Nero becomes emperor on the murder of his step-father. He’s 16 or 17 years old. Why didn’t the Senate stop him? It might have something to do with Seneca and Burrus. Seneca wrote him a speech where he promised to be nice. And, indeed, the first five years of his rule seemed to go well. His mother, Agrippina, ruled by his side. The post Nero #2 – Nice Guy Nero appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
This is the story of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Known to us as Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Or just “Nero”. On this episode, we ask - how is it possible that a man tutored and guided by one of the most famous Stoic philosophers, Seneca, would end up with the reputation as one of history’s worst tyrants? The post Nero #1 – The Last OG appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Messallina decides the time has come. She has a poison expert released from prison and they prepare a special dish of mushrooms for Claudius’ last meal. But the mushrooms weren’t enough and so they had to finish him off - with a feather. The post Claudius #15 – A Mushroom & A Feather appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Claudius builds the world’s biggest tunnel and puts on a huge show to celebrate. But things don’t go to plan. Nero gets married and starts to build his political profile - he is only 16. The post Claudius #14 – Digging Tunnels appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Claudius and Agrippina get hitched despite the fact that she was his niece. She immediately starts to get rid of her enemies, reward her supporters, and prepare the ground for the next stage of her plan to make her young son, Nero, the emperor. The post Claudius #13 – Roman Incest appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
It's 48 CE. Messalina is dead. So now Claudius needs a new wife. There are several candidates, including Julia Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, making her Claudius' niece. Conveniently, her rich husband had recently died. She is also the mother of a young boy called Domitius Ahenobarbus - but who will soon change his name to Nero. The post Claudius #12 – Lips That Grip appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo - brother-in-law of Caligula - is sent by Claudius to Germany to deal with some rebellious tribes. But he's TOO successful, so Claudius calls him home. Messalina decides to get married again - while still married to Claudius. Surprisingly he isn't too happy about it when he finds out. So she has a date - with a sword. The post Claudius #11 – Deviant Behaviour appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Messalina starts killing off men who refuse her sexual advances or who just have something she wants. Meanwhile, Claudius keeps being a nice guy and the people feel sorry for him. The post Claudius #10 Santa Claudius appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
The invasion of Brittania continues. When Plautius has them nearly finished, he sends for Claudius who turns up to take credit for the final blow. The Senate grant him tons of honours as a result of his victory. But he’s more interested in explaining to Romans how an eclipse works. The post Claudius #9 Vini Vidi Vici Bitchi appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
In 43 Claudius is consul again. Messalina is setting him up with girls to bang while she’s running sex parties in another part of the palace. Then he invades Britain, finishing the job Julius Caesar started nearly a century earlier. The post Claudius #8 – Invading Britannia appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
While the attempted coup was going on, Claudius had troops in Mauretania under the command of Suetonius Paulinus. One of Paulinus’ officers, Gnaeus Hosidius Geta, chases the Moors over the Atlas Mountains and into the desert - where he has to call on foreign gods to save his legions. The post Claudius #7 – Mauretania appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Claudius was a builder and a visionary. Humble and generous. He liked gladiatorial contests a little too much. But then there was his wife. Valeria Messallina. Like Livia, Messallina often gets blamed for some of the deaths that occurred early in his reign. The post Claudius #6 – The Revolt appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Claudius was a builder and a visionary. Humble and generous. He liked gladiatorial contests a little too much. But then there was his wife. Valeria Messallina. Like Livia, Messallina often gets blamed for some of the deaths that occurred early in his reign. The post Claudius #5 – The Wife appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
When Caligula was assassinated in 41, Claudius hid in a room of the palace called the Hermaeum, and then behind a curtain on a balcony. According to Suetonius, he was discovered by a soldier named Gratus - Gratitude - who said to his colleagues: "This is a Germanicus; come on, let us choose him for our emperor." But many in the Senate wanted to see him dead and a return to the republic. The post Claudius #4 – The Good Emperor appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
When Caligula was assassinated in 41, Claudius hid in a room of the palace called the Hermaeum, and then behind a curtain on a balcony. According to Suetonius, he was discovered by a soldier named Gratus - Gratitude - who said to his colleagues: "This is a Germanicus; come on, let us choose him for our emperor." But many in the Senate wanted to see him dead and a return to the republic. The post Claudius #3 – The Emperor appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
For most of his life, Claudius was the Rosemary Kennedy of the Caesars. Without the ice pick lobotomy. Hidden from the public. If he wasn’t allowed to participate in Roman affairs, he would look elsewhere. He became a historian, writing a ton of books about his family, the Carthaginians, and about Etruscan history. But he wasn't boring. He was a bit of a womaniser, and loved to watch games in the arena, gambling, eating, drinking. Things only started to turn around for him when became Caligula’s...
