The Tale Of Rome

Episode 49 – Manius Curius Dentatus— He died in the year 270 BC, creating an image of perfect ethics, and a behavior that will be missed, even in the times of the Roman Empire.Life and death of Manius Curius Dentatus, a plebeian who solved the Samnite problem, the Pyrrhus problem, and most problems in the south of Italy.Parcial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 49 — Manius Curius Dentatus.It is not easy to hold a sword. To stare into your enemy’s eyes — at times, an inch apart. To move form one side to the the other, dodging his blade. To watch his muscles twitch, in the very moment the tip of your sword has made it into his flesh.It is not easy to walk to a battlefield, only to arrive and see the enemy army.It is not easy to stand still, in rows and rows of men — your countrymen.They know — just like you — that they will kill, and perhaps they will be killed, as well.And, in the case of a victory, it is not easy to walk home — to

Episode 48 – 300k— “Do you declare, from your heart, to possess a wife?”A census and a wedding. Rome passes 300 thousand inhabitants, and the Samnites are beaten at Aquilonia.Parcial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 48 — 300k.When Lucius Eugenius, Spurius Attius, and young Tatius got a glimpse of the hills surrounding Rome, their spirits went up.All three made the walk home, all the way from the north — and all three were now war veterans.For a Roman — and ordinary Roman — that’s no small feat!And so, once they were down with all the military formalities and once they showed up on their home street,, their women, their children, their slaves, they all walked out to welcome them home!The DOMUS — house — Lucius Eugenius managed to build with their work, spanned two homes next to each other, a corral for raw materials, and a workshop, right across the street.Plus, a small garden behind the second house.This was a piece of real estate tha

Episode 47 – The Battle of Sentinum— And Decius Mus didn’t do that, either.The biggest battle of Italy, numerically speaking. The most important one, strategically speaking. We are at the gates of a new era for Rome.Parcial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 47 — The Battle of Sentinum.A long, long, long, time has passed.When I last published our episode 46, I never thought that because of unforeseen circumstances, I would find myself away from this podcast, for so, so long.And — oh boy, has the world changed since then!Nobody could have imagined something called Coronavirus.Nobody could have imagined a world where people have to stay indoors just to stay alive.A world were nations try to out-lie each other, as if a war depended on it.A grave-digger said “they keep bringing me bodies.”“And they keep telling me they are not victims of COVID-19.”The economy stalled.Nobody could imagine a world where supply would come to a standstill.Only

Episode 46 – The Third Samnite War— That’s right, when the Etruscans heard that Corvus was leading the roman troops, they got into their fort and did not want to come out, not even to check on the weather.For the third time, the Samnites. And some say, third time is a charm. And in this case, it was exactly like that. It’s the last years of Marcus Valerius Corvus’ life.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 46 — The Third Samnite War.Peace reigned supreme in Rome.We are in the year 302 BC, or — as the Roman liked to refer to their years — we are in the year of the consulship of Denter and Paulus.Less than six months ago, peace treaties were ratified by the Senate of Rome, and now — Romans were the masters, of all of Central Italy.And just as we’ve seen in our last episode, there was no shortage of heroes, either.Take two examples?Fabius Rullianus and Papirius Cursor.Yep. It does happen at times. All of the sudden, it happens that a

Episode 45 – Fabius Rullianus and Papirius Cursor— “Fortified camps are to be defended by arms, rather than arms being defended by fortified camps,” Rullianus said.A flashback of an encounter between two heroes of the Samnite Wars. Papirius Cursor and Fabius Rullianus.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 45 — Fabius Rullianus and Papirius Cursor.The Ciminian forest was one of those primitive places — created in the times before gods and humans, and its purpose was to keep Romans and Etruscans apart.There were no roads through it, and even the edges of the forest — the way they looked — they caused utter angst in Rome’s population.Nobody ever dared to get tino the Ciminian forest, up until the fourth century before Christ.What’s more, when the Roman Senate, explicitly gave orders to Consul Fabius Maximus Rullianus to NOT to enter the confines of the forest, and when he did so — chasing Etruscans, and when he emerged unscathed from

