After the disaster of Adrianople, the Roman Empire struggled to rebuild its army and restore order. But in AD 390, a riot in the city of Thessalonica spiraled into one of the most infamous episodes of late Roman history. How did the arrest of a single charioteer lead to the death of a Roman general? Why did imperial troops suddenly turn on a crowd in the city’s hippodrome? And how did the aftermath bring a powerful bishop into conflict with the emperor himself?

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The Battle of Adrianople in August of AD 378 was one of Rome’s worst military disasters. A refugee crisis at the edge of the empire turned into a bloody afternoon battle that shattered the Roman and changed imperial policy forever. What led the Romans into the Battle of Adrianople? Why did the emperor Valens rush into battle? What did the loss mean for the future of the Empire?

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Jovian ruled the Roman Empire for barely eight months (AD 363–364), yet his reign reveals how imperial power functioned in moments of extreme crisis. Elevated suddenly after Julian’s death deep in Persia, Jovian faced the immediate task of saving a stranded Roman army. He chose negotiation over annihilation and stabilized Rome’s eastern frontier for generations. His death from carbon monoxide poisoning cut short what was sure to be a contentious reign.Donate: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WZTWCMWCJJYFC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Did the emperor Aurelian's big coin reform in the 270s AD shatter public trust in the money system? Did it shift value from faith in the government to just the metal in the coins? I wrote most of an article addressing these issues, but never got around to publishing it. So I use this podcast episode to make an argument that the system was already crumbling decades before Aurelian. And Aurelian's changes were in fact a clever fix. The price inflation that followed was disruptive, but it also proved the reform worked, clearing up confusion and stabilizing markets.

Read Haklai (2011), 'Aurelian’s Monetary Reform: Between Debasement and Public Trust'.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Disease shaped population levels, military strength and the stability of imperial institutions in the Roman Empire. Smallpox, a highly lethal viral disease known from the early modern period and eradicated only in the twentieth century, has long been assumed to have been part of that ancient disease environment. A recent-ish article in the Journal of Roman Studies challenges that assumption, showing that there is no firm evidence that the classical form of smallpox existed in the Roman world. This article helped shape my own thinking in my book, Pox Romana, and I'm thrilled to take the time to explain the article's argument and why it matters for Roman history.

Read Newfield et al. (2022), 'Smallpox's Antiquity in Doubt'

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

363 AD: Emperor Julian, Rome’s last pagan ruler, wagered everything on a massive invasion of Persia to eclipse Alexander the Great and prove that the old gods blessed his empire. He crossed into Persia with tens of thousands of soldiers and a thousand supply ships. Fortresses fell, cities burned and Ctesiphon itself lay within reach. But Julian's careful efforts were undone by his own hubris. His death in battle ended both an emperor and pagan Rome’s final hope.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In AD 361, Flavius Claudius Julianus--Julian "The Apostate"--entered Constantinople as the unexpected sole Augustus of the Roman world. Here was a thirty-year-old philosopher-king who had spent the previous decade dissimulating Christianity while privately offering midnight sacrifices to pagan gods.He had roughly twenty months left to live. In that brief span he attempted nothing less than the systematic reversal of forty years of Constantinian religious policy. Was Julian genuinely committed to a pluralistic empire in which paganism would simply be allowed to reassert itself, or was his proclaimed “toleration” from the very beginning a calculated strategy of cultural and institutional strangulation designed to break Christianity without ever giving it the propaganda gift of martyrs?

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⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Julian the Apostate is a well-documented and fascinating figure--a secret pagan who wound up ruling the Christian Roman Empire. This episode examines the formative years that transformed a survivor of a dynastic purge into the last pagan emperor. How did isolation shape his intellectual trajectory? How did he find himself second-in-command of the Roman Empire? And how did he win glory for himself, so much so that he was able to challenge the emperor that likely murdered his family?

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Buy Professor Elliott's book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In 355 AD, Silvanus, a high-ranking officer in the Roman Empire faced treason charges from forged letters. The emperor, Constantius II had him executed. But also, after learning that the letters were forged, the emperor pardoned the conspirators. Why else would he do all this unless he was either gullible or cruel? Well, the ancient historian who wrote about this episode, Ammianus Marcellinus, may have lied about what happened. He also happened to have bene in the party that ultimately assassinated Silvanus. Something very fishy happened--and a recent article offers a new theory for sorting it all out.

Read "Fraud and Forgery in the Reign of Constantius II: The Silvanus Affair of 355 CE" by Katherine Lagenfeld: https://biblioscout.net/article/10.25162/historia-2025-0020

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Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Constantine's sons fought one another for control over their father's Empire. The last one standing was Constantius II. But even after conquering the Empire, his problems were only just beginning. He had Alemanni invading in the west, the Persian threat in the east and religious schisms across the increasingly Christian Roman Empire. He would attempt to stabilize the Empire, but was he successful?