The Tale Of Rome

Finally, Plebeians have a Consul of their own. And just about in the right moment, because the Samnites are knocking on Rome’s doors. We also see the passing of Marcus Furius Camillus. Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 29 — The First Plebeian Consul.We are in the year 368 BC.A young man of high stature, named Lucius Sextus Lateranus, dismounted from his horse in front of the Senate building. Three big parchments of paper were rolled under his shoulder.Lucius Sextus Lateranus was a Tribune of the Plebes.In other words, he was automatically an enemy of 100% of Rome’s Patricians, and nothing that was in his possession was welcome in the Senate.

The second start of Rome, after the ashes. Marcus Furius Camillus and Marcus Manlius Capitolinus are the two undisputed heroes of Rome, but one of them will end up a villain. We will also see a miracle at Aeliana’s home.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 28 — The Tarpeian Rock.Last week we saw the end of our trilogy of Rome’s darkest hour, so far.The attack, the siege, and the plunder of Rome.We saw how the Gauls finally left Rome, and how Camillus became the person who truly led the city’s destiny.And here, I think it’s a good time to tell you guys, what Livy wrote on the front page of his sixth book, that gigantic work he did, called Ab Urbe Condita, or “From the Founding of the City” in English.I am reading this from the first page, Book 6:The transactions of the Romans, from the creation of the city of Rome to the capture of it, first under Kings, then under Consuls and Dictators, Decenvirs and Tribunes with consular powers,

The end of our trilogy of the sack of Rome. Brennus is history, and Rome is saved. We also get the best of news from Aeliana and Lucius.Partial TranscriptLast week we saw Brennus and Quintus Sulpicius holding meetings to decide the fate of Rome. Both sides were exhausted, both sides had dead piling up on a daily basis, and both sides had an ego larger than the Seven Hills of Rome, combined…But here, one of the two sides had a slight advantage, and that advantage was the hope that Camillus would arrive with his troops, any time now.In the meantime, I want you to imagine the city of Rome.The Circus Maximus, which still only possessed some disposable wooden grades, had become a temporary morgue, and the stench coming from the place, let everyone know where the Gauls decided to pile up and and burn their dead warriors.To make matters worse, that year had an extremely temperate winter — as if goddess Cloacina, goddess of Rome’s sewers, had decided to clog the drains of the city.And it was as if Poena, goddess of p

The Gauls entered Rome. But where’s Lucius? Also, we list the lands that lay around Rome, and see how they’re doing. Finally, a sprint through the men who ruled Rome since the kings are gone. Consuls and Tribunes.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 26 — State of the Union – 390 BC.Last week we saw how the Gauls of Brennus arrived at the gates of Rome — gates that no one bothered to even close…This week we’re on our episode 26, which means two things:◆ ONE – We are going through our second STATE OF THE UNION episode, which this time finds us in the year 390 BC,◆ AND TWO – We’re at 26 episodes, which is roughly half a year of accrued value. One year – 52 weeks; Half a year – 26. Right?Alright. This episode, since it’s going to be a little longer, is going to be split in three main parts.First, we’ll see what was going on in Rome itself.From there we’ll go to see the world around Rome, taking out usual eagle’s flight, just like last

The Senons attack and sack the city, all the while Marcus Furius Camillus is banned from Rome.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 25 — Here come the Gauls.Last week we saw how Marcus Furius Camillus was exiled from Rome, after having conquered Veii, and after having doubled Rome’s landmass.As for Veii, the city became a ghost town. The peasants around Veii — who were initially not disturbed by Rome, were quickly absorbed by a few patrician senators, who took their farms, livelihood, and anything else they had left.In fact, most of Rome's new lands fell into the hands of a really small group of Patricians, and Rome felt like the king of the heap.But — as the saying goes, the higher you fly, the harder you fall, and this was no exception to the rule.[...]And then, something that wasn’t supposed to happen, happened.One of the Roman ambassadors, to be more exact, Quintus Ambustus put a sword in the guts of a Gaul. The Gaul turned out

Five times appointed Dictator of Rome. Four times Military Tribune. Three triumphs along the streets of Rome. So then, why was he kicked out of the city?Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 24 — Marcus Furius Camillus.“Father.”Even though Lucius’ voice was firm and audible, old Marcus did not move a single muscle, in his bed. Lucius tried again, placing a hand on the old man’s shoulder. Very gently, for he feared to cause him pain with his touch.“Father Marcus!”Slightly, Marcus opened his eyes, and a smile showed on his face.“Did you beat them, boy?”“Yes, Father,” said Lucius, proudly. “We destroyed them, Father. And I got you this.”Lucius raised a few scrolls at the height of his father’s eyes, so that he could see them. Without waiting for the old man to ask, Lucius explained that the parchments were blueprints of machines to stretch leather and animal hides, such as they had never seen them before.The Etruscans, it turned out,

— And at the end of that day, no one cried for Veii. Not Lucius, and certainly not the slaves.In this episode we get to see the end of Veii. Forever. We also see the emergence of Marcus Furius Camillus.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 23 — Don’t Cry for me, Veii.It’s not for nothing that there is a saying like “Home Sweet Home,” in the English language.I do not believe — not even for a minute that there is any language in the world, that does not have a phrase or expression along those lines, and I think, this also applies to the ancient Rome.But, as we will see in this episode, this also counts for the enemies of Rome, and today we speak of two of Rome’s enemies: Fidenas and Veii.The first was the only city south of the river Tiber, and the second was the most well-known Etruscan city, and probably the strongest city, in the entire Etruscan confederation.Firstly, let’s remember that Veii and Rome were something like an image

The decades that followed. Thousands died, and thousands more wished they could die.

A brief episode for Christmas 2017 and Saturnalia, once it got popular in Rome.

This time Romans don’t fight the Latins. Instead, they have to face the dangerous Aequi tribe.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 19 – The Battle of Mons Algidus.Last week we saw the arrival of the Twelve Tables.Written laws so that all Romans could be tried and treated the same way.And we also saw how all over Rome people learned those laws by heart. Among them, the oh-so-eager eight-year-old boy in our little family saga.To give you a few more examples of what these Tables contained, lets check out  a few of these laws:Killing an intruder in one’s own house, if it was nighttime, was OK. No punishment, not even a case. But if it was daytime, the homeowner had to get the intruder to a magistrate for trial.If the court called a person to appear in front of a judge, and if that person was incapacitated in any way, the court would out send four soldiers, and four slaves to bring the man to the courthouse.But if the person’s issue wa

The life of the man who, when elected Dictator of Rome, decided to give that power back to the Senate, after just 16 days. Why? Simply because he finished the task he was given to do. And then, he went to plant lettuce in the outskirts of Rome.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 20 – Lucius Quinctius Cinncinatus.— “Marcia! When father told you what happened to your mom, did he tell you what a certain Appius Claudius did? “— “You mean, To Mom?”— “No, not to mom. He didn’t do anything to mom, personally. I mean, what he did in general, in Rome. “Marcia and Aunt Julia stayed up late that night, something very unusual in ancient Rome, where people — especially Plebeians, went to sleep right after sunset, and rose way before sunrise.Aunt Julia told her the story of the wicked Decemvirs, those ten men elected by the Senate, and how they schemed together to stay in power, and not to return that power to the Senate of Rome. They didn’t c

Finally, laws that can be seen, touched, and learnt by heart. And that’s exactly what illiterate people, as well as lawyers do all over Rome. They recite their brand-new laws, compiled in Twelve Tables by heart.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 18 – The Twelve Tables.Last week we saw the installation of a new office in the Republic of Rome: the Plebeian Tribune.I also mentioned of a Roman general, who — in my personal opinion, was a cowardly general, by the name of Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, and we will see what that man did in the year 491 BC.But first we will see the general panorama of Rome, now that Rome defeated the Latins, and now that supposedly Rome wasn’t going to have problems, no more.Well, if you think like that, you’re wrong. Rome’s troubles are about to begin!As a very general picture, Rome was now surrounded by three enemies.The Etruscans to the north, with the city of Veii as its main protagonist.The terrible Vol

Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 17 - The Conflict of the Orders.Last week we kicked the Latin League’s behind, in a battle that lasted far too long into the afternoon, and we all got hungry and ended up missing lunch.Partly by superstition, Roman legionaries carried two types of food with them, at all times. Bread and olives. They also carried water, but during a battle, water would be both a waste and a discomfort, so olives just had to do, to make a soldier’s bread feel not too dry.Did I mention that Romans were super superstitious? Well, in case I didn't say it, here's another one of their ideas:Romans considered even numbers to be bad luck, and odd numbers to bring good luck. Oh yeah. Just about half of the days in a month were no good to get married, offer sacrifices to the gods, provoke a battle, start a major business, a long journey, or even an affair, outside of one’s own home.But, well, let's get back to our reality, and the fact tha

Cloelia’s heroism. King Lars Porsenna’s farewell. A threat on the shores of Lake Regillus. A threat so big, that Rome installs a dictator for the first time, in order to survive its institutional infancy.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 16 – The Battle of Lake Regillus.Last week we left off with the siege of Rome, and how Mucius gave King Porsenna the scare of his life, by telling him that the romans were going to kill him sooner or later.Instead of burning him alive, Porsenna set Mucius free.Two hours later, as soon as the sun came out, a delegation of Etruscans marched towards Rome, bearing their standard flag aloft, meaning peace.They were on foot, and kept a continuous step. The signing of a peace treaty took place an hour later.[…]We know that in the year 503 BC, Publicola died.Publius Valerius Publicola died in Rome at an unestablished age, in relative poverty, but loved by his people.The burial of Publicola was paid for

