Roman Empire – The Classical Antiquity Sidequest

Sidequest 28 – Labor Movements in Ancient Rome with Dr. Sarah Bond

Dr. Sarah Bond, Roanoke, Virginia native and author of the hit book Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire, stopped by the podcast to talk about how people engaged in collective action in Antiquity. In addition to discussing how Roman workers engaged in actions that are similar to the modern labor movement, such as by forming collegia of various types, we cover a lot of topics including why Roanoke is so great, how we should approach the study of history and the power that laborers have. Another topic we get into is how the Roman state restricted collegia and why Christians were persecuted. And if that weren’t enough, we also discuss the Mint Strike during Aurelian’s reign. Not to give away the ending, but as Omar warned us, “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

Your reading assignments include The Great Leveler and Surviving Rome.

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.

Sidequest 24 – Antiquity on Screen Part II: Those About to Die and The Odyssey with Monica Cyrino

Our friend Monica Cyrino returned to the podcast to discuss Those About to Die and the upcoming Christopher Nolan film, The Odyssey. Those About to Die is a Peacock series which is set in the Flavian dynasty. It’s an ambitious project that has some good parts and some not so good parts. If we were to give it one of our movie review ratings, I’d give it a Probus. It is worth watching as there are some good moments that are historically accurate. There are some other moments that are … not.

We also get into the futures game and play a version of conference realignment talk by discussing what shape The Odyssey may take. It’s an ambitious project and, to be honest, I’m not sure I see a movie in the source material absent extensive editing and rewrites. And, if that happens, I’m certain the notoriously happy OnlineClassics folks will react with calm, quiet reflection. Narrator: They won’t.

We conclude the podcast by talking about a few projects that Dr. Cyrino is working on which I highly recommend.

Your reading assignment is Judy Dench’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 23 – All Roads Lead to Rome with Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones

As we all know, people spend a lot of time thinking about Rome. If you’ve ever wondered why that is, Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones just published All Roads Lead to Rome, a book that attempts to answer and explain just why it is that so many of us think about Rome and why we’ve done it for so long. In addition to that, we cover a lot of topics including writing styles, an ongoing issue with historical cognitive dissonance when it comes to our understanding of Rome and some troubling and problematic invocations of Rome. We also cover a very interesting want to know more section of her book and how it incorporates new and emerging forms of scholarship.

Your reading assignments include Strike by Dr. Sarah E. Bond (who I would love to have on the pod one day) and Dr. Kaldellis’ The New Roman Empire.

And while you’re reading stuff, why don’t you pick up a copy of Dr. Garth Jones’ book? It’s pretty darned good.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 20 – Madeleine Duperouzel on Empress Theodora

In an effort to help bridge the gap between “Byzantine” and Roman history, I reached out to Madeleine Duperouzel to see if she’d be interested in talking about Empress Theodora. Madeleine was more than happy to, so the result is an outstanding episode regarding a legendary figure in Roman history. After briefly covering finicky weather patterns, we discuss Theodora’s life, her historical significance and how she has been treated by her contemporaries and by later historians. This naturally involves a discussion about the historical inkblot that is The Secret History (I explain the inkblot reference in the episode, but if you search for “Bork 9th Amendment inkblot”, you’ll find what I’m talking about). We also cover the general hostility that a specific group of men felt towards Theodora and the unique control over her life that she possessed.

To get more updates on history from Madeleine, please check subscribe to her Substack, The Empress of Byzantium. It’s really good!

Your reading assignments include The Alexiad, Doppelgänger and The Name of the Rose.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 18 – Dr. Liz Gloyn Discusses Seneca and his Stoic Philosophy

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!)

Your reading assignments include Love At First Spite and Spoiler Alert.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 16 – Dr. Robyn Le Blanc and Ancient Coins

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!

Your reading assignments are Moneta and When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 15 – Nathaniel Katz on Imperial Transitions

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.

Your reading assignment is Kill Caesar!: Assassination in the Early Roman Empire by Mary Sheldon.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 14 – Dr. Roshan Abraham on Apollonius of Tyana

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.

Your reading assignments are Opus and Home Fire.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

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.

Sidequest 13 – Ben and Victor Review The Eagle

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.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 12 – Anthony Kaldellis on the “Byzantine Empire” and Roman Identity

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.

Your reading assignment from this episode is “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning“.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.