Series 3: The Roman Empire Episodes

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.

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 Second Punic War.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rome fights on until Carthage must beg for peace. Catullus and Hamilcar Barca. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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.

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click on Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS: Click Image for Link

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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 intrigue and warfare. We delve into the military might of early Rome, its societal structure, and the legislative foundation laid by the Twelve Tables. Brimming with tales of valor, justice, and social evol...

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

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. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Our souls are deathless, but nothing retains its own form. Thus speaks Pythagoras in this long and winding tale that combines ancient myth and history. Through a Roman lens, we read of Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Hercules, Ulysses and more, coming right down to the advent of the Roman Empire. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

The gods through the eyes of the earliest Romans. The Indo-European religious inheritance. Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Minerva. The precision and discipline of Roman religious practice. The ties to early Christianity. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link:

Virgil writes of Aeneas and the Trojan origins of Rome. The tale is both distinctively Roman and notably Greek. Heroes such as Odysseus and Achilles are recalled, as are monsters such as Scylla and Cerberus. The relationship between Roman mythology and Greek myths. RECOMMENDED READS - Click Image for Link: