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Real Roman History

Hugo Prudentius

Real Roman History is a comprehensive, chronological account of Rome from its origins to its end—told with the depth the subject deserves. This is not a highlight reel. Every major figure, every turning point, and every war gets the full treatment: the stories as the Romans told them, the ancient sources and what they got right and wrong, and the historical arguments that scholars are still having today. Hugo Prudentius takes listeners from the kings of the early city through the Republic, the civil

history documentary

All Episodes

49:02

Episode 94. Titus

Real Roman History ·

2026/10/07

Works Cited Primary Sources Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 25, verse 23. Used in Part Two for the early biographical context of Berenice. She appears at Caesarea with her brother Agrippa II to hear Paul's defence before the Roman governor Festus, establishing her as a recognised political figure in the eastern Mediterranean from her early adulthood.Aurelius Victor. Liber de Caesaribus, Chapter 10. The fourth-century historian's characterisation of Titus as the only emperor whose reign was

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48:35

Episode 93. The Circus, the Factions, and the...

Real Roman History ·

2026/10/01

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 59, 73, 78, 79. For Caligula's Incitatus stories (Book 59), Commodus's faction allegiance (Book 73), and Caracalla and Elagabalus (Books 78–79). Surviving through the eleventh-century epitome of John Xiphilinus. Flagged where the epitome is the only source.Juvenal. Satires, Satire 10. The original source of the famous panem et circenses formula—Juvenal's compressed contempt for the urban plebs's reduced political horizon,

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54:07

Episode 92. Gladiators and the Colosseum

Real Roman History ·

2026/10/01

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 66.25 and 73. Book 66.25 for the Colosseum dedication and the 9,000-animals figure for the inaugural games; Book 73 for Commodus in the arena, used here as contextual reference. Surviving through the eleventh-century epitome of John Xiphilinus. The 9,000-animals figure should be treated as rough order of magnitude rather than precise count.Juvenal. Satires, 6 and 10. Satire 6 (Eppia and the gladiator Sergius) for the cultural pattern of

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53:22

Episode 91. Pompeii and Herculaneum: The Preserved...

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/24

Works Cited Primary Sources Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Volume IV. Edited by Karl Zangemeister with Richard Schoene, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, 1871; supplementary volumes throughout the twentieth century. The principal printed source for the Pompeian graffiti, with over eleven thousand individual inscriptions catalogued. Specific items cited in the episode include CIL IV 1645 (Successus the weaver and Iris), CIL IV 1880 (the latrine inscription), CIL IV 1928 (Marcellus and Praenestina), CIL IV

en-US

43:48

Episode 90. The Eruption of Vesuvius

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/24

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 66.21–66.23. The eruption account, surviving only through the eleventh-century epitome by John Xiphilinus. Includes legendary elements about giants emerging from Vesuvius and visions in the air, which should be read as later cultural processing of the event rather than primary testimony.Pliny the Younger. Letters, 6.16 and 6.20. The two letters to Tacitus describing the death of Pliny the Elder and the flight from Misenum. Eyewitness

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50:48

Episode 89. Vespasian's Reign

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/24

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 65–66. Surviving only through the eleventh-century epitome compiled by the Byzantine monk John Xiphilinus. The narrative continuity for the reign depends substantially on Xiphilinus's selection and compression, and is flagged where relied on. Cassius Dio's original treatment was almost certainly considerably more extensive than what Xiphilinus preserved.Epictetus. Discourses, 1.2.19–21. Used for the exchange between Vespasian and

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58:27

Episode 88. Josephus

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/17

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History. Greek narrative of the early Flavian period. Includes brief reference to Josephus's prediction at Dio 66.1.Josephus, Flavius. Antiquitates Judaicae, or Antiquities of the Jews. The twenty-book history of the Jewish people from creation through the outbreak of the war in 66 CE. Composed across the 80s and early 90s and published in 93 or 94 CE under Domitian. The principal source for substantial portions of Second Temple Jewish history, and

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60:52

Episode 87. The Destruction of Jerusalem

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/17

Works Cited Primary Sources The Arch of Titus. The triumphal arch on the Sacred Way in the Roman Forum, completed under Domitian after Titus's death in 81 CE. The relief panels on the inner walls preserve the visual representation of the triumph including the spoils from the Temple.Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 65 and 66. Greek narrative of the early Flavian period preserved in epitome form. Includes material on the Jewish War and its conclusion.Josephus, Flavius. Antiquitates Judaicae, or

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35:46

Episode 86. Vespasian and the Flavian Establishment

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/10

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 65 and 66. Greek narrative covering the early Flavian period.The lex de imperio Vespasiani. Surviving in bronze-tablet form in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The principal direct source for the formal-legal structure of the early Flavian principate. The surviving text preserves approximately the second half of the original inscription. The first half is lost.Suetonius. Life of Domitian. Biographical material on Domitian, including

en-US

48:43

Episode 85. The Civilis Revolt

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/10

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 64 and 65. Greek narrative covering the early Flavian period. Useful as a comparison to the Tacitean account, with substantial independent material on the suppression operation.Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Various passages on the Germanic peoples and the Rhine frontier. Pliny had served in the Rhine command during portions of the Julio-Claudian period and preserved substantial direct knowledge of the political-military

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41:53

Episode 84. Year of Four Emperors, Part Two:...

