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News of Galba’s betrayal makes its way to Nero who is shocked into action. He sends troops to stop Galba - but they switch sides and join the conspiracy. Nero goes into hiding with the intent of running away to Alexandria and Greece, but even that plan is betrayed. Finally, he comes to the end of his story. And so do we! This is our last episode ever. The post Nero #47 – THE END appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero celebrates two official triumphs. Not for military victories, but for singing. It’s the last straw. A new rebellion is formed, lead by Vindex and Galba. The post Nero #46 – The Last Straw appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero didn’t visit Athens or Sparta while in Greece because he was scared of religious and political retribution. Besides, he was too busy trying to become the periodonikes, the Grand Slam champion of all of the Games. But things weren’t going well back at Rome, so he is finally convinced to return. He had six months left to live. The post Nero #45 – Grand Slam appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The year is 67 CE. Nero is still on his 14 month tour of Greece. He dropped into the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and tickled the Omphalos. The post Nero #44 – Horny Dolphins appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It’s 67 CE. Before he sets out for his World Tour of Greece, Nero first needs to insult the Senate, then he needs to deal with a new conspiracy, this one involving Corbulo. While Greece, he becomes unhappy with Vespasian who apparently doesn’t clap loudly enough at Nero’s performances. The post Nero #43 – To the Deuce! appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero gets, not one, but TWO new wives. One of them is a dude. The post Nero #42 – Dude Looks Like A Lady appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero’s first attempt at building a single property that covered his estates on the Palatine Hill and the Esquiline Hill was The Domus Transitoria, the House of Passage. It burned down in the Great Fire. He replaced it with the Domus Aurea (Golden House), designed by expert engineers Severus and Celer, and it was so revolutionary that it appears to be the stuff of genius. The post Nero #41 – The Stuff of Genius appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero built his Domus Aurea between 64-68 and, in doing so, revolutionised Roman architecture. He also built a massive statue of himself, because, hey, why not? The post Nero #40 – The Golden House appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero was a lover, not a fighter. Not a great leader of armies. He thought of himself as an artist. He wanted to be on stage, not on horseback. He was very proud that he closed his Janus. The post Nero #39 – Closing His Janus appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

If you want to marry a woman, remember to kill her husband first The post Nero #38 – A Woman Woo’d appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The Stoics Thrasea and Soranus go on trial. And we run out of Tacitus. The post Nero #37 – “Spare your ears” appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

When you’ve been up to no good, and you get caught out, you have two options. Nero, like Ray, is a Number 2 kind of guy. In this episode, he goes after two significant Stoics, Thrasea Paetus and Barea Soranus, with trumped up charges. And we farewell one of our fans and friends, Victor Santochi. RIP mate. The post Nero #36 – Two Options appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

A family commits suicide together to escape Nero’s prosecution, while others just get stabbed to death. But Tacitus’ explanations for Nero’s behaviour still leave us scratching our heads. The post Nero #35 – A Monotony Of Disaster appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero launches a series of attacks that result in the demise of certain members of the Roman elite. But why these particular people? And why now? We tease apart Tacitus to try to work out what’s really going on. The post Nero #34 – A Reckless Spirit appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

This is the second and final part of our interview with philosopher Michael Tremblay, talking about Seneca and stoicism. The post Nero #33 – Michael Tremblay On Stoicism (part 2) appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The plot against Nero continues to gather momentum but is finally betrayed by a freedman, a day before shit was about to go down. The post Nero #27 – A Betrayal Betrayed appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

When one of the praetorian prefects joins the conspirators, they decide it's time to act. But they can't agree on a plan. It takes a woman to move things along. The post Nero #26 – The Circus Games (take 3) appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

We’re talking about the Pisonian Conspiracy of 65. Who started it and why? Theories involve an angry poet and an angry gay man seeking revenge. The post Nero #25 – Effeminate Vice appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Tiberius runs amok. Usury runs rampant. Drusus chews the stuffing. The post Tiberius Caesar #38 – The Crash Of Rome appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

We go into more detail about Tiberius’ sex palace than you ever wanted or needed to know. Honestly, you’ll probably regret listening to this episode. Maybe skip this one if you have a sensitive disposition. Who am I kidding? We weeded out the pussies a long time ago. With Sejanus gone, and his betrayal having cut Tiberius to the core, he goes on a massive purge that terrifies Rome for several years. The post Tiberius Caesar #37 – Secret Orgies appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

