PODCAST

The Western Traditions Podcast

Robert Paxton

A podcast, in twelve series, about the history of western culture and traditions.

history

All Episodes

38:41

Episode III.21 - Greek Culture and Roman Society

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/12/17

The victors of the Macedonian wars bring back more than treasure and tribute. Greek culture flows into Roman society. Men like Flamininus and Aemilius Paulus embrace it. Marcus Cato reviles this Greek immigration of values and ideas.

34:01

Episode XIB.015 - The Story of Jacob: Part One

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/12/14

The scriptures transition from the grand story of Abraham to the very human, realistic story of a family torn, a dying father, a scheming mother and two brothers in conflict. The tale of Jacob and Esau begins.

51:52

Episode III.20 - The Second Punic War VI: The...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/12/01

Scipio and Hannibal finally come face to face in Africa. Carthage is totally defeated. The Roman Senate takes another step to becoming the governing body of the known world.

37:30

Episode III.19 - The Second Punic War V: The War in...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/11/13

Publius Cornelius Scipio the Younger, someday to be known as Scipio Africanus, engages and defeats the Carthaginians in Spain. He stands for election to the consulship, demanding the right to carry the war into Africa. The charismatic young hero is elevated to high command. Hannibal, worn down, lingers on in Italy. Fabius Maximus and Marcellus both die before they can see the war to its end.

55:40

Episode IX.06 - The Tyranny of Mediocrity

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/11/04

In which the speaker meanders from topic to topic, skirts dangerously close to misogyny, espouses various unorthodox viewpoints and talks a lot about sex. Mostly, though, he rages against the walls of the prison that he built around himself.

45:56

Episode III.18 - The Second Punic War IV: The...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/10/31

The Second Punic War spreads into Greece, Sicily, Africa and Spain. The Illyrian Wars and the Macedonian Wars break out. Fabius and Marcellus are not alone among the men who come forward to serve Rome in this moment of need. Publius Cornelius Scipio dies fighting deep in Carthaginian territory in Spain. His son, who will someday become known simply as Scipio Africanus, is sent to salvage Roman security in the region.

49:22

Episode III.17 - The Second Punic War III: To the...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/10/16

Rome commits to the war, raising more troops than ever before and pushing the limits of their constitution. Hannibal is victorious over Rome again and again. Fabius Maximus manages to slow the destruction, until Carthage's greatest general finally obliterates Rome's largest army at the battle of Cannae.

36:40

Episode III.16 - The Second Punic War II: The War Begins

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/10/10

Hannibal sacks the Roman-allied city of Saguntum. Rome and Carthage officially declare war. The Gauls rebel in northern Italy. Hannibal marches eastward to glory or defeat.

36:40

Episode III.16 - The Second Punic War II: The War Begins

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/10/09

Hannibal sacks the Roman-allied city of Saguntum. Rome and Carthage officially declare war. The Gauls rebel in northern Italy. Hannibal marches eastward to glory or defeat.

30:49

Episode III.15 - The Second Punic War I: A Violent...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/09/11

This episode covers the fragile peace after the First Punic War, focusing on Carthage’s internal rebellions, Hamilcar Barca’s campaigns in Spain, and Rome’s expansion in northern Italy.It introduces key figures like Hamilcar, young Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and explains how political, military, and social changes set the stage for the Second Punic War.

33:04

Episode XIB.014 - Genesis 20-26: Abraham and Isaac

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/09/05

Abraham and Isaac as types of God the Father and His son, Jesus. The love story of Isaac and Rebecca. The death of Abraham and Sarah.

50:51

Episode XIB.013 - Genesis 21-22: The Birth of Isaac

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/08/27

Isaac is finally born to Sarah. Almost immediately, Abraham‘s legacy is threatened when God commands him to sacrifice his newborn son.

47:11

Episode XIB.012 - Genesis 18-19

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/08/15

Abraham meets the Trinity by the sacred trees of Mamre. Lot is saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

56:29

Episode XIB.011 - Genesis 15-17: The Covenant

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/08/04

Abram deepens his relationship with God. Rituals of animal sacrifice and human circumcision seal the covenant. Abram becomes Abraham, the father of nations.

31:41

Episode III.14 - The First Punic War III - To the...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/07/24

Rome fights on until Carthage must beg for peace. Catullus and Hamilcar Barca.

38:38

Episode III.13 - The First Punic War II: To the...

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/07/06

Rome and Carthage come face-to-face for the first time. Carthage sees the war in terms of profit and loss. Rome sees only the matter of honor. The Romans dare to build a fleet to cross the ocean that belongs to their enemy and to bring the war to Carthage.

28:55

Episode III.12 - The First Punic War I: Prelude to War

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/06/28

Hiero of Syracuse is the unknowing third-wheel in an increasingly vicious relationship between two superpowers. By 264 BC, he is already lost in the background, as Rome and Carthage finally square off to decide, not just who controls the Mediterranean, but who owns the future.Every man thinks of Rome at least once per day but once-great Carthage is less than a memory.

49:48

Episode III.11 - Carthage

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/06/25

A look at the great counterpart of the Roman Republic: Carthage. How the Phoenicians colonized the Western Mediterranean and what little else we can learn about this ancient culture that the Romans destroyed completely by the end of the Punic Wars. A meditation on child-sacrifice in ancient cultures.

42:55

Episode III.10 - The Conquest of Italy

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/06/24

The Romans expand beyond their central Italian limits. In the 4th and 3rd century BC, they conquer their enemies and allies in central and southern Italy. They are led by consuls like Publius Decius Mus, who sacrificed his own life to give Rome victory. But every Roman soldier shows himself to be both valiant and indomitable.

42:30

Episode III.09 - The Early Roman Republic

The Western Traditions Podcast ·

2025/06/22

The stories of three heroes of the early Roman Republic: Coriolanus, Cincinnatus and Camillus. The struggle between the social classes is known as the Conflict of Orders.

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