Post 60: Emperors of Rome podcast

After Mike Duncan’s superb History of Rome, do we really need another podcast about Romans?  Obviously more than a few people think so, by the way that this series, by La Trobe University in Australia has rocketed up the iTunes charts. In fairness, the show itself has a different format and tone – it’s much more biographical in focus and is presented as an interview between the host, Matt Smith, and a lecturer at the university, Dr Rhiannon Evans. Pieces of the interviews are then put together to tell the story and discuss any interesting points that crop up.

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Mark Antony: A Plain Blunt Man

Mark Antony

A Plain Blunt Man

I’ve decided to give a short review of Mark Antony, A Plain Blunt Man by Paolo de Ruggiero, released last year by Pen & Sword. I’m a bit wary of doing this as I have no history qualifications whatsoever, but the author of this book is (according to his bio in the book jacket) a business executive at a multi national corporation, rather than an academic, so I feel like I may as well have a go. While not an academic, de Ruggiero says he did grow up in Rome in a family of academics and has been passionate about Roman history all his life. For better or worse that passion definitely shows throughout the book.