The Roman Empire | A Discussion

Who were they? Were they even real? And why did they fade? Joe and Jon discuss some of history's most fascinating warriors in this week's pop quiz.Join us this season for regular pop quizzes and our special "Sketches in History" episodes for younger listeners every Thursday. And ... Show More

Season Nine is here!!!This year, we are joining Americans in celebrating our country's 250th birthday with episodes about our nation's history. In the season premier, Jon takes a look back at moments of political and cultural change to bring some context to the climate in America ... Show More

In this week's episode, Joe follows up from our last pop quiz and asks about the knowledge lost in the Library of Alexandria, how its destruction affected other civilizations, and why preserving access to information is so important.Join us on Monday for the start of Season 9!! 

We look at the rise of the Roman Republic from a small Italian city-state to the dominant political and military power of the Mediterranean. The expansion of Rome also led to the expansion of Latin which emerged as a common lingua franca. We also explore Latin words and phrases f ... Show More

The assassination of Julius Caesar left an enormous power vacuum in Rome, thrusting his successors into an epic, intercontinental battle for control of the empire that reshaped the future of the modern world.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N ... Show More

When we look at history, we tend to focus on grand things like great leaders and great battles.In reality, what makes for successful empires is often the mundane: stable laws, an uncorrupt civil service, or, for large sprawling empires, a system of roads. Roads were one of the se ... Show More

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires in the ancient world.  It left us a host of languages based on Latin, as well as many cultural institutions which still exist. While the Roman Empire is gone, when exactly did it cease to exist?  Learn more about exactly when the R ... Show More

In the middle of the Third Century, things were looking really bad for the Roman Empire. This period was marked by civil war, economic collapse, foreign invasions, and a rapid succession of emperors, often military usurpers, most of whom died violently. If things had gone just a ... Show More

March 15th, 44BC. Despite ill omens, Julius Caesar approaches the Theatre of Pompey. But the men inside have sworn an oath. To save the Republic from the hands of this self-styled ‘perpetual dictator', Caesar must die. But where did the Republic start? How did it transform Rome f ... Show More

The Roman Republic existed for almost 500 years. The Romane Empire then existed for almost another 500 years. The two institutions had a great deal in common, but they radically differed in how Rome was administered. The Republic was set up explicitly to prevent the rule of a sin ... Show More

By 410 AD, over 450 years after Julius Caesar first landed on its shores, the Romans had formally withdrawn from Britain. Burdened by military threats and political upheaval on the continent, the empire began to contract in on itself. The Romano-Britons were left to fend for them ... Show More

Take a trip back in time to Ancient Rome, to discover the bizarre and barbaric world of the gladiators. But who were these mysterious warriors? And how much truth lies behind the legends? Take your seat in the Roman Colosseum, the games are about to begin. A Noiser production, wr ... Show More