Episode 43 – The Appian Way – Part Two— The wheelbarrow as we know it, made its appearance in Europe around the tenth century, at the height of the Dark Ages.Part Two of the Appian Way. Tools, laws, and lists of other Roman roads, used at the time.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast. The Tale of Rome, Episode 43 — The Appian Way – Part Two.— “One more step, to your left!”The boy, holding the heavy groma, and some 40 paces away from the surveyor, didn’t hear the order.And so — he didn’t move.— “To the left, I told you,” the surveyor yelled.The boy, now startled, jumped to his left. The poor apprentice couldn’t get a single word, because of the strong gale blowing east from the sea.— “A single step, I told you!” The surveyor was running out of time and patience. “What a stulte, this boy,” he muttered to himself.Stulte was the word for “slow” in Latin, especially when someone was — sort of, slow to understand things.In plain English, it would also mean dumb,

Episode 44 – Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus— In order to really appreciate the beauty of a beach, one should not be swimming in the sea, neck-deep in the water.Second installment of our Biography episodes. This time, we tackle Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.Partial TranscriptPlutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus — two names we heard along this podcast, again and again.This — undoubtedly means, that — as faithful learners of Ancient Rome, we often depend on these two characters, in the same way we depend on what Virgil and Titus Livius wrote, which we’ve seen in our episode 40.We depend on Plutarch for how he described those early beginnings of Rome. We also depend on him for his masterpiece, called “Parallel Lives” and the way he portrayed Romans and Greeks who lived in his times and the times before him.We’ll talk about Parallel Lives a lot more, in this episode.We also depend on Dionysius of Halicarnassus for the way he wrote, and his unique point of view, just to name two of his powers.

Episode 42 – The Appian Way— And more than once, it happened that clients would get the wrong door, and walk into the school, before they realized, there were no girls there, but young students instead.The Roman road that would make Rome the undisputed powerhouse of Italy. And the life of Appius Claudius, the maker of that road.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 42 — The Appian Way.No other road, path, or route of communication has changed the history of the western world as much as the Appian Way, today also known as the Old Appian Way.Natural passage points, or itineraries, that people used by land — such as the Silk Road, the Amber Road, and their maritime counterparts — such as the Strait of Gibraltar — they all can claim their own importance, and yes, they did their fair share, to alter history in their own ways.As another example, we have the pathway between the locality of Marathon and Athens, which was traveled by a Gree

Episode 41 – The End of the Great War— In the end, Gaius Pontius saw that his old father — Herennius Pontius, had been right all along. Samnia now had a deadly enemy called Rome, and all Romans could think of, was vengeance.The end of the Second Samnite War, from the fall of Apulia, to the inspection of Samnia, by Consul Publius Sempronius.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Sanya, in the south of China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome. Episode 41 — The End of the Great War.We are in the year 435 of the Founding of the City. By our accounts, that is the year 319 BC.Early morning. It’s the first day of the year.Not the first day of the Julian Calendar — that would come centuries later — but, the first day of the Calendar, as it was set by Romulus, and Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome.And the business of this first day of the year, was to elect the two new Consuls for the year.Serious business.Senators old and young, were hurrying to the building of the Curia, for — two really imp

Episode 40 – Livy and Virgil— Instead, people die the day nobody ever talks about them, or even thinks about them.A biography episode in The Tale of Rome. We compare and contrast two giants of their time. Livy and Virgil.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 40 — Livy and Virgil.Virgil and Livy — Livy and Virgil. At the end of the day, the order of these two names doesn’t really matter. However — I felt like sharing why I chose to name this episode, the way I did.Our podcast started with a story where a guy named Aeneas was fleeing from a city called Troy. This was obviously brought to us by Virgil.Still — I decided to put Livy’s name first, on the cover of the episode.And no — the reason is NOT their looks. I can promise you that. This is not a beauty contest!But, after I picked the two pictures that would illustrate this episode’s cover, I ended up having Livy — full front, and Virgil, seen from a side.So…Had I placed Virgil on t

