A Pillock's Guide To British History
by 21st Century Pillock
The history of Britain from 55BC, when the Romans turned up, to yesterday (whenever that is when we get that far) Most of the early stuff will be mostly English history, because that's where the Roman spent their early years on the island. Also, because we are English. But we do promise to put in loads of Welsh history and Scottish history. Probably more than we normally would, as we overcompensate trying not to appear to be the standard sort of Englishmen ignoring the celtic fringe (see, we can't help being derogatory). We are also going to add in companion episodes for related stuff. Like what is going on in Rome? What are the Irish up to? What happened to make the French so weird?
Episodes
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10.1 | The Year Of The Four Emperors - the one where everyone wants to be in charge - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Nero is dead, and it got so bad after that people must have almost missed him. The Year Of The Four Emperors is exactly what it says on the tin.
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10 | Britannia After Boudicca - The one where nobody knew what was going on - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Britain was in a right ole state after Boudicca's rebellion. To be fair though Rome was in a bigger state by 69, in the Year Of The Four Emperors. Let's see how the Romans and the Britons coped with that.
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9.1 | Emperor Nero - The one where everyone is proper horrible - A Pillock's Guide To British History
You've heard of Emperor Nero. We all have. We doubt it was good stuff you did hear. apart from him getting a decent tune out of a fiddle. Let's have a look at if he was as big a dickhead as he looked.
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Different Types Of Monarchies - Denmark Bins Their Absolute Monarchy- 5th June 1849 - A Pillock's Guide To History On This Day
1849 – Denmark sacks off their absolute monarchy and swaps it on for a far more manageable constitutional monarchy. So what is an absolute monarchy? For that matter what’s a constitutional monarchy? And do they still exist? Yeah, they do. Transcript Denmark gets itself a constitution and becomes…
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9 | Boudica - The One Where Everyone Looks A Bit Rubbish - A Pillock's Guide To British History
The Romans have been winding everyone up. Come 60 AD and Boudica was having none of it. She and her mates had a go at messing things up.
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8.1 | Roman Religion - The One With Sad Times For Druids - A Pillock's Guide To British History
The Romans loved a bit of religion. We are told they took it seriously, although if you see their gods, that's hard to believe. What they did take seriously was religions they didn't like. Ask the druids. Except you can't. The Romans wiped them out.
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8 | Didius, Suetonius & Mad Druids - The One With A Terrible Divorce - A Pillock's Guide To British History
The Romans are making progress, but it keeps going a bit wrong. From heroic sounding freedom fighters to tetchy divorces, the Britons are making it hard.
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The Roman Army - The One With The Point Of The Roman Empire - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Rome was all about it's army. In fact the whole Empire feels like it was an army with some cities hanging off it. It made them terrible neighbors but a pretty successful civilisation. Who how was it organised?
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7 | Scapula & Caractacus - The One With A Lucky King - A Pillock's Guide To British History
The Romans have landed and they are here to stay. For a bit. So how did they get on cracking down on the Britons in the early years?
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6.1 | Roman Citizenship. The One With Legal Chat & Torture - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Roman citizenship was more contentious than European Union citizenship. We cover what it was, who got it and what it got you. It was pretty useful, if only as a handy bribe to the scroty regions of the Roman Empire. Like Britannia.
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6 | The Tribes Of Britain. The One With The Pre-Roman Geography - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Pre Roman Britain is a bit like English football before the Premier League. Loads must have happened, but nobody talks about it. To be fair, for pre-Roman Britain, that’s mostly because we don’t know all that much about it. So here’s what 21st Century Pillock could find. Transcript – The Tribes…
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5.1 | Claudius As Roman Emperor. The One With The Breath Of Fresh Air - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Has Rome got actually got themselves a decent Roman Emperor? Not only an effective Emperor but one who doesn't cause a civil war every 5 minutes? Don't get too excited though, it wasn't all beer and skittles in Claudius' Rome.
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5 | Claudius Invades Britain - The One Where They Finally Get It Done - A Pillock's Guide To British History
There is a new emperor in town, and Claudius wants a piece of Britain. Finally. We were starting to think it was something we said. So why did Claudius finally get it done properly? How did he get it done? Was he a master of PR?
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4.1 | Rome Between Julius Caesar And Claudius - The One With Terrible Emperors - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Julius died and left the place in disarray. Octavian picks up the pieces and treats Rome to yet another civil war or two. The folk who survive that, have to put up with a bad paranoid emperor and a bad mentally unstable emperor. It's all gone to shit.
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4 | Britain Between Julius & Claudius - The One Where No One Invades - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Julius left Britain after invading twice and he didn't come back. What happened in the place after that? It's all a bit fuzzy, but one thing we can know is that no bugger did any exciting invading. Find out how exactly they didn't invade here.
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3.1 | The End Of The Roman Republic | The One Where Julius Breaks Society - A Pillock's Guide To British History
What happened to Julius and the Roman Republic after he invaded Britain? Quite a lot. Including a few civil wars and a shiny new Empire. Transcript – The End Of The Roman Republic We have spent a couple of episodes of our History of Britain with Julius Caesar. He features a bit in British…
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3 | Julius Caesar Invades Britain (The Second Time) | The One With The Sort Of Victory - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Following his first invasion in 55 BC, which he bollocksed up, would Julius’ second invasion in 54 BC go any better? Sort of, yeah. Both he and the Britons have a better showing this time. Transcript – Julius Has A Second Go At Britain | The One With The Sort Of Victory If you remember our…
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2.1 | Roman Expansion Before 55 BC | The One Where They Fight Everybody - A Pillock's Guide To British History
A look at how the Romans expanded from a settlement on a hill to being ready to have a go at messing up Celtic Britain.
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2 | Julius Caesar Invades Britain (The First Time) | The One With The British Weather - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Julius Caesar turns up in Britain for the first time. How did he plan it? How many men did he take? Is he a massive wuss? Answers: badly, loads, probably not
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1.1 | Britain Before The Romans | The One With Loving Europe - A Pillock's Guide To British History
What was going on before the Romans came to Britain? Who were the Celts? Who built Stonehenge? What is Doggerland? We go over all things ancient Britain, before the Romans turned up and took all our jobs.
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1 | Why Julius Caesar Invaded Britain | The One With Greedy Romans - A Pillock's Guide To British History
Roman Britain might have kicked off in 55 BC when Julius Caesar planned his invasion. Why exactly did Julius and his Roman friends want to invade Britain? It turns ancient political leaders are just as selfish and twatty as their modern descendants. This episode goes over the reasons that the...
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Why Julius Caesar Invaded Britain
Roman Britain might have kicked off in 55 BC when Julius Caesar planned his invasion. Why exactly did Julius and his Roman friends want to invade Britain? Well, it turns our ancient political leaders are just as selfish and twatty as their modern descendants. this episode goes over the reasons…
more
About this show
The history of Britain from 55BC, when the Romans turned up, to yesterday (whenever that is when we get that far) Most of the early stuff will be mostly English history, because that's where the Roman spent their early years on the island. Also, because we are English. But we do promise to put in loads of Welsh history and Scottish history. Probably more than we normally would, as we overcompensate trying not to appear to be the standard sort of Englishmen ignoring the celtic fringe (see, we can't help being derogatory). We are also going to add in companion episodes for related stuff. Like what is going on in Rome? What are the Irish up to? What happened to make the French so weird?
Hosted by
21st Century Pillock