Podcast Archives - The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladies

Episode 93 - Divide and Conquer


Listen Later

Rome emerges from the year of pestilence and moves straight on to divide and conquer. While this seems implausible, we’re still navigating the tricky gaps in our annalist historians – uncertainty is the name of the historical game at this stage. Welcome to c. 462 BCE!

The pestilence ensured the death of both consuls of c. 463 BCE so it’s only after a series of interreges that we stumble into the new consular year. Join as we explore all c. 462 BCE has to offer including:

  • some of the factors to keep in mind when we encounter plague narratives
  • the increasing divergences in the narratives of Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus
  • the battle tactics designed to draw armies away from their chosen theatre of war
Episode 93 – Divide and Conquer
Bandits, Aequians, or Volscii?

One

of the big discrepancies we
consider this episode is just who is the enemy? A raiding force
causes trouble outside Rome, but who are they exactly? Livy and
Dionysius offer different interpretations of the evidence leaving us
a central puzzle to resolve concerning battle tactics and
probabilities.

Trouble
in (Hernican)
Paradise

While Rome’s been down and out, the Aequians and Volscii alliance have taken the opportunity to strike! Hernican territory is a great strategic choice, but they are definitely allies with Rome so … we’re here to guide you through all the consequences!

The major players

Consuls of c. 462

BCE

Lucius
Lucretius Tricipitinus (patrician)
  • Titus
    Veturius Geminus Cicurinus (patrician)

    Tribune of the plebs

    Sextus Titius

    The Urban Prefect

    Quintus
    Fabius (Vibulanus) (or Quintus Furius in your Dion. Hal.) consul II
    (467, 465 BCE)
    Scholarly material

    Dr G gets more excited about pestilence than perhaps is appropriate but it did lead to some of the work of Northwood:

    Northwood, S. J. 2006. ‘Grain Scarcity and Pestilence in the Early Roman Republic: Some Significant Patterns’ in Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 49.81-92


    Source: Costumes of All Nations 1882 by Albert Kretschmer, painters and costumer to the Royal Court Theatre, Berin, and Dr. Carl Rohrbach. Courtesy of: wikimedia commons

    The post Episode 93 – Divide and Conquer appeared first on The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladies.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Podcast Archives - The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladiesBy The Partial Historians