LOST ROMAN HEROES

Born of humble stock, elevated to the purple to be a puppet of Aspar, the barbarian power behind the Eastern Empire's throne, Leo had other thoughts in mind. He had watched as other barbarian strongmen had brought the Western Empire to the brink of extinction, and he was determined that the East would not suffer the same fate. But how could you counter the men who controlled the army and the purse strings to save the Roman state?

Aegidius and Syagrius, father and son warriors, born of an ancient Roman-Gaul senatorial lineage, would keep the dream of Rome alive in Gaul long after the Western Empire fell.  In the baddest of bad neighborhoods, for three decades they reminded the world what Rome stood for, with no help from an emperor in Ravenna or Constantinople.  It wasn't about fame for these two, it was about principle!  Prepare to be blown away....

Join Lost Roman Heroes for Part 2 of our Honorable Mentions series, and meet some of the most remarkable Romans you never heard of: Pope Leo I (stood up to Attila), Anthemius the Prefect (built the Theodosian Walls), Constantine III (Britannia's last hope), Flavius Constantius (one of the West's last magister militums), and our favorite, Marcellinus (THE LAST JEDI)!  

Lost Roman Heroes get their own episode, true, but as Season 2 draws to close we admit that we made some mistakes.  We missed some guys, sad but true, and some genuinely heroic characters had the great misfortune  of not appearing in the historical record.  Its OK, these are our misfits, the extra-lost, Lost Roman Heroes, that we believe deserve an HONORABLE MENTION (PART 1).

A special episode in which we @lostromanheroes get to the heart of the question that has vexed proper, professional historians for centuries - 'why exactly did the Empire of the West fall'?  Search no further, here we reveal the truth!

Having inherited a bankrupt Western Empire, with no treasury, no army, no popular support, and no civitas, Majorian sets about achieving the impossible, knitting the West back together again.  Never before has a Western Emperor started in such dire straits, with such ambitious objectives, and with such exceptional talents.  We cannot help but wish him the very best (as we shed a tear for him, and Rome)...

Majorian was a young Italian commander who served with distinction under Aetius as the great general tried to piece the West back together again.  When Aetius is assassinated, Majorian survives the bloodbath, and the murder of three emperors in rapid succession, leaving him on the cusp of the worst job in the world.

Aetius maneuvers himself to the top of the power structure in the West, only to be brought low by Galla Placidia and loyal Bonfatius.  After suffering his first and only real defeat, there is no one left to oppose him, but rather than seeking the throne for himself, he dedicates himself to piecing Rome back together, taking on his greatest nemesis, Attila himself!  

This is the man that even contemporaries referred to as THE LAST ROMAN.  Only son of General Gaudentius, born in Durostorum, a frontier fortress on the Danube, Aetius, he wound up in the West after his father fought under Emperor Theodosius at the Frigidus.  From there he found himself on a fast track that would send him as a hostage to Alaric and the Goths, and from there to Uldin and the Huns where he would grow up amongst Rome's most fearsome enemies.  When he was released by the Huns in his early 30's and returned to Ravenna, there was no man that had the knowledge of those enemies like Aetius, something that the Empress, Galla Placidia, knew all too well, as did his enemies at court...

Granddaughter of bear-loving Emperor Valentinian I, granddaughter of last-of-the-mohicans Count Theodosius, and daughter of Emperor Theodosius who salvaged the Empire after Adrianople, Galla Placidia had the bluest blue running through her veins.  One might be tempted to think, that after having been born in this most privileged of positions, she had an easy life?  Yet that could not be farther from the truth.  Orphaned at the age of 3, besieged in Rome at 16, and kidnapped by the Goths at 17, life threw every conceivable challenge at Galla Placidia and she survived them all, surfing the tumultuous waves of chaos that buffeted the Western Roman Empire in its final days.  Our first female heroine candidate earned every last little ounce of the legend surrounding her life.  

Just one year after the Emperor Theodosius died in 395AD, Stilicho, his son in law and the man he trusted to carry the Empire forward, is struggling with an impossible situation.  The frontiers are overrun by an unholy coaltion of barbarian tribes, pushed inexorably towards Rome by the approaching Hun menace.  Meanwhile, Alaric and his Goths, the most powerful military force in the Empire, rampage through the Roman homeland, demanding military honors and a place to settle his people.  Over the course of the next decade, Stilicho would accomplish miracles with paltry resources, protecting Italy, while meeting, and defeating a host of enemies that breached the Roman frontier, but none more fearsome than Alaric, who Stilicho defeated in battle time and again.  Yet after each defeat, Alaric always seemed to slip away, seeding the rumors that would plague Stilicho the rest of his life.  Anti-barbarian sentiment builds.  And though half-Vandal Stilicho was born Roman, and devoted his life to serving and protecting the Empire, a plot is hatched to murder the defender of the Western Empire.  Once Stilicho is eliminated, there is nothing capable of holding Alaric, King of the Goths in check, and no one capable of protecting the City of Rome, birthplace of empire.   

Meet Stilicho, the half Vandal, half Roman soldier who joins Emperor Theodosius' bodyguard in his late teens, catches the eye of the emperor's niece, marries into the imperial family, and rises to the highest military ranks in the Empire!  A devoutly loyal and honest man, Stilicho makes a plethora of enemies along the way, but never loses sight of his loyalties, to Emperor and nation.  Amongst those enemies are Rufinus the Prefect, Eutropius the Eunuch, and a young Goth warlord who would be king someday, Alaric.  This is the origin story of two of the most consequential, and mysterious men in the final chapters of the West.

