DeepSummary
The transcript begins with an introduction from host Tom Holland, promoting the new audiobook release of his book 'Dynasty', a sequel to 'Rubicon' that follows the rise and rule of the Roman imperial dynasty under Augustus and his successors. Holland then reads an extract from the introduction of 'Dynasty', providing historical context about the reigns of emperors like Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.
The extract delves into the lives, scandals, and infamy surrounding these early Roman emperors, discussing how sources like Suetonius and Tacitus portrayed their depravities and crimes. It explores the transition from the Roman Republic to the autocratic rule under Augustus and his dynasty, analyzing how power was consolidated and the veil of tradition maintained.
The passage examines the challenges historians face in separating truth from exaggeration when studying this period, as well as the enduring fascination with the first Caesars and their blend of tyranny, achievement, and celebrity that has made them household names even two millennia later.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The reigns of early Roman emperors like Caligula, Claudius and Nero were notorious for scandals, depravity and crimes.
- Augustus established an imperial dynasty that consolidated autocratic power while maintaining republican traditions as a facade.
- Studying the Julio-Claudian dynasty is challenging due to biased, unreliable sources from sycophants and critics of that era.
- The first Roman emperors have become archetypal figures embodying both tyranny and glamour in the popular imagination.
- The transition from Republic to Empire under the Julio-Claudians was an experimental, contingent process of power consolidation.
- Sources like Suetonius and Tacitus provide a darkly compelling but narrow window into this tumultuous period.
- The Julio-Claudian period blended achievement with sadism in an unmatched way that has endured for 2000 years.
- Imperial autocracy became inseparable from the Roman state itself under this formative dynasty.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Words under the Caesars had become slippery, treacherous things. The age was a tainted one, he complained, degraded by its sycophancy.“ by Tacitus
- “Two millennia on, we too, looking back to Augustus and his heirs, can recognise in their mingling of tyranny and achievement, sadism and glamour, power, lust and celebrity, an aureate quality such as no dynasty since has ever quite managed to match.“ by Tom Holland
- “Caesar and the state are one and the same. How this came to be so is a story no less compelling, no less remarkable and no less salutary than it has ever been these past 2000 years.“ by Tom Holland
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Episode Information
The Rest Is History
Goalhanger Podcasts
6/27/24
To coincide with the re-release of Dynasty in audiobook, now with Tom Holland himself narrating, we have the book’s introduction for you to enjoy.
Dynasty, the sequel to Rubicon, is a dazzling portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty, tracing the full astonishing story of its rule of the world. Ranging from the great capital rebuilt in marble by Augustus to the dank and barbarian-haunted forests of Germany, it is populated by a spectacular cast: murderers and metrosexuals, adulterers and druids, scheming grandmothers and reluctant gladiators.
Dynasty’s re-released audiobook, narrated by our very own Tom Holland, is OUT NOW in the UK.
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Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman Emperors and it's a colorful story of rule and ruination, running from the rise of Augustus through to the death of Nero. Holland's expansive history also has distinct shades of I Claudius, with five wonderfully vivid (and in three cases, thoroughly depraved) Emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—featured, along with numerous fascinating secondary characters. Intrigue, murder, naked ambition and treachery, greed, gluttony, lust, incest, pageantry, decadence—the tale of these five Caesars continues to cast a mesmerizing spell across the millennia.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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