Episodes
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Episode III.30 - To the Death of Julius Caesar
As the last century before Christ winds down, the circle of power shrinks in Rome. By 59 BC, the triumvirate of Crassus, Pompey and Caesar are the only men who really matter in politics. Six years later, only Pompey and Caesar remain. In 49 BC, Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon and soon Pompey,...
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Episode III.29 - The Culture of the Late Roman Republic
How philosophy, religion and other aspects of Roman culture began to change in the 1st century BC. Epicurus, Lucretius, Cato the Younger, Roman concrete, frescoes, mosaics, Cicero.
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Episode IX.10 - On the Final Scene of Hamnet
The final scene of Hamnet is a dense, powerfully-acted demonstration of story-telling and character development. The episode relates how Jessie Buckley accomplishes a memorable feat of acting primarily through facial expression and gestures rather than with the spoken word, the traditional medium...
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Episode III.28 - Pompey
In the early first century BC, after the death of Sulla, the Roman Republic's moved and shaken by the work and charisma of several powerful men: Pompey, Crassus, Sertorius, Metellus, Lucullus and others. These men shepherd the Roman state into and out of one conflict after the other: The…
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Episode III.27 - Sulla
The Roman Republic enters the last century before Christ weakened not only by external warfare but also by internal struggles. Marcus Livius Drusus, after proposing some radical changes is assassinated. Yet Rome survives the Social War, the war with Mithridates and the First Civil War all in...
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Episode III.26 - Marius
From outside the aristocracy, Marius comes to power in an endangered Roman Republic. As he rises through the ranks, the Gracchis are slain, the Numidians rebel, the Germans invade and the slaves revolt. We first hear of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the Servile Wars.
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Episode III.25 - Caius Gracchus
Caius Gracchus works his way through the Roman ranks until, following in his older brother's footsteps, he is elected as a young tribune of the people. Immediately, he begins to propose legislation that will both avenge his brother's death and return land and prosperity to the common people. The...
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Episode III.24 - Introduction to the Late Roman Empire
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus returns home from war to find his nation in decline. The rich have imported immigrants and slaves into Italy to displace the native citizens. The rise of plantations drives free Romans into urban zones to seek a living through labor and to live in property-less…
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Episode IX.09 - The Tyranny of Optimization
How the process of optimization ultimately ruins everything. Beginning with examples from Mexican politics and President Gustavo Diaz, the podcast goes on to consider business, sports, diet, religion, marriage and technology as well as the US health care system. Finally, the episode closes with…
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Episode IX.08 - Into the Evening Redness: The Dark Theology of Cormac McCarthy
The speaker explores the dark theology of Cormac McCarthy. The sources of influence include William Faulkner, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, ancient gnosticism. Cited works include The Orchard Keeper, The Outer Dark, Suttree, Blood Meridian, The Border Trilogy, No Country for Old Men, The Road, The...
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Episode IX.07: Post-Apocalypse Now
A reflection on the post-apocalyptic trend in modern fiction, starting with an epiphany experienced while rereading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. The speaker explores technological trends in history, prehistory and the future, from Gobekli Tepe to the present and beyond. Archaeology, history,...
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Episode XIB.018 - The Story of Jacob: Part Four
Jacob returns to the Promised Land, after surviving the reunion with his brother Esau. He meets a mysterious stranger and earns a new name at the river Yabbok. His daughter, Dinah, is violated near Shechem. His sons stir up trouble for him as they try to settle in the land.
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Episode XIB.017 - The Story of Jacob: Part Three
Jacob reaches the middle of his life and comes into conflict with Laban, his father-in-law. He gathers his wives and household and returns to the Promised Land. Digressions on repetition in Scripture and the flexible morality of the Patriarchs.
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Episode XIB.016 - The Story of Jacob: Part Two
Jacob begins his odyssey, traveling to the lands of the East, where his uncle Laban and his cousins live. The fragile youth becomes a man. He marries Leah and Rachel, and has numerous children through them and their handmaids.
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Episode III.23 - The Third Punic War: African Apocalypse
Carthago delenda est. Marcus Cato dies before he can see his apocalyptic dream come true. Scipio Aemilianus rises to the office of consul and leads the Roman legions in their final assault on the city of Carthage.
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Episode III.22 - Marcus Cato and the Decline of the Roman Republic
Marcus Cato makes memorable observations on the decline of Roman traditions. Wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer men. The author reflects on the changing nature of the Roman upper and lower classes and on the decline of the moral order in Republican Rome after the...
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Episode III.21 - Greek Culture and Roman Society
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.
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Episode XIB.015 - The Story of Jacob: Part One
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.
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Episode III.20 - The Second Punic War VI: The Invasion of Africa
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.
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Episode III.19 - The Second Punic War V: The War in Spain
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,...
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Episode IX.06 - The Tyranny of Mediocrity
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.
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Episode III.18 - The Second Punic War IV: The Deadlock Years
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...
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Episode III.17 - The Second Punic War III: To the Defeat at Cannae
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...
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Episode III.16 - The Second Punic War II: The War Begins
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.
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Episode III.16 - The Second Punic War II: The War Begins
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.
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Episode III.15 - The Second Punic War I: A Violent Interlude
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...
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Episode XIB.014 - Genesis 20-26: Abraham and Isaac
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.
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Episode XIB.013 - Genesis 21-22: The Birth of Isaac
Isaac is finally born to Sarah. Almost immediately, Abraham‘s legacy is threatened when God commands him to sacrifice his newborn son.
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Episode XIB.012 - Genesis 18-19
Abraham meets the Holy Trinity by the sacred trees of Mamre. Lot is saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Episode XIB.011 - Genesis 15-17: The Covenant
Abram deepens his relationship with God. Rituals of animal sacrifice and human circumcision seal the covenant. Abram becomes Abraham, the father of nations.
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Episode III.14 - The First Punic War III - To the Peace of Catullus
Rome fights on until Carthage must beg for peace. Catullus and Hamilcar Barca.
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Episode III.13 - The First Punic War II: To the Invasion of Africa
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.
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Episode III.12 - The First Punic War I: Prelude to War
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...
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Episode III.11 - Carthage
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...
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Episode III.10 - The Conquest of Italy
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...
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Episode III.09 - The Early Roman Republic
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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Episode XIB.010 - Genesis 14
Abram rescues Lot. Melchizedek celebrates a type of the Eucharist. A look at Jewish, pagan and Christian ceremonies. The identity of Melchizedek. The long life of Shem, son of Noah.
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Episode III.11 - Carthage
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...
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Episode I.03 - Introduction to Prehistory
The history before history. For most of human existence, there was no such thing as writing. Yet our ancestors did leave records and remains that we can study to learn more about the human past.
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Episode I.02 - Introduction to the Ancient World
History and prehistory. Before the dawn of writing, the human past is shrouded in darkness. The episodes of the Ancient World explore events before and just after the rise of civilization.
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Episode III.10 - The Conquest of Italy
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...
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Episode III.09 - The Early Roman Republic
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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Episode XIB.009 - Genesis 12-13
God establishes a covenant with Abram. The journey to Egypt. Altars in Canaan.
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Episode III.08 - Introduction to the Roman Republic
In the eighth episode of the Roman series of the Western Traditions Podcast, we embark on a journey back to 509 BC when the Roman Republic was born from the ashes of monarchy. Discover how the Senate, patricians, and consuls shaped the nascent Republic amid a tumultuous landscape of political...
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Episode XII.05 - The First Lesson
How to teach the first lesson of the Western Traditions curriculum.
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Episode I.01 - The General Prologue
The introduction to the Western Traditions podcast. The Great Books of the Western World and the Bible. The great men and women of western civilization.
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Episode III.07 - The Roman Kingdom
The seven kings of Rome. Numa Pompilius succeeds Romulus. The line of kings ends with Tarquinius Superbus. Some background on Roman institutions, practices and vocabulary.
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Episode III.06 - The Foundation of Rome
The story of Romulus and Remus. With the capture of the Sabine women, Rome expands territorially and biologically. The birth of the glory of Rome.
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Episode XIB.008 - Genesis 10 and 11
The Table of Nations. The Tower of Babel. Introduction to Abram. Genealogy and numerology in the Bible. God brings diversity to humanity.
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Episode XII.004 - The Study Method III: Introduction to Outlines
Using outlines to enhance study.
About this show
A podcast, in twelve series, about the history of western culture and traditions.
Hosted by
Robert Paxton
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