Ancient History Fangirl

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One of the most famous quotes from Augustus’ reign was “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.” And Augustus did that—he had a real thing for construction. Augustus would leave his mark on Rome, and the city would never be able to forget him.

Turns out this is…how do we put this…fascism-coded. Other authoritarians have also loved to build things—including, very noticeably, Donald Trump. Why is that? Why do dictators feel a need to build things and slap their names on buildings (even when they didn’t build them)?

In this episode, we’re going to unpack that—comparing the record of Augustus and Donald Trump when it comes to building, defacing (under the guise of "renovation"), slapping their names on buildings and putting their claims on the narratives those buildings tell.

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Have you noticed that our tech overlords cannot be normal
about the Roman Empire?

Elon Musk has approximately 14 known children, which he
refers to as his “Legion.” Mark Zuckerberg famously took the Emperor Augustus on his honeymoon. And in some of the darker corners of the Internet (and real life), wildly rich techbros openly fantasize about a “Red Caesar” who will come to rule us all.

Why is that? Where does this obsession with ancient Rome come from, specifically among our techbro overlords? In this episode, we’re going to attempt to unpack that.

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This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get $15 off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code FANGIRL.

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Slavery touched every part of life in ancient Rome. Depending on the time period and location, as many as one in ten or one in three people was enslaved.

How does it warp a democracy when so many of its people are not free? Today we talk to author, historian and podcaster Dr. Emma Southon, host of the History is Sexy podcast and author of Not Built in a Day: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire, to explore this question.

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This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get $15 off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code FANGIRL.

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In our last episode, Livia and Octavia were at each other’s throats over which one of their sons would be chosen as Augustus’ heir. The unfortunate thing is that the heirs kept dying.

Meanwhile, the daughter and granddaughter of Augustus—Julia the Elder and Agrippina the Elder—were the first generations of the new autocracy. They never knew democracy—and from the beginning, they complied with Augustus’ vision for women: get married young, to whoever he told you to, and have many, many children.

These girls complied, and paid a terrible price for the kingdom their foremothers built—a price we’re still paying today.

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This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get $15 off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code FANGIRL.

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In our last episode, Octavian had just defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony. His sister Octavia had refused to renounce her wayward husband (Mark Antony), behaving with an intensity of loyalty that Octavian did not hesitate to use in his propaganda war against his enemy.

Meanwhile, Livia and Octavian had both divorced their spouses, shortly after children were born, to marry each other. Both were equally cutthroat--and Livia refused to ever be on the wrong side of politics again.

Now, as Octavian returns triumphant, these two women work beside him to tear Roman democracy down and start again—with themselves at the apex of power.   

Sponsors and Advertising

This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get $15 off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code FANGIRL.

This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com.
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