With Tiberius safely ensconced in his sex dungeon on Capri, Sejanus goes after more friends of Agrippina, starting with one of Germanicus’ generals, Titius Sabinus. About the same time, Julia The Younger, Augustus’ grand-daughter, finally died, after being in exile for 20 years. And Livia finally died in 29 CE, aged 86. [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #34 – Vale Livia appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Sejanus and Livilla conspire to murder her husband, Drusus, son of Tiberius. At least that’s the story according to Sejanus’ ex-wife Apicata. With Drusus out of the way, Sejanus next plots the demise of Germanicus’ kiddies and widow, Agrippina.    [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #30 – Lucky Longy appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The one about the military situation during Tibbo’s reign, Jesus murdering a herd of pigs in cold blood, Rhescuporis and Cotys battle for Thrace, Uppity Softy, Uppity Pussylips and Pappy Sabs – and Camerinus. [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #25 – The Battle For Thrace appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It’s a very special episode! Cam is joined by hilarious fellow Aussies Dr Fiona Radford and Dr Peta Greenfield from The Partial Historians podcast to discuss the epic question – who wore it best? Augustus or Tiberius? No Ray on this episode due to timezone issues. And racism.    [powerpress]   The post Tiberius Caesar #22 – Partial Party appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

More stories from the ancient sources about what a nice guy Tibbo was. Most of the time. In the early years. Before he went all sex-dungeon-y. And more stories about how the Senate became increasingly spineless.    [powerpress]   The post Tiberius Caesar #21 – Nice Guy Tibbo appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

In the year 21 CE, Tacfarinas, the African Arminius, is still causing trouble for the poor old Romans. So Tibbo, who is busy, off building his sex dungeon, asks the Senate to deal with it. They, of course, wet themselves, because it means doing some actual work.    [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #20 – Tacco Is Backo appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

We’re still looking at stories showing how moderate Tiberius was in the early years – and how the Senate gradually became more and more useless. One great example is the inability to appoint a proconsul of Africa to deal with Tacfarinas, the African Arminius.    [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #19 – The Tacfarinas Conundrum appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

We look at some of the controversies that Drusus had to deal with when he was sole consul in the year 21 CE. For example – Caecina Severus made a strong case that the wives of provincial governors should no longer be allowed to accompany their husbands abroad. Nice try, Chachinga! And Annia Rufilla liked using the ultimate […] The post Tiberius Caesar #18 – The Sensitive Clutorius appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Edward J. Watts is a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, and author and editor of several prize-winning books, including The Final Pagan Generation, and a great book about Hypatia. He’s got a great new book out about the collapse of the Roman Republic, MORTAL REPUBLIC. Get your copy today! [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #16 – Edward J Watts Interview appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Abandoned by everyone, Piso walks off the stage. Plancina gets a pardon. Tiberius pulls a Trump and says Piso betrayed his trust. And then there’s this how thing about erections and electrocution that we are slightly ashamed about. [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #15 – ‘Pisoff’ appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Meanwhile in Rome, people are just getting news that Germs is ill and they are furious at Tibbo and Livia. Aha! They said. Now we know why he was sent into the middle of nowhere. He has probably been poisoned like his father Drusus was, because they both wanted to restore the Republic! And then […] The post Tiberius Caesar #13 – “Infected” appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Why did Germanicus go to Egypt? To get to the other side. His real motive, according to Tacitus, was tourism HOWEVER a couple of papyrus fragments discovered in Oxyrynchus in the 20th century, contains a fragment of a speech to the Alexandrians And it confirms that the visit was also an official one and makes […] The post Tiberius Caesar #12 – Tears for Germanicus appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Problems in the East. It had started back in 15, when the Parthians expelled their king, Vonones. Although I’ve also read 12. Vonones was the eldest son of Phraates iv and had been handed over to Augustus as a hostage in the 20s BCE along with his three brothers. After the assassination of Orodes III […] The post Tiberius Caesar #10 – Piso Shit appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The other problem Tibbo had in 16 was a belated consequence of the removal of Agrippa Postumus. As soon as he heard of Augustus’ death, Clemens, one of Agrippa’s slaves, had decided to sail to Planasia and engineer Agrippa’s escape to the German armies, where he obviously expected to gain the support of Germanicus and […] The post Tiberius Caesar #9 – Happy Fish appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Meanwhile, while Germs was off in Germany fighting Germans… Tibbo had major problems to deal with. SILK CLOTHING. CASSIUS DIO:  Tiberius forbade any man to wear silk clothing and also forbade anyone to use golden vessels except for sacred ceremonies. And when some were at a loss to know whether they were also forbidden to […] The post Tiberius Caesar #8 – The Libo Shuffle appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

