June 01, 2021

ROME I | Rise of the Republic (753 BC – 49 BC)

1 hour 1 minute

Join us for the first episode of our deep dive on the history that inspired the BBC/HBO series Rome (2005-2017). Oh you say you know nothing about the Roman Empire? Perfect, this is the pod for you, citizen.

There’s plenty of

melodrama as we discuss how the familial feuds and incestuous

relationships among the Roman elite led to a critical break point

with the Royal family and Brutus (no, not that one) led a Republican

revolution, expelling the Kings forever.

Rome went from a

series of villages on 7 hills populated by runaway slaves, vagabonds

and women stolen from local tribes to become the most influential

empire in the history of the western world. Through existential

battles against local rivals, raids by savage Gauls and a cataclysmic

war against a Greek King, Rome survived it all.

Hannibal is at the

gates! Find out how Rome’s victory against the man who marched

elephants over the Alps led them to dominate the Mediterranean from

Spain to Greece. But final victory over Carthage was only the

beginning of the story; we wax lyrical about the lower classes rising

up against the increasing power of the rich nobles as societal issues

come to the fore. How does a government designed to run a city rule

over an empire?

Spoiler- Badly. It’s

terrible…people die. A lot.

This is Roman

history 101! We’ll give you an overview of 700 (yes, seven hundred)

years of Roman history, taking you from Romulus and Remus to the man

who’s name looms large over it all: Caesar.

It may have taken

them more than a day but we take about an hour.

Sources
Mary Beard- SPQR (2016)
Tom Holland- Rubicon (2003)
Cassius Dio- Roman History (1989)
Livy- The Early History of Rome (2002)
Mike Duncan- The Storm Before the Storm (2017)

The post ROME I | Rise of the Republic (753 BC – 49 BC) first appeared on Shows What You Know.

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