Born in Trier in 339AD, Ambrose was the privileged son of the praetorian prefect of Gaul.  As a young man, he entered the Roman civil service and rose quickly to the role of governor in north Italy during the reign of Emperor Valentinian.  Though he was not a Christian and did not seek the honor, Ambrose was elected Bishop of Mediolanum in 374AD, making him one of the most important leaders of the church at a time that the Christian church was infiltrating every facet of the imperial government.  He would go on to become the friend, and nemesis, of multiple Roman emperors and usurpers, leaving an indelible stamp on the Church and the State.  

Theodosius, son of the legendary Count Theodosius, was thrust into one of the most desperate situations in Rome's history, in the wake of the utter bloodbath at Adrianople in 378AD.  Inheriting the mantle of the East, with no army to call upon, and with the Goths rampaging in the Roman heartland, for some reason, Theodosius answered the call, in somehow, he would find a way to put the pieces together again.

Count Theodosius, born in Hispania to a military family, he rose through the ranks and accomplished remarkable things lost in the mists of time.  When he emerges into the spotlight he is the Emperor Valentinian's fixer, who recovers Britannia, settles the Rhine, and recovers Africa for the Empire without breaking a sweat, with humility and grace.  But no good deed ever goes unpunished, and so it is with Theodosius, but that cannot prevent him from founding one of Rome's great dynasties.

Valentinian, son of the Rope Man, emerged from dad's shadow, paid his dues in the army, and was in the right place at the right time when Julian's short-lived successor Jovian died somewhere outside Ancyra.  Rising to the purple with his brother Valens (Adrianople anyone?) by his side, Valentinian would go on to rule from the west, holding the Rhine, recovering Britannia, and quashing rebelling in Africaa.  He would be the last truly dominant Roman Emperor to rule the West, with the help of two savage she-bears, but was he a hero?  

Julian, nephew of Constantine the Great, cousin of Constantius the Murderous, aspiring philosopher, Emperor almost against his will, unfortunate soul!  He would be the last pagan emperor of Rome, though the Empire would last for another 1100 years, trying in vain to turn back to the clock to a simpler world that no longer existed.

Join us for our long awaited first Q&A episode, where we take on user questions and do our level best to answer!  From "why did Marc Antony fall in love with Cleopatra" to "did Livia kill Augustus" and "which Roman Emperor would you want to have a beer with"?  This was the most fun we've had on an episode for some time, thanks to all of you.

Finally in possession of the supreme power, after having eliminated all rivals and fully dismantling Diocletian's Tetrarchy, what will Constantine do?  Will he use his power for good?  What will he do with the Christians now that he has elevated their faith above all others?  And what really happened to Crispus?    

Join Constantine as he crossed the Alps and marches on Rome, to meet his rival Augustus, Maxentius (son of Maximian the Mischievous) at the fabled Milvian Bridge.  Constantine is intent on unwinding Diocletian's project, the Frankenstein-ish Tetrarchy, and consolidating power in his hands.  He will use his considerable wiles, and the surging Christian sect, to accomplish his audacious objectives.  

Constantine assumes his father's mantle in Eboracum when know one authorized him to do so.  But with the support of the troops and an unyielding sense of destiny and belief in his own abilities, he begins to gather power, and legitimacy in Britannia, Gaul and Hispania as the various rulers of the Italy and the East squabble among themselves.  We said goodbye to the Old Guard, Diocletian, Maximian and Galerius now, as the Roman Empire primes itself for the most explosive Roman Civil War in centuries between Constantine, Maxentius, Licinius and Maximinus.  Who will come out on top?

YAY - WE ARE BACK FROM OUR SUMMER BREAK, just in time to meet a young boy named Constantine, yet another of Illyrian stock, born to Helena the barmaid and Constantius, member of the Imperial bodyguard, steps into the light.  Dad is making all of the right moves and finds himself rising fast in Diocletian's administration, from Praetorian Prefect, to Caesar, and finally to Augustus. But some people - especially the Emperor Galerius - are threatened by Constantius' success, and worry (rightly) that the son Constantine will follow in dad's footsteps, and upset their well laid plans for domination.  Can Constantine survive the intrigue against him?

To our amazing listeners!  After one full year of research, writing, recording and releasing one episode a week, we are going to take a little vacation for the month of August 2024 (we hope you guys are too!) and we will be back on September 1st, with batteries recharged, ready to dive into Constantine the Great!  Happy summer everyone....

Join Diocletian as he ups the ante, and continues his bold experimentation to reform the Imperial system to deal with the new world of threats that have overwhelmed Rome for the last one hundred years.  But will this new system, that we know as the Tetrarchy, survive the biggest threat of all, human ambition?

Diocles, son of a slave.  WHAT?? Say that again.  Diocles, who assumed the regnal name of Diocletian, was the first Roman Emperor to be born the son of a former slave.  He would rise from dirt to the pinnacle of Roman power, yet another of the Illyrian cabal, hellbent on restoring Rome to her former glory.  But rather than focusing simply on military brilliance to accomplish that objective, like his immediate (really all) predecessors had, Diocletian decides to experiment with the hallowed structure of the Roman imperial system to see if he can build a better, more sustainable, mousetrap.

Probus, Aurelian's prodigy and friend, rose to the purple shortly after Aurelian's murder just like his mentor had, through sheer grit and merit.  In five short years he pursued Aurelian's policies brilliantly, with a deftness of touch perhaps that Aurelian lacked.  He was everywhere at once, East and West