On today's installment of the Trojan War, Apollo lands a well-aimed shot to finally lay Achilles low. Oh, and also a debate about chariots. That, and Vince may have rediscovered the reverb function on his Audacity. Either that, or we've been graced with a visit from the Greek gods. One of these two things.

Sources for this episode:

• Arrian (1805), Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea (etc.). Oxford: S. Collingford.
• Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus (1934), The Fall of Troy. Translated by A. S. Way. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nereids (online) (Accessed 13/05/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Periplus of the Euxine Sea (online) (Accessed 13/05/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Snake Island (online) (Accessed 13/05/2025).

Source for the cricket noises:

• Sampled from Crickets by freesound_community (https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/crickets-26444/). Licence under the Pixabay content licence (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/) (Accessed 25/05/2025).

Quintus Smyrnaeus may have been the least favourite child according to Autocrat lore, but he did give us a new source called the Posthomerica- a.k.a. the Fall of Troy- which takes us all the way to the end of the Trojan War! Our first two books of the Posthomerica see two different attempts by outside armies to rescue Troy- and they both go the same way...

Sources for this episode:

• Quintus Smyrnaeus (1934), The Fall of Troy. Translated by A. S. Way. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Terme River (online) (Accessed 02/04/2025).

It's finally the end of the Iliad! But before we wrap up, we still have time for a few questions. For instance, are all Achilles' funeral games either problematic or rigged? Will Cassie pointing out errors in the script lead to an increasingly irate Vince? And will the Jingle-Jangler make a cameo? All that to come on the final part of the Iliad!

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
• Author unknown, Theoi (date unknown), Sperkheios (online) (Accessed 03/04/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Spercheios (online) (Accessed 03/04/2025).

It's been a long time in the making, but we finally get the fight between Achilles and Hector. Tune in for Priam and Hecabe trying to make their son see reason, a surprise cameo from Eddie Redmayne and how not to be respectful to your enemy's corpse...

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.

A shorter episode today discussing book XXI of the Iliad! Achilles goes round murdering people like there's no tomorrow, and one of the rivers he keeps flinging people into objects to this. Not only that, but we get more partisanship from the gods and an honouring of a grisly promise.

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Scamander (online) (Accessed 03/04/2025).

As also stated in the episode audio, there will be no episode for the next two weeks as Autocrat is on a bit of an Easter break.

Patroclus is dead and Achilles is feeling seriously unhappy about it. And the Trojan army is going to know about it. But along the way, join us to give a sulking Odysseus a video game controller as a distraction and watch two grown men negotiate over a woman! Yay...

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antenor (Trojan) (online) (Accessed 22/02/2025).

We're sorry.

Sources for this episode:

• Apollonius of Rhodes (1972), The Voyage of Argo. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2018), Linus (online) (Accessed 31/03/2025).
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2021), Lake Avernus summary (online) (Accessed 31/03/2025).
• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.

• Ovid (1968), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

• Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Oeagrus (online) (Accessed 31/03/2025).

The United States of America may only have been founded in the 18th century, but the influences on it stretch all the way back to the days of the Roman Empire and, before that, the Roman Republic. We sat down with Jerry Landry from the Presidencies of the United States podcast to talk about the Senate, cities called Carthage, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, and more!

Sources and quick references for this episode:

• Borritt, G. S. (1975), The Voyage to the Colony of Linconia. The Historian 37(4): 619-632.
• McGinley, G. J. (1927), Roman Law and Its Influence in America. Notre Dame Law Review 3(2): 70-88.
• McMahon, L. (2014), The Foederati, the Phoideratoi, and the Symmachoi of the Late Antique East (ca. A.D. 400-650). University of Ottawa.
• Mower, J. H. (1947), The Republic of Liberia. The Journal of Negro History 33(3): 265.
• Author unknown, Enders and Shirley (date unknown), Jane Carey Harrison (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Find A Grave (date unknown), Benjamin "X" Harrison (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Geotargit (date unknown), How many cities are called Rome in America? (online) (Access date uncertain).

• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aurelian (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Brutus (Antifederalist) (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Caesar Augustus Rodney (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), History of Barcelona (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Jefferson Memorial (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Jefferson (proposed Pacific state) (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Jefferson territory (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lincoln (proposed Northwestern state) (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Linconia (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lucius Junius Brutus (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lucretia Garfield (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Marcus Junius Brutus (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Muhammad Ali (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Neoclassical architecture (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Roman Senate (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Publius Valerius Poplicola (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Society of the Cincinnati (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), State of Franklin (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Texas divisionism (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), The Federalist Papers (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), The Rotunda (University of Virginia) (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), United States Capitol (online) (Access date uncertain).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), United States Senate (online) (Access date uncertain).

We've had Hector going ballistic on the opposing side- well, now it's Achilles' turn. He's not quite in the war itself yet, but we see him terrify the Trojans with just his appearance and Thetis getting Hephaestus to make new armour for mummy's special boy...

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.

You guessed it from the title- today is going to be a great day for Patroclus where nothing bad happens. He does get to do a grim version of fishing and wreak havoc among the Trojan lines before the Nothing Bad happens to him, though.

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
• Jarrett, C., BBC Science Focus (date unknown), What is the Speed of Thought? (online) (Accessed 08/02/2025).
• Welsh, T., The Conversation (2015), It feels instantaneous, but how long does it really take to think a thought? (online) (Accessed 08/02/2025).
• Author unknown, Nature Style (date unknown), Eurasian Sparrowhawk (online) (Accessed 08/02/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aegis (online) (Accessed 08/02/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), List of birds by flight speed (online) (Accessed 08/02/2025).