— The Romans gave him as much land as he could circle in one day with an ox and a plow, and they’d also give him a cow.During the first years of the republic, Rome was invaded, conquered and taken by Etruscan King Lars Porsenna. But we’ll also hear the Roman version of that, and hopefully know what exactly happened.Partial Transcripthttp://thetaleofrome.com/rome-015Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 15 — King Lars Porsenna.Last week we had that Tarquin the Proud managed to convince the king of a city called Clusium to invade Rome with his forces. That king’s name was Lars Porsenna.[…]Finally, Valerius also ordered the Roman Senate to gather on the very next day, and to vote for the missing consul, because he had no intentions of being the only consul of Rome.So.The Senate voted, and decided that the consul replacing late Junius Brutus would be a man called let’s see if you guys can repeat this name after hearing it once, … it would be a man calle

Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China.http://www.thetaleofrome.com/rome-002Welcome to the Tale of Rome, Episode 2 — Immaculate Conception.Last Week we saw how Aeneas managed to escape Troy, and how he finally settled on the western coast of Italy. And we saw how his son came to found a city named Albalonga.Today we will see how his grand-grandchildren prepare the stage for us, so that we get to see how Rome as founded.And to get there, today we’ve got it all.Traitors.Vultures bring messages from the gods.An amazing saving of two babies floating in a basket along a river. We even have a woman conceiving children in a rather miraculous way, something that people in the western civilizations call an “Immaculate Conception.”[…]After Ascanius, the kingship was passed from father to son for many generations, until we got to the 13th generation, and the power came to rest upon the shoulders of a man called Numitor.As Numitor became King of Albalonga, his brother Amulius watched, filled

Partial TranscriptionHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China.http://www.thetaleofrome.com/rome-001Welcome to the Tale of Rome, Episode 1 — Once Upon a Time.Rome was founded in the year 753 BC, but to start our tale we need to do two things:ONE — I want to tell you a bit about this podcast, as a project, and TWO — we need to travel a little bit back in time. Some 500 years back, to the twelfth century BC.To the Trojan War, to be more exact.Alright, let’s go with ONE, and let me sum up this podcast in exactly three sentences.I was born in what once was called West Germany, and being fond of the history of both China and Rome, I began writing historical fiction novels, one of them being set in Roman Egypt during the latter part of the 2nd century AD.I soon realized I needed more research to write my book, and after going through many other books, documentaries, maps, and podcasts, I decided I had to create my own account of what actually happened before I could continue with my writing.Knowing that pod

Partial Transcripthttp://www.thetaleofrome.com/rome-011 Hello, this is Abel, in Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 11 — Rome 1 – Athens 0.This episode has a rather soccer-type title name, because the Romans—let me repeat that, the Romans claim that their republic started in the year 509 BC.Personally, I don’t buy it, not even for a minute, but—since all we have are the records written by the Romans themselves, and since we do not have a time machine, we have to stick to their version.Romans didn’t like being second, especially when it came to a little word like DEMOCRACY.Turns out that, in the year 508 BC, and according to some historians—507 BC, something happened in Greece.A man named Kleisthenes, a noble Athenian made significant reforms to the constitution of ancient Athens, and so he set his city on a democratic footing in either 508 or 507 BC.So, then—the reaction of the Romans, actually, the reaction of those who rewrote the hsitory of Rome some centuries later, was to make

Partial Transcripthttp://www.thetaleofrome.com/rome-012 Hello, this is Abel, in Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 12 — The First Two Consuls.Last week, we saw—finally, the final moments of the monarchy in Rome.We saw how Tarquin the Proud got locked out of his own city, after the rebellion started by Lucius Brutus and Lucius Collatinus.Without any soldiers left, and knowing that the gates of Rome would be blocked, he and the idiot of his son went into exile.Today we will see how that exile of his went on, and what exactly happened after Romans got to taste their very first hours without kings.The very first order of the Roman Senate was to publicly declare Tarquin as an Enemy of the State, and that Rome would never again be ruled by a king.Neither the king nor his wife Tullia would ever be allowed to put their feet within the city of Rome, and here I want to add that Romans sent a very strong message for Tullia, as a persona non-grata in their city. Do not come back to Rome, as y

Partial Transcripthttp://www.thetaleofrome.com/rome-013 Hello, this is Abel, in Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 13 — State of the Union – 509 BC.This is our first episode of the State of the Union, and just as many things that happened in Rome for the first time, this episode will have the honor and the duty to establish norms, styles, and other precedents for future editions of episodes of the State of the Union.If you heard our last episode, you’ll know that this week’s episode will be a little longer, and we won’t have our Word of the Week segment.So, let’s start right now, because we don’t have all day, and we have an eagle’s flight of many miles in circumference.Our eagle’s flight is going to start in Rome itself.We’ll see what is going on in Rome, Etruria, and Graetia Magna, which is the southern part of Italy.From there, we’ll see the three large islands near Italy. Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia.Then we’ll go to the north, and once we hit the Alps, we will give a giganti