— From this point of view, I can hardly wait until we get to the Emperors!Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 39 — State of the Union – 320 BC.This is our third episode of the State of the Union, and as I said in our episode 13, at this time we already have many of the styles, and other standards set, for this type of episodes.Slowly, but surely, these episodes — every 13th episode, will become tradition in this podcast.Alright. We find ourselves in the year 320 BC. just after the shameful defeat at the already famous Caudine Forks.So during this episode, we’re going to divide our time into three sections, as follows:ONE — let’s see what happened to those troops on their way to Rome, and what were the next events before closing that year.TWO — we’re going to give our typical eagle flight around the world of Rome, just as we did in our episodes 13 and 26.AND THREE — let’s do a quick review of the people who ruled Rome’s fates, bet

Episode 38 – The First Gladiators— The Romans are a people who do NOT know how to remain quiet after a defeat.Part two of the Roman defeat, at the Caudine Forks. Also, a tribute to those very first gladiators of Rome.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 38 — The First Gladiators.If last episode’s thing was closure — or loss, then today’s episode thing is SHAME.Yep — SHAME.Last episode we had closures.The Latin War. Decius Mus. Villages and peoples of Italy.Marcus, the Gladiator. And his mother, Aeliana, who died less than a month after Marcia.In this episode, the topics are shame and humiliation, and we’ll see why.In Rome, news arrived that the troops got caught at the Caudine Forks.No-one knew exactly, how many were caught, and all the details of the event, but this was more than enough for an emergency session at the Senate of Rome.And even before that EMERGENCY SESSION went into gear, the Senators dispatched orders. A new army

— Aeliana’s body was placed on the left side of her husband Lucius’ body.Everything was going fine for the Romans, until they walked into a canyon, and got trapped. The most humiliating defeat for 50,000 Roman soldiers, at the Caudine Forks.Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 37 — The Caudine Forks.During our last episode, we saw the end of many things. Many, many, things.The end of Publius Decius Mus, for he sacrificed himself on the battlefield.The end of Titus Manlius Torcuatus, in the books of Livy, for Livy banned him from his books, after the sacrifice of his own son.The end of the war against the Latins. The end of many peoples of Italy, such as the Sidicines, the Auruncians, the Volsci, and the Campanians, as free people. Yes, some lived on — under the strict yoke of Rome.It was also the end of the Latin League.And, yes — I was also the end of a respected Senator from Tusculum. Latin landowner and aristocrat Annius saw the end of his life,

Episode 36 – Death by the Volcano— For thinking that the enemy sent his Triarii too early, the Latins ended up sending their own ones too early, and that cost them the battle.Latins against Romans, on the slopes of Italy’s most famous volcano. And in this battle, we see the death of Publius Decius Mus — the same guy who earned the renowned Grass Crown, years earlier.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 36 — Death by the Volcano.— “You snake!”— “You are the snake!”— “Coward!”— “I’ll show you who’s the coward!”— “I dare you!”When Decius he wanted to step forward, his heart beating like a drum, he hit the dry, hard floor next to the bed. With an insult, the Consul was now really awake from his sleep.The dream was gone.And in that dream, the volcano was talking to Decius.The volcano was taunting him, all the while spewing fire serpents, and eating up the entire Roman army.— “One of the two will die before sundown,” he heard the volcan

— Alcetas, Arymbas, Aeacides, and Pyrrhus.  Great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and son.Alexander I of Epirus crosses the sea and comes to Italy, to help Greek cities there. He later dies in a battle against the very people people he came to rescue.Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 35 — Alexander of Epirus.Last week we left off with five open topics, which we will cover in this episode.They are — as follows:ONE — Our weekly report from Ostia, brought by our loyal slave, who spends entire days on the docks and markets of the port of Rome. This way we get to know what is going on in Greece, since we are in the times of Alexander the Great, and events are too important, to just let them “hang in there” until our episode of the State of the Union.TWO — The tactics of the Phalanx, at the time of the Roman King Servius Tullius. As a side note — at the time of Romulus, Romans fought using a system of just one strong leader, leading his equally stro

Rome and the Latins ready up for war. Romans begins to change battle tactics, gradually abandoning the Phalanx system. And in Greece, Alexander is 16 years old, by now.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 34 — From Crete to Campania.If the ship is to be saved, every man must do his duty,While the ship is still unscathed.The efforts are futile when the ship sinks.So, as for Athens, my proposals are ready.We must make complete preparations for the war.Athens, at least, must do his duty.This was part of the oratory of the Athenian Demosthenes, during his speech in what we now know, as the third Philippic, in the year 341 BC.And it wasn’t strange to compare cities to ships, in those days, I think.Now, in the year 340 BC, Demosthenes continued to incite Athenians, against the father of Alexander the Great, King Philip the Second.Alright. We are in the year of the consulship of Titus Manlius Torcuatus and Publius Decius Mus.Yes, I’m tal

Latins and Romans speak the same language, and worship the same gods. But after the first Samnite War, the Latins felt they were stronger than Rome. And they started to hatch plans, and gather allies. Partial Transcript Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast. The Tale of Rome, Episode 33 — Latins and Romans. In those days, news did not travel to Rome — or any other city, they way they do today. News travelled with the travelers of the time, and of these, the three best known were merchants, soldiers, and prisoners of war. And I dare to say — in that exact order. And as we are now entering a pivotal time in the history of Greece, Persia, and Macedonia, we are going to send one of our slaves, down to Ostia. That’s right, we’ll get him a place to live, near the port, if possible on the street that goes along the docks.  His place will consist of a simple room, on a third floor — the worst, in one of the newly built so-called “islands.”  Romans called their buildings islands, or

He was a Consul of Rome at the age of 23. He would be Consul five more times, and dictator twice. And he lived to be 100. This is our small tribute.Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 32 — Marcus Valerius Corvus.The year 342 was hotter than others, and the legionaries garrisoned in Campania felt it firsthand.Unlike the inhabitants of Capua, and other cities, in the soft and fertile plains of Campania, Roman soldiers lived with the hard life of a legion, as their job — given to them by means of their oath, was to protect the people, and to defend Roman territory, and not necessarily in that order. And that was what the soldiers were doing — day in, day out. Left there, to garrison the southern fringes of this new Roman land, they all fulfilled their duties, but inside they all wanted to be in Rome.Yep.Further north.Where it’s not so hot, by Mercury!That’s right. While some of them left for Rome, where they would get a triumphal ma

Mount Gaurus. Saticula. Suessula. And the awesome story of Publius Decius Mus, who singlehandedly saved a bunch of soldiers from certain death. Partial Transcript Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast. The Tale of Rome, Episode 31 — The Grass Crown. We are in the year 343 BC. Or — if you prefer, the year 411 since the creation of Rome.  It was also known as the year 166, if you would rather count from the founding of the Republic. But if we want to count years the way Romans did, then we are in the year of the Consulships of Aulus Cornelius Cossus and Marcus Valerius Corvus — that is, the year 343 BC. And here, we just made a roundabout with years, and numbers, and dates, and we’re still in the year 343 BC. Saticula, Campania. High summer – an hour before dawn. When young Lucius finally saw the troops running towards the camp, and when he saw that – in fact, the Tribune was at their head, his heart went into overdrive. He ran up the staircase of the tower, trying to see if h

Partial TranscriptHello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.The Tale of Rome, Episode 30 — The Samnite Mountains.The famous Roman poet Virgil would sometimes write three sentences in a whole day, and then he would delete them, not happy with his work. This is what one day, he wrote in his famous work, known as “The Aeneid.”