torn away :)
Posted by: Niall Blehein | November 07, 2011 at 05:45 AM
take your time and get better. i need to go back and listen to some old episode to refresh my memory any ways. Thank you for everything!
Posted by: scg | November 07, 2011 at 08:00 AM
Take care buddy and good to hear everything turned out ok.
Posted by: Jeremy | November 07, 2011 at 08:06 AM
Get well soon.
Posted by: Thomas | November 07, 2011 at 08:21 AM
Get well soon. We will survive without our weekly dose of THoR. It will be hard but we will make it. God's speed on you recovery. We can listen to old episodes until then.
Posted by: Ron | November 07, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Get well soon!
Posted by: Bob Markunas | November 07, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Get well soon Mike
Posted by: Nick | November 07, 2011 at 11:09 AM
Sorry to here about that. Get well soon.
Posted by: Jayce | November 07, 2011 at 11:21 AM
Get Well soon and I pray that you live till you are great grandpappy.
:) Cheers and Love & Peace from Pakistan
Posted by: Aamir Aziz | November 07, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Hope you get well soon Mike, cheers!
Posted by: matt, NL | November 07, 2011 at 11:45 AM
May you have a safe and speedy recovery!
Posted by: Michael | November 07, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Gute Besserung from sunny germany. Hope you get well soon.
Posted by: Jessp | November 07, 2011 at 01:36 PM
good luck with the recovery Mike
Posted by: Gerhard | November 07, 2011 at 02:20 PM
Take good care of yourself, Mike and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Posted by: Laurence Bachmann | November 07, 2011 at 03:06 PM
Get well soon Mike. We miss you!
Posted by: Alastair M | November 07, 2011 at 03:26 PM
Hi Mike, sorry to hear about the op, here's to a speedy recovery. Take it easy. Rome can wait.
Posted by: Neil Lee | November 07, 2011 at 04:11 PM
The Ides of November?...Get well soon, Mike!
Posted by: SEL | November 07, 2011 at 04:20 PM
Jupiter Speed!! We'll miss ya. Can't wait to hear the next one. Get well, Mike. :-)
Posted by: Alex Wall | November 07, 2011 at 05:32 PM
Get well soon, I want to hear how much The Roman Empire's incompetence over whelms the cat came back style military and diplomatic tragedies.
Posted by: Travis | November 07, 2011 at 06:27 PM
Get well soon Mike from Sydney Australia. First time poster, massive fan. Hope you stare down death like Diocletian, smell better than Galerius and that the nurses hail you as emperor.
Posted by: Guy Moloney, Sydney Australia | November 07, 2011 at 07:46 PM
This is why I ALWAYS consult the sacred chickens before doing anything. Also, did you hear that cavalry is like, totally the new thing? Best of luck recovering!
Posted by: etheist | November 07, 2011 at 08:33 PM
Take it easy Mike; the next podcast can wait. Get well soon.
Posted by: Stephen | November 07, 2011 at 11:20 PM
My Monday is not a Monday with your dull set tones and my History of Rome fix, get well soon sir.
Posted by: roifield | November 08, 2011 at 12:52 AM
Get well soon Mike!
This just gives me another week to think about how to use the Saint Ambrose job search method!
Posted by: Sean | November 08, 2011 at 04:31 AM
Get well soon!! I've gotten used to hearing your wonderful podcast at the start of my week.
Posted by: Gordon | November 08, 2011 at 06:23 AM
I hope you get better soon and know that all of us are with you in spirit.
Posted by: John Nabers | November 08, 2011 at 07:47 AM
Mike, I believe you mentioned another person (or two?), who had problems with the church and also had nasty abdominal issues. Hmm... LOL. JK JK. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
Posted by: St. Ambrose | November 08, 2011 at 08:01 AM
Get well soon. Are you sure you weren't poisoned? If you were, I bet it was Livia!
Posted by: CA Bennett | November 08, 2011 at 08:45 AM
Get Well soon bro.
Posted by: Reem | November 08, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Mike I'm so glad you're ok, appendix is not a good thing and tho mod med is amazing - abdominal cavity is a tricky place!
sending good vibs for a speedy recovery (not in a selfish way - the cast'll be back, but more in a being healthy is so great and lousy when you feel kak way).
Tho we are all waiting with bated breath for the next installment, WE CAN WAIT!!! don't push yourself and don't worry we're all so addicted we'll be ready when you are...
I'm sure yr wife, family and friends are gathered round to amuse and distract you from your patient-ness. Enjoy the attention!
Har det koslig og god bedring!
Posted by: Nancy | November 08, 2011 at 11:09 AM
Get well soon Mike.
I popped down to the Tiber Island today and left a dead chicken as an offering for the healing snake at the Temple of Aesculapius - you should be right as rain in a day or two.
Best wishes
Stu in Rome
Posted by: Stuart Harvey | November 08, 2011 at 11:13 AM
Get well soon Mike, You make Mondays worth looking forward to
Posted by: Allen | November 08, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Golly Stu, I didn't know there was a Temple of Aesculapius on the isle of Tiber, the only one i know of is at Pergamon...
Posted by: Nancy | November 08, 2011 at 11:21 AM
Get well soon!
Also, when next taking heavy antibiotics treatment for some reason don't forget to mention you had your appendix removed. The appendix stores a 'sample' of your intestinal flora when all the rest is destroyed by antibiotics, so without appendix you might get complications.
Free medical advice for you. Hey, you gave me plenty of free podcasts!
Posted by: jebus | November 08, 2011 at 03:11 PM
Take care, and get well soon.
