Rome Before the Fall

In sixty two BC, a young patrician named Clodius sneaks into the women-only rites of the Bona Dea at Caesar's house and survives the scandal that follows through jury bribery and political maneuvering. What is at stake is nothing less than the legal machinery of the Republic, which Clodius then bends to exile Rome's most famous orator. The dress fit well enough to get him in, just not quite well enough to keep him out of court. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

In AD 260, a Roman general named Postumus seizes power on the Rhine and builds a rival empire covering three western provinces while the reigning emperor Gallienus fights to hold Italy. The breakaway state holds its own frontier for nine years, forcing Rome to watch the West govern itself without permission. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the plebs, builds a sweeping reform program in the one hundreds BC that threatens the Senate's grip on land, courts, and grain. The Senate, outmaneuvered in the Forum, reaches for a new and untested emergency decree to stop him. Rome is about to learn whether a legal instrument can do what a mob did to his brother. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

In AD 68, Emperor Nero faces a revolt in Gaul that his own Rhine legions crush before he can respond, while the Praetorian Guard negotiates its loyalty to the highest bidder. Galba, the old governor of Hispania, marches toward a throne built on promises nobody authorized him to make. The gap between an emperor's image of himself and the machinery that kept him in power turns out to be very small and very final. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

In fifty nine BC, Julius Caesar holds the consulship alongside Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, and he intends to use every tool the office offers to push through land reform, ratify Pompey's eastern conquests, and secure a military command. Bibulus responds by retreating to his house and declaring the sky unfit for legislation, leaving Rome to decide whether law or raw political will governs the republic. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

In AD one ninety three, Septimius Severus commands the Pannonian legions and moves fast against two rival emperors, Pescennius Niger in the east and Clodius Albinus in the west, each backed by armies and provincial wealth. The throne of Rome is the prize, and the city's grain supply, its Senate, and its definition of legitimate power are all at stake. Three men want the same job, and only one of them seems to understand that the interview process involves marching. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

In AD 456, patrician Ricimer holds the only army left in the western empire while a series of emperors sit on the throne he controls. As the Vandals strangle Africa and Constantinople watches from a careful distance, the question of whether any western emperor can survive Ricimer's management grows harder to avoid. The purple robe, it turns out, is easier to give than to keep. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.

Augustus has ruled Rome for forty years when his health fails in AD 14, leaving the Principate, a system built entirely around one man, facing its first real test of survival. His cautious heir Tiberius must claim power without appearing to want it, while a sealed will and an unexplained execution shape what the transfer actually costs. The paperwork was all in order, which is one way to describe it. Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA. Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-6aeb398d024b9dcc82588226 © 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. This episode was created with artificial intelligence: AI-assisted script and AI-generated (synthetic) voice.