We are very excited to welcome back to the show our favourite history detective Lindsay Powell, author of several terrific books on Agrippa, Augustus and Germanicus. [powerpress] The post Tiberius Caesar #7 – Lindsay Powell, Germanicus appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Germs got a FULL triumph and a triumphal arch, which was erected the following year only 150 yards from the arch erected by Augustus to celebrate the return of the standards from Parthia.   This suggests Tibbo wanted people to think about the campaign as about retrieving a lost standard – not as an attempt to […] The post Tiberius Caesar #6 – Pulling Out appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

After witnessing the Varus killing fields, They were furious and wanted revenge against Arminius and the Cherusci. Maybe Germs had calculated this? Or maybe it was an accident? With the Bructeri out of reach Germanicus set out in pursuit of Arminius, who skillfully led him deeper into the pathless forests. I feel like I’ve seen […] The post Tiberius Caesar #5 – Lèse-majesté appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Remember Arminius, the leader of the Cherusci tribe of Germans? The complete bad-ass who took down Quinctilius Varus at the Varian Disaster  aka the Clades Variana aka The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ? Well around 14 he’s having some issues with his father-in-law, Segestes. He was always suggesting things. Every night he was all […] The post Tiberius Caesar #4 – The Return of Herman appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Poor Tiberius has to live up to Augustus! He’s already rich. He’s inherited Augustus’ fortune. He could just retire, get a nice little house by the beach, with a pool, some pretty girls, Netflix and chill for the rest of his life. Why should he deal with all of the stress of running the show?? Where’s the upside? […] The post Tiberius Caesar #3 – The Troops Are Revolting appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

As you might recall from our last series, Tiberius came from several impressive families. He was, of course, the adopted son of Augustus, and therefore a Caesar. He was also a Claudian via his father. The Claudians were one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest […] The post Tiberius Caesar #2 – The Confirmation appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

And so it was that in the year 767 Ab Urb Condita, 14 AD if you’re a Christian, or 14 CE if you’re secular Or, if you were living in Rome at the time, you would called it the year of the consulship of Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Appuleius Caesar Augustus died. What would happen to Rome […] The post Tiberius Caesar #1 – Killing Aggy P appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Augustus is feeling pretty chipper so he and Livia join Tiberius on his trip to the east. It’ll be the princeps’ last trip. Meanwhile Augustus asked people to just leave him the fuck alone. In 12 CE Germanicus read a speech out in the Senate where he said the princeps wanted senators to stop formally greeting […] The post Augustus Caesar #100 – AESAR appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Before the news of Varus’ defeat had reached Rome, one of Augustus’ main concerns in 9 CE was how unpopular his legislation encouraging marriage and raising of children was.  Click on the banner and use the coupon code LOC to get 25% off your first three months! It’s a new law, which is an extension to […] The post Augustus Caesar #99 – Papa Don’t Preach appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The downfall of Ovid and the rise of Arminius. Another person who got caught up in all this was the poet Ovid. He of the Ars Amatoria, in Engligh, the Arse of Love. Remember him from ten episodes back? The one who wrote beautiful poems about love and seduction and rape? Well he’s told to […] The post Augustus Caesar #97 – ARMINIUS appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The downfall of Julia’s surviving children, Agrippa Postumus and Julia the Younger. Click on the banner and use the coupon code LOC to get 25% off your first three months! * The food shortages lasted for several months. * Including Augustus’s birthday, so he refused permission for public feats to be held to celebrate. * […] The post Augustus Caesar #96 – The Grandkids appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

* While all this is going on with the Dalmatians, there are problems in other provinces as well. * We hear of campaigning going on in….. Africa. * And also this is the period when Herod’s son Archelaus is so unpopular in Judaea that he’s stripped of his throne and forced into retirement, and Judaea […] The post Augustus Caesar #95 – Thumbs appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

* Apparently this kind of pride was enough for Augustus to decide they had to go. * Bodacious must have seen it coming, because he built up his forces to prepare. * Which of course the Romans noticed, so they thought he was even more of a threat. * The Romans had a large army […] The post Augustus Caesar #94 – The Great Illyrian Revolt appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

And overnight, Tibbo goes from being invisible to being the Number Two man in Rome again! * WHO DOES NUMBER TWO WORK FOR * Oh he knows. * Now all of Aug’s successors are either Livia’s sons or her grandsons. * This would lead to rumours that she had organised the deaths of Caius and […] The post Augustus Caesar #93 – Bodacious appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

* By the time news of Caius’ death had reached Rome it was some time in late March, 4 CE. * Aug mourned but also hurried to plan for the future. * Of course, he didn’t have many options left. * Julia and Agrippa had one son left – Agrippa Postumus. * Or Aggy P […] The post Augustus Caesar #92 – The James Brown Shuffle appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.