Posted by: SethALynch | November 08, 2011 at 03:36 PM
Holding you in my heart and prayers...Get better! -Fr. Joe
Posted by: Frjoe | November 08, 2011 at 03:47 PM
Mike,
Get better soon. What would we do without you? So make sure you get well and I look forward to your return for next week's episode.
Posted by: Parker | November 08, 2011 at 03:53 PM
Cancelled? Please, please don't leave a gap in the history of Mike's History of Rome.
We wish you a solid recovery, and a solid recovery of the story from where you left off.
Posted by: Frank | November 08, 2011 at 04:54 PM
I bet that one Roman Assassin who held is hand in the fire to terrify King Porsenna would have made the podcast. Now I have to lie here, with the blackness of my own thoughts. Thanks a bunch.
Posted by: SwampPool | November 08, 2011 at 05:16 PM
I was feeling your pain until the footnote pun... and then I was feeling MY pain...
Seriously though, best wishes. It's telling that as much as we love this history, we can't bear for it to end, with the plethora of posters trying to wheedle more podcasts out of you! (Consider me included. To Justinian and Beyond!)
Posted by: Typewriterjason | November 08, 2011 at 08:19 PM
I hope you enjoy a speedy recovery.
And I hope this week's episode is merely postponed rather than cancelled.
Posted by: Roger Black | November 08, 2011 at 09:30 PM
Sorry to hear that, get well soon!
Posted by: Ophir Radnitz | November 08, 2011 at 10:22 PM
Best wishes for a swift recovery; imagine how bad it would have been if you'd had this in Ancient Rome!!
Posted by: Christopher Fernandez-Packham | November 08, 2011 at 11:58 PM
Get well soon looking forward to the next episode
Posted by: David Milner | November 09, 2011 at 12:18 AM
its just a good blog to get your latest information in design/art world.
keep it up
Posted by: phentermine | November 09, 2011 at 01:43 AM
Maybe this would be the appropriate time to suggest some "Special" episodes again. Ala the Taking stock episodes in the second century.
One that comes to mind would be: "Medicine in Ancient Rome". I have also had my appendix removed and sometimes ponders on how short my life would have been if I was born in another time.
Posted by: Tommy | November 09, 2011 at 01:54 AM
Get well soon! By the way this is my all time favourite Podcast and I'm not looking forward the fall of the West and it's end!
Posted by: Perry Cassidy | November 09, 2011 at 03:07 AM
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks, as always, for the effort you put into producing the show every week.
Posted by: Steve F | November 09, 2011 at 03:46 AM
Bet you're glad you are not relying on Roman surgery... speedy recovery and kindest regards.
Posted by: Sandy | November 09, 2011 at 01:13 PM
Well, blinkin' flip, looked in to download my usual episode and I find all this. Your health is important but so is the podcast: do you have a deputy?
Come to think of it, hope you have health insurance? Us Hayekian serfs in thrall to the faceless bureaucratic runaway superstate over here in the UK get socialised medicine and can get our appendixes whipped out more or less whenever.
Get well as soon as is convenient.
Posted by: Guilsfield | November 09, 2011 at 01:54 PM
Cancelled the podcast because you had your appendix removed? If I had a dollar for every time I've heard THAT one!!
Posted by: Steve | November 09, 2011 at 01:56 PM
Glad to hear all's well.
Posted by: Manuel | November 09, 2011 at 02:11 PM
Mike,
I hope you are feeling much better soon. Bus rides are very boring without your dulcet tones!
All the best to you and Mrs THoR.
Kind regards,
Philip
Posted by: Phil in HK | November 09, 2011 at 05:27 PM
I wish you only the best. I found your podcast about 6 weeks ago and expect to be caught up in another 2 or 3. I am a junky. Take your time coming back. Your presentations are excellent and we can wait to have you back fully recovered!
Posted by: Tom | November 09, 2011 at 08:40 PM
Wishing you a comfortable and speedy recovery. Get well soon, Mike.
Posted by: Jace Cheal | November 10, 2011 at 01:27 AM
Feel better, Mike
Posted by: Brian | November 10, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Get well soon Mike.
So glad you are OK and are already planning your return.
Best history podcast by miles.
Posted by: Richard Canham | November 10, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Sorry to hear of your illness. Thoughts and prayers are yours tonight ...
Posted by: Paul S | November 10, 2011 at 06:02 PM
Take good care,!!!!!
Posted by: Yhba13 | November 10, 2011 at 09:13 PM
Get well soon Mike.
I've only recently discovered History of Rome and have been listening to an episode each evening on my drive home from work. I love it. As I have only reached episode 59 I am in the fortunate position of being able to not worry about the fact there won't be an episode this week or for as many weeks as it takes you to get better. But soon that day will come...
Posted by: Mandy | November 11, 2011 at 01:09 AM
The first thing I thought when I saw this was "Mike got sick. Really, really sick."
Get well soon, and no pressure on the next episode - I think organ removal is a decent excuse for a slight delay ;)
Posted by: Thomas | November 11, 2011 at 02:26 AM
Hope that you feel better and lighter now that your organs are streamlined! Thank you for all of the lovely podcasts up until now, please take plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids. I eagerly await your return to health. Look at the bright side, at least they didn't remove your Gaul bladder. See what I did there? Sic semper appendix!
Posted by: Andy | November 11, 2011 at 05:06 AM
Yikes!! I was wondering why there was new episode in my feed this past Monday morning. My best wishes for a full recovery. Also want convey to you how much I look forward to each installment! Looking forward to how you are going to address the Byzantine Empire.
Posted by: Robert Lombardi II | November 11, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Get well soon!
Posted by: Ryan Reyes | November 11, 2011 at 12:54 PM
@Robert: he's not going to address the Byzantines, sadly..
Posted by: luke, UK | November 11, 2011 at 01:57 PM