The Pax Romana Podcast

Mar 11 2025 80 ep. 19 mins 30

The Pax Romana Podcast artwork

The assassination of Julius Caesar 2,000 years ago unleashed a wild era of Roman emperors, dark conspiracies, intense battles, economic booms and busts and profound religious shifts. Was this truly the Roman Empire's golden age? On the weekly Pax Romana Podcast, Historian Colin Elliott brings gripping stories from Roman history to life. Dive into history starting in episode 1 , or pick your poison from our catalogue: the birth of the empire in the Age of Augustus, Nero's Great Fire, the rise of Christianity, the wisdom and wars of Marcus Aurelius or the military chaos of the third century AD.

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When Did Rome First Build a Navy? - The Pax Romana Podcast QA1

Mar 11 2025 21 mins

Rome’s early Republic leaned on its legions, with no real navy to speak of—until Carthage, a sea-dominating empire, sparked the First Punic War in 264 BC. Exposed and outmatched, Rome turned the tide in 261 BC, reverse-engineering a captured Carthaginian ship to craft a fleet of quinqueremes. Armed with ingenious corvus boarding bridges, Rome's new navy stunned Carthage, and la

Aurelian and the Restoration of the Roman Empire - The Pax Romana Podcast 77

Mar 04 2025 21 mins

Aurelian—a gritty Balkan soldier—seized a crumbling Roman Empire in AD 270. His five-year reign still stuns: how did he crush Germanic hordes, topple Zenobia’s Palmyrene Empire and reunite the Gallic Empire under Roman rule? But Aurelian was more than a conqueror. He constructed miles of walls around Rome, and erected a massive temple to Sol Invictus--god of the unconquered s

The Breakup of the Roman Empire - The Pax Romana Podcast 76

Feb 25 2025 16 mins

As a lethal plague tore through Rome, Persian king Sapor I struck the Empire’s east, capturing Emperor Valerian—a staunch senator and fierce Christian persecutor—after his bold counterattack failed. Internal strife and external foes shattered Rome into three warring realms: the Gallic and Palmyrene Empires rose amidst the chaos. Would the third century witness Rome’s doom?

The Plague of Cyprian - The Pax Romana Podcast 75

Feb 18 2025 16 mins

In AD 249, the Plague of Cyprian swept through the Roman Empire. Named after Cyprian of Carthage, who vividly described its horrors, this plague led to loss of life and increased imperial destabilization during an already turbulent time. Accounts from Cyprian and Dionysius of Alexandria highlight the plague's severity, noting it seemed to threaten the very existence of humanity

The Collapse of the Roman Peace - The Pax Romana Podcast 74

Feb 13 2025 17 mins

The Crisis of the Third Century began with the assassination of Severus Alexander, leading to Maximinus Thrax's brief and unpopular rule. Maximinus treated Rome like his own personal piggy bank--looting everything from senatorial estates, to local funds for festivals and celebrations. he was assinated in AD 238, also known as the Year of the Six Emperors. By the end of that year, a

The Collapse of the Roman Monetary System - The Pax Romana Podcast 73

Feb 04 2025 20 mins

The Roman monetary system--one of the worlds most stable and trusted monetary systems for nearly 500 years, seems to have collapsed in the third century AD. Rapid debasements made Roman silver coins nearly valueless. This economic instability may have prompted inhabitants of the Roman Empire to stop using currency in some regions. In just the AD 270s alone, prices rose by around 1,

The Crisis of the Third Century AD - The Pax Romana Podcast 72

Jan 28 2025 19 mins

Was the third century AD a period of crisis or transformation? The prevalence of war, economic strain and demographic collapse certainly seems compelling. And yet, this same period could be viewed as a transformation where Rome adapted, with power shifting from traditional elites to military figures, and where cultural, religious, and social structures evolved. Was the constant war

Could One Senator Have Saved the Roman Empire? - The Pax Romana Podcast 071

Jan 22 2025 31 mins

Cassius Dio, a Roman historian and senator, seems to have foreseen the tumultuous times the Roman Empire was about to experience in the Crisis of the Third Century. His proposed reforms come to us through the lens of his famous debate between Agrippa and Maecenas in his epic history of Rome. Dio envisioned a stable, centralized Roman Empire, including a professional standing army,

The End of the Severan Dynasty - The Pax Romana Podcast 070

Jan 14 2025 18 mins

Alexander Severus, Roman Emperor from 222 to 235 AD, ascended to power under the guardianship of his mother and grandmother. He offered a serious foreign policy--aimed at stabilizing increasingly fragile borders to both the north and east of the Empire. But the Crisis of the Third Century was looming, and Rome's legions apparently no longer wished to have peace--preferring instead

Rome's Emperor of the Sun - The Pax Romana Podcast 069

Jan 08 2025 17 mins

Elagabalus, the 14-year-old priest-king, became emperor in AD 218 and tried to impose the sun god El-Gabal as Rome's chief deity. His reign was marked by multiple marriages, accusations of effeminacy and unrest in Rome. He was such a disaster of an emperor that his own grandmother sough to replace him with his cousin, Alexander.