The Pax Romana Podcast

May 14 2024 16

The Pax Romana Podcast artwork

This podcast, hosted by historian and professor Colin Elliott, brings to life the stories and sources from the pivotal and fascinating age that followed the death of Julius Caesar and ended just after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This period was called the Pax Romana—or the Roman Peace—and it was an age to remember—an age of emperors, wars, conspiracies, love affairs, decadence and so much more. New episodes each week, mid-week. Professor Elliott's newest book is Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World, published by Princeton University Press. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paxromanapodcast/support

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Ancient Roman Slavery - The Pax Romana Podcast 043

May 14 2024 16 mins

The Pax Romana may have thrived, but much of its prosperity was born on the backs of million. On this episode, we look at a darker side of the Pax Romana, and the institution of Roman slavery. How did it function--from the brutal realities of capture and sale--to the opportunities for freedom? Roman slavery was of questionable economic benefit, so why did Romans keep this instituti

The Roman Social Hierarchy - The Pax Romana Podcast 042

May 08 2024 16 mins

Roman society was highly stratified. Rank, wealth, birth and political power--not necessarily merit--determined one's place in the world. The social system was intricated and divided; both masses and elites were subdivided in a variety of ways. And above all was the emperor. He reigned supreme, as not just a ruler, but a patron and father over the entire Roman world. --- Suppor

Aqueducts, Baths and Sewers: Sanitation in the Roman Empire - The Pax Romana Podcast 041

May 01 2024 14 mins

Scholars tend to think of the Pax Romana as being at the pinnacle of prosperity and its economic and military power. And in a sense that is true, compared to the crisis that followed. But despite the high achievements of the Pax Romana, it remains an open question as to whether highly populated Roman cities were as healthy as we often imagine. In this episode, I discuss the sanitat

The Strange Demise of Hadrian - The Pax Romana Podcast 040

Apr 23 2024 14 mins

Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire for 21 years. His legacy, however, is a tangled mess. On the one hand, he left behind impressive architectural marvels, like Hadrian’s Wall; and his epic journeys across land and sea reinforced the notion that he was not just the leader of Rome, but the representative of tens of millions of people across a vast commonwealth. And yet, both his early

Another Brick in Hadrian's Wall - The Pax Romana Podcast 039

Apr 15 2024 17 mins

Hadrian's Wall served as the Roman frontier in Britain for nearly 300 years. While not an impenetrable barrier, it deterred large-scale raids, allowed for the regulation of trade, and provided a base for Roman military operations when necessary. Hadrian’s Wall is both a symbol of Rome’s final ruinous end, but also of the extent to which the Roman peace was an illusion. Ultimate

Rome and the End of Israel's Independence - The Pax Romana Podcast 038

Apr 09 2024 17 mins

By the year AD 130, Hadrian had ruled the Roman Empire for more than a decade—touring its far flung provinces, and transforming it from conquest empire to unified commonwealth. And yet, one peoples in particular were not aligned with Hadrian’s grand vision. The Jewish people had been subjugated to some of the worst brutality imaginable—a fact they had not forgotten. Under eve

Hadrian's Roman Commonwealth - The Pax Romana Podcast 037

Apr 02 2024 17 mins

Hadrian took over for Trajan, and it was a little awkward. As we saw last time, Trajan went to his deathbed without naming a successor; then over the course of several secretive days, Trajan died and Hadrian emerged as the next emperor. Only Trajan’s wife and praetorian prefect seem to know what happened. Others knew what happened, of course, but they were murdered under mysterio

Plots at the Dawn of Hadrian’s Reign - The Pax Romana Podcast 036

Mar 26 2024 14 mins

The Pax Romana, and especially its period of five good emperors, is often thought of as a continuous period of peaceful and uncontroversial transitions of power. But, as we’ve seen on this podcast, there is far more to the story than that. Today’s topic is emblematic of the Pax Romana’s strange dissonance between superficial peace and its subtle undercurrents of intrigue and

Parthia: Rome's Eastern Nemesis - The Pax Romana Podcast 035

Mar 20 2024 18 mins

The Roman emperor Trajan looked to emulate Alexander the Great. In AD 113, he began a campaign to push Roman borders eastward further than ever before. In his way was the Parthian Empire. These two powers were engaged in a complex geo-political chess match for virtually the entirety of the Pax Romana. Would Trajan be able to do what no previous Roman had done, and take Rome's e

The Roman Urban Economy - The Pax Romana Podcast 034

Mar 12 2024 19 mins

Our modern economy is miraculous. But did the kinds of market mechanisms that make modern economies so prosperous prevail in the Romain Empire? On the one hand, Rome's economy was impressive. It was highly monetized, unified by law and seemingly vibrant. But to what extent was Rome's economy "free market"? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/p