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/03

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 64 and 65. Greek narrative covering the full Year of Four Emperors and the early Flavian period.Josephus. The Jewish War, particularly Books 4 and 5, which cover the political and military context in the east and the relationship between the Jewish War and the Flavian elevation.Suetonius. Life of Vitellius and Life of Vespasian. Biographical material on both emperors. The Vitellius biography is particularly hostile in its presentation of

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40:00

Episode 83. Year of Four Emperors, Part One: Galba...

Real Roman History ·

2026/09/03

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 63 and 64. Greek narrative covering the full Year of Four Emperors, surviving partly in epitome form. Useful as a comparison to the Tacitean account.Plutarch. Life of Galba and Life of Otho. Greek-language biographical material composed in the early second century, with the Otho biography preserving substantial material on the First Battle of Bedriacum and on Otho's death. Plutarch's account often parallels Tacitus's but

en-US

55:46

Episode 82. A Tour of the Empire, c. 68 CE

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/27

Works CitedPrimary SourcesCassius Dio. Roman History, particularly the books covering the Julio-Claudian period, with substantial geographic-administrative material throughout.The inscriptional record. The legionary establishment data is principally from the dedicatory inscriptions, military diplomas, and other epigraphic sources that preserve the locations and identities of the legionary units of the early imperial period.Pliny the Elder. Natural History, especially Books 3 through 6. Composed in

en-US

29:53

Episode 81. The Jewish War and the Making of Vespasian

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/27

Works Cited Primary Sources Josephus. The Jewish War, Books 2 and 3. The principal source for this episode and, for most of it, the only source. Book 2 covers the procuratorships, the Caesarea dispute, the seventeen talents, the Upper Market killings, Agrippa the Second's speech, the ending of the sacrifice, the factional killings in Jerusalem, and the destruction of Cestius Gallus's column at Beth Horon. Book 3 covers Nero's appointment of Vespasian, the assembly of the army at

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50:18

Episode 80. Agrippina the Younger: Mother of an Emperor

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/20

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, especially Books 59, 60, and 61. Greek narrative incorporating the developed hostile tradition. Particularly useful for the late-Claudian and early-Neronian political background.Pliny the Elder. Natural History, 7.71. The principal reference to Agrippina's own writing about her family.Suetonius. Life of Caligula, Life of Claudius, and Life of Nero. Substantial material on Agrippina across all three biographies. Generally consistent with the

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46:45

Episode 79. Seneca: The Philosopher in the Palace

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/20

Works Cited Primary Sources Acts of the Apostles, chapter 18. Preserves the encounter between Seneca's brother Gallio and Paul of Tarsus at Corinth.Cassius Dio. Roman History, especially Books 61 and 62. Particularly hostile to Seneca, with detailed accusations of hypocrisy and political opportunism. Useful as the most developed form of the hostile reading.Seneca's own writings. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, in approximately one hundred and twenty-four surviving letters, are the

en-US

52:52

Episode 78. Nero, Part Three: Fire, Conspiracy, Fall

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/20

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 62 and 63. Greek-language narrative covering the full reign with substantial material on the late reign that complements Suetonius.Suetonius. Life of Nero. The principal source for the late reign material that Tacitus's Annals do not preserve. Includes the Greek tour material, the Sporus and Pythagoras episodes, the death scene at Phaon's villa, the famous last words.Tacitus. Annals, Books 15 and 16. Book 15 covers from the

en-US

52:09

Episode 77. The Origins of Christianity

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/14

Works Cited Primary Sources The book of Acts. Composed approximately 80 to 90 CE by the same author as the Gospel of Luke. The principal narrative source for the early Christian community in Jerusalem and the missionary work of Paul.The four canonical Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Composed between approximately 70 and 110 CE. The principal sources for Jesus's life and teaching, with the substantial source-critical caveats this episode has discussed.Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews,

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49:45

Episode 76. Roman Judaea: From the Covenant to Direct...

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/14

Works Cited Primary Sources The Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh). The principal source for the pre-Hellenistic period of the Jewish religious tradition. The five books of Torah preserve the foundational material on the covenant and the Israelite religious framework. The historical books—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings—preserve the narrative of the Israelite kingdoms. The prophetic books preserve the religious and political commentary of the pre-exilic and exilic periods. The book of Ezra preserves the

en-US

35:19

Episode 75. Nero, Part Two: From the Matricide to the...

Real Roman History ·

2026/08/14

Works Cited Primary Sources Cassius Dio. Roman History, Book 62. Greek-language narrative covering this period. Hostile, late, dependent on earlier sources we cannot fully reconstruct. Useful as a check on the Tacitean account where the two diverge.Seneca. Epistulae Morales. Seneca's own writings from the period of his withdrawal from court. The letters are addressed to Lucilius but are clearly intended for a wider readership. They contain almost no direct discussion of imperial politics. The

en-US

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