War has come between Rome and Alba Longa, but in a bid to avoid both powers battering themselves into the dust before being swept aside by the Etruscans, they settle it via single combat. Well... more like triple combat. Join us for the We Hate Horatius Club, dictators called Foof, and the origins of walking under the yoke.

Time period: 672- 640 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Tullus Hostilius, 3rd King of Rome
• Horatii brothers
• Curiatii brothers
• Mettius Fufetius, Dictator of Alba Longa

Sources for this episode:

TBA

With Numa gone, we now see the election of Tullus Hostilius- the grandson of Sabine war hero Hostius Hostilius- to the Roman throne. He is a lot more belligerent than old Pompilius ever was, and immediately sets about engineering a war with Alba Longa.

Time period: c. 672- 671 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Tullus Hostilius, 3rd King of Rome
• Gaius Clulius, King of Alba Longa

Sources for this episode:

TBA

The empire has a Princess Imperial as of 2026, but we do not have a formal regent established. Well, this episode sets up two of them...

The second king of Rome may be dead, but his story isn't quite. Today, we scrape together the crumbs of evidence our primary and secondary sources give us concerning Egeria. Is she a nymph? A goddess? Is she Numa's second wife or his lover? And what's the deal with her maybe turning into a spring? Let the defence and prosecution assemble!

Time period: 716- 627 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Numa Pompilius, 2nd King of Rome
• Egeria, nymph

Sources for this episode:

TBA

In the spirit of having fun with the show, here's another Imperial Edict sorting out the year count for the empire. 2026 is now also Year IV/V...

Sources for this episode:

TBA

Numa Pompilius' rule is a lot less exciting than that of Romulus in terms of warfare. Instead, we get a whole lot of religious restructuring, instilling piety into the rabble that is Roman society, and a mysterious burial with sacred texts the later Republic will never address again... That and calendar administration.

Time period: 716- 672 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Numa Pompilius, 2nd King of Rome

Sources for this episode:

• Cassius Dio (1961), Dio’s Roman History in Nine Volumes. Volume II. Translated by E. Cary. London, United Kingdom and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
• Matyszak, P. (2008), Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rome from Romulus to Augustus. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Via Sacra (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).

Between 716 and 715 BCE, Rome undergoes what becomes known as an interregnum- an inter regnum, or period between kings. Senators take five-day turns ruling the country, and then one year into it, Numa Pompilius becomes elected king! However, our Sabine protagonist just refuses to become monarch until all sorts of hoops have been jumped through...

Time period: 716- 715 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Numa Pompilius, 2nd King of Rome

Sources for this episode:

• Cassius Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (1825), Galerie Romaine, ou les Hommes Illustres de Rome et les Cesars. Translated by A. Caillot. Paris.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Olympiad (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).

It's 5th July, 716 BCE. Campus Martius. One way or another, King Romulus of Rome disappears. But how? Did he become a god? Did the Senate do him in? Was there an uprising by the people? Let's pick our way through the different versions of events...

Time period: 716 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Romulus, 1st King of Rome

Sources for this episode:

• Cassius Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Ovid (1968), The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Pliny's Natural History (TBA).
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (1825), Galerie Romaine, ou les Hommes Illustres de Rome et les Cesars. Translated by A. Caillot. Paris.
• Wiseman, T. P. (1983), The Wife and Children of Romulus. The Classical Quarterly 33(2): 445-452.
• Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), Solar eclipses of historical interest (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), List of solar eclipses in antiquities (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).

We march through the years from 752 to 716 BCE, polishing off the remaining thirty-six years of Romulus' rule. Along the way, we'll watch Rome hit a bunch of opponents until they stay down one after another and Romulus take on some tyrannical airs the Senate don't like. Also, is it Dionysus of Halicarnassus- or is it John?

Time period: 752- 716 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Romulus, 1st King of Rome

Sources for this episode:

• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Matyszak, P. (2008), Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rome from Romulus to Augustus. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
• Pliny’s Natural History (TBA)
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.

Romulus may have founded a city and invited a bunch of criminals who need asylum in, but there's still a problem to overcome. Namely, there are no women in Rome. Well, nothing a good old-fashioned bit of mass kidnapping, brutal warfare and Stockholm syndrome can't overcome! Let's watch Vince decide he can't spell the word 'the' and Cassie decide she can't pronounce... things.

FYI: plea is a word derived from Anglo-French and area from Latin according to Etymology Online. Just in case anyone listened to the episode and thought they could do with that information.

Time period: c. 752 BCE

Relevant individuals:

• Romulus, 1st King of Rome
• Hersilia, Queen of Rome
• Titus Tatius, King of the Sabines and Co-King of Rome

Sources for this episode:

• Appian (1972), Appian's Roman History in Four Volumes (Volume I). London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.

  
  

  •Cassius Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Eutropius (1760), Eutropius: Epitome of the Roman History.London: Printed for W. Johnston et al.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (1825), Galerie Romaine, ou les Hommes Illustres de Rome et les Cesars. Translated by A. Caillot. Paris.
• Author unknown, Google Maps (date unknown) (online) (Accessed 26/10/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Curia (online) (Accessed 26/10/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Lucumo (online) (Accessed 26/10/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Timeline of Roman history (online) (Accessed 26/10/2025).

Sound Effect by DRAGON-STUDIO from Pixabay