A podcast covering topics from Classical Antiquity. New episodes drop monthly(ish). Movie and TV reviews included.
Author: BullCityCoordinators
I run a monthly(ish) podcast covering topics from Classical Antiquity Sidequest. It covers topics from Classical Antiquity. Movie and TV reviews are included.
First, apologies for my audio at times in the podcast. I’m not sure what happened. Second, apologies for the two movies we’re about to review. While the Centurion squandered a chance to be good, The Last Legion is just awful. As we discuss these movies, we reference the brilliant Black Zeus X and then try to figure out what it is that Hollywood gets wrong when it makes movies “based on” Antiquity. We also discuss how great actors are constantly wasted in these movies and resurrect the term “McNulty Subplot“.
The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
As I mentioned on an earlier episode, I’ve been wanting to put together a series of episodes about what we collectively consider to be significant works from Antiquity. One such work is Seneca’s Letters. Fortunately, I was able to find Dr. Liz Gloyn who is an expert on Seneca. She stopped by to talk about Seneca’s letters, his Stoic origin story and how he ended up in the proximity of the imperial court. Dr. Gloyn also covers some of Seneca’s other writings which we should all take a look at and we discuss her upcoming project. (Don’t forget to check out her book which I linked to above!)
The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
As a companion to our recent episode with Dr. Le Blanc, I thought it would be interesting to do an episode about collecting ancient coins. I reached out to Kinzer Coins and the result is this episode with Dean and Josh. After discussing their origin stories, Dean and Josh tell us what collectors should know when they start collecting, where to buy coins, how to store coins and grail pieces. I hope you all learn something from this and are more informed if you decide to start a coin collection.
Please check out their podcast to learn more information about their work and this interesting, and potentially not too expensive, hobby. You can also check out their respective sites to see if they have any coins you may want to buy.
The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
Those of us who are casual fans of Antiquity spend a lot of time talking about our favorite emperors and kings, in addition to discussing specific battles of significance along with myths and legends. One thing we probably don’t spend enough time talking about is ancient currency and the various purposes coins were used for during Antiquity. To remedy that, Dr. Robyn Le Blanc hopped on the pod to discuss numismatics (the study of coins and other units of currency). Turns out that coins were used for a lot more than just purchasing things and paying the soldiers.
During this episode, we cover the renaming of Dr. Le Blanc’s academic department, sources other than coins themselves which shed light on these ancient artifacts, whether ancient coins belong in a museum (don’t take a drink every time I reference Indiana Jones), how coins were made and distributed and how important it was to sack cities so you could make the money necessary to pay your soldiers. And we also learn about an early Robin Hood figure who lived during the reign of Septimius Severus. How cool is that?
We also discuss one famous coin that sold for more than FOUR MILLION DOLLARS. This is serious stuff, folks!
The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
In follow up to a suggestion by Dr. Kaldellis as to future podcast episodes, I reached to Dr. Nat Katz at Arizona to discuss how the Roman state handled transitions of power. During our discussion, we delve into general types of imperial transitions and the risks associated with such events. This includes detailing risks to those who chose the ultimate losing side in a power struggle, risks to those outside the walls of power and whether the Roman bureaucracy continued to function when a power vacuum opened up. It turns out the state generally functioned smoothly even during power disputes. We also cover how emperors portrayed themselves as deserving of power given the lack of formal rules regarding who could be emperor.
Dr. Katz also provides us with examples of what we could consider “good”, or generally smooth, transitions as well as ones that just didn’t go that well. We also make some solid references to Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia which I know you all will appreciate.
The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
The latest Sidequest takes us to the First Century CE to study the interesting historical figure that is Apollonius of Tyana. Apollonius is typically associated with Jesus and serves as a sort of “Pagan Jesus”, whatever that term may mean. It turns out there’s more to Apollonius than just that. Studying Apollonius provides with greater insight to the time in which Jesus lived and the historical narrative surrounding holy men and cult figures from that time period.
Our guide for this Sidequest is Dr. Roshan Abraham, a professor at American University. Dr. Abraham wrote an outstanding article about Apollonius which I recommend that you all read. In addition to discussing Apollonius and the historical discussion surrounding him, we also discuss how the Classics have been misused and appropriated throughout history including by white supremacists. Towards the end of the episode, we get into the intersection between mythology and D.C. Comics which Dr. Abraham knows a thing or two about.
Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
For our second movie review, Victor stops by to talk with me about the 2011 film The Eagle. While this movie got overlooked when it was released, it’s a pretty darned enjoyable flick that we highly recommend. There are some predictable accuracy issues, but The Eagle gets a lot of the Roman fighting techniques correct. That’s not common when it comes to Hollywood and is just one reason this movie should be appreciated.
From a plot perspective, The Eagle follows Marcus Flavius Aquila who, guided by his slave Esca, goes on a quest to find the Eagle of the 9th Legion that Marcus’ father lost in battle. Co-starring Donald Sutherland, this is an entertaining movie about one man’s quest to restore his family’s lost honor. On the way, Marcus learns that the so-called “barbarians” aren’t that different from the “civilized” Romans. This leads us into a sidequest about how movies, particularly Westerns, portray the clash of “civilization” and the “savages” in the frontier. Clocking in at just under two hours, there’s no reason not to give this movie a chance.
The Eagle is based on a book that you can order here.
Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
In the latest episode of the Sidequest, Anthony Kaldellis, author of many books including The New Roman Empire, stops by to discuss his podcast Byzantium & Friends, how the academic community is starting to embrace podcasts as a medium to communicate with a wider audience, the narratives surrounding Antiquity, including when it “ended”, in the Western and Eastern imperial provinces and the importance of the “Byzantines” to Antiquity and the Classics. We also discuss the naming convention behind use of the term “Byzantine” and the important role the Crimean War played in that. Dr. Kaldellis wrote an article about that which I highly recommend and link to here.
One of the more interesting parts of this interview involved me learning about how widespread the Greek language was throughout the Empire. It turns out that the city of Rome had a large population that spoke Greek including one Julius Caesar. We also have a discussion about “Late Antiquity” and whether we should consider that as a transitional period which I discuss more in the intro to the podcast. I think my views on it come from the way I view things as a trial lawyer which may not entirely overlap with the way that historians approach their work. I could be way off about this. It’s just a thought I had as I edited the podcast.
Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
Dr. Jeremy Swist, a professor at Grand Valley State University, stopped by to discuss the historical period of time known as “Late Antiquity“. This is an era of time I know very, very little about, so I enjoyed the introduction to what is a fascinating area of study. It turns out that this is an evolving field that covers a period of transition for the Roman Empire from generally 200 CE to 700 CE (the precise time is open for debate). As the focus moves away from the Italian Peninsula, the Roman state evolved and changed. This set the stage, to some extent, for the next era of the Empire. I’m sure this is somewhat of an oversimplification, but it’s how I conceptualize it my mind.
During the interview, we discuss philosophy, how Late Antiquity as a concept came to be, what Late Antiquity means and the arbitrary nature of classifying historical periods. Dividing up history into specific areas of time naturally creates problems and creates incomplete or misleading narratives which includes terms like “Classical Antiquity”. Late Antiquity breathes life into what was previously thought of as a period of decline and reexamines this period. We also discuss the evolution of religious practices that a saw move towards Christianity from “Paganism” that occurred during this era. And, hey, there’s some new tribal / social / ethnic groups that arrive during Late Antiquity. There’s a lot to unpack here, folks.
Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
Dr. Zachary Herz stopped by to talk about one of the more interesting emperors in Roman history, Elagabalus. Despite having a fairly short reign (ruled from 218 CE – 222 CE), he’s become a significant historical figure. Elagabalus was a teenage emperor who ruled during what turned out to be a transitional era for the Empire. The Roman elite, threatened by this young ruler, embarked on a campaign to denigrate and insult him by attacking him as feminine and a woman. This involves a discussion about Roman sexual norms. So, just prepare yourself for a somewhat more explicit subject matter than we normally delve into here at the Sidequest. These attacks have created a complicated picture surrounding Elagabalus that creates an impression that he may have been transgender. We discuss that issue during the podcast and the complex history surrounding whether he was trans and whether use of that term is appropriate in the context of Roman Imperial Antiquity.
Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.
And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.
The Classical Antiquity Sidequest 