The first 50 years of Tiberius Claudius Nero's life was a mixture of wealth, power and cruelty. With symptoms similar to cerebral palsy, the young Claudius was called “a monstrosity of a human being, one that Nature began and never finished" - by his own mother. He was kept out of public life and power by his adoptive grandfather, Augustus, and his successor, Tiberius. He was treated as a fool and a joke by his nephew, Caligula. But after Caligula's assassination, he took power by force, becomin...
In this special post-series wrap up episode of Caligula, I'm joined by my fellow Aussie history podcasters, Dr G and Dr R from The Partial Historians. The post Caligula #25 – The Partial Historians appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
On the last morning of his life, Caligula entered the temporary theatre on the Palatine in a good mood. The conspirators attacked him in a narrow corridor, on his way back to the palace during the lunch break between performances. The lead conspirator, the praetorian guard Chaerea, stabbed Caligula in the neck, shouting "hoc age" - TAKE THAT! Then he was set upon by a crowd of assassins. Then they brutally murdered his wife and child. The assassins searched for Claudius to bump him off too - but...
The final conspiracy against Caligula involved Cassius Chaerea, an officer of the Praetorian Guard; Callistus, Caligula's wealthy freedman adviser; and the senator Lucius Annius Vinicianus. Over the next three episodes, we'll explore whether or not the conspiracy was about getting rid of Caligula because he was batshit crazy - or because they wanted to restore the Republic. The post Caligula #22 – The Foot Stomp appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Caligula got back to Rome around May 40 but stayed outside of the city until he could celebrate his ovation on his 28th birthday, 31 August. In the meantime he met with delegations from various parts of the world, including Philo's delegation from Alexandria, and Herod Antipas and his wife, Herodias, from Judaea. Conspiracies against him are everywhere. The post Caligula #20 – Hairy Antipasto appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Ray recently interviewed Lindsay Powell about Caligula. I asked Ray for show notes. This is what he gave me. "We talked of keeping the sources in context, considering the times they lived it and agenda. He went deep. Then his analysis of the events in the German border and the coast of Britain. And his apparent fickleness, which in a ruler, effects everyone but also how people like Suetonius probably used that." See? That's what I have to work with. The post Caligula #19 – Lindsay Powell on Cali...
Many historians claim that Caligula’s demand to be treated as a living god is a sure sign of madness. And yet - JESUS claimed the same thing and nobody calls HIM insane. Why does he get special treatment? On this episode, we drill down into the evidence for the claim about Caligula. The post Caligula #18 – Living God appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Caligula plans his invasion of Britain. It would have been the first time any Roman solider had been there since Julius Caesar. What motivated his plans? Was he even serious? It's often portrayed as a stupid stunt. But we discover there may be more to it. How did it fit into his German campaign and the conspiracies against him? And how does it factor into Claudius' later invasion? The post Caligula #17 – Brittanicus Germanicus appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
Sometime around the year 40, Caligula executed Ptolemy, the king of Africa Proconsularis and Roman ally. It's usually portrayed as evidence of his insanity and greed - but perhaps there is an alternative explanation. The post Caligula #16 – Bless The Rains appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Caligula suspects a grand conspiracy against his person and the sword falls on a variety of people - including the commander in Gaul, his two surviving sisters and his best friend / lover, Lepidus. The post Caligula #15 – The Conspiracy appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
Caligula built a 3-mile long bridge over the Bay of Naples. Why? So he could ride over it to prove someone wrong. Then he marries his third and last wife, Caesonia. Then he fires two consuls for not celebrating his birthday and starts a general purge of governors who are called back to Rome and, in some cases, charged with majestas. There's conspiracy in the air. The post Caligula #14 – The Great Purge appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
In 39 CE, Caligula walked into the Senate and tore them all a new one. The gloves came off. The nice guy act was over. He criticized them for enabling Sejanus' persecution of his family and for criticizing Tiberius when in fact they urged him on. Then he reinstated majestas. The Senate responded by thanking him and singing his praises. The post Caligula #13 – No More Mr Nice Guy appeared first on Life Of The Caesars ....
My inaugural guest is Dr Nathan Brooks PhD from CQUniversity. He's a forensic psychologist with a background in researching psychopaths. He (and a couple of colleagues) have a new book that came out just after mine, called "Corporate Psychopaths". It's an academic book looking at many of the same issues as mine. It was great to speak to him last week and find that we agreed on everything, from the size and importance of the problem, to the causes and the cures. The post The Psychopath Epidemic 0...
From his sickbed he named his favorite sister, Drusilla, to inherit the imperial “property and the throne”. But when he recovered, he decided to rid himself of some enemies, real or imagined, including Gemellus, Macro and Silanus, his former father-in-law. The post Caligula #12 – The Divine Drusilla appeared first on Life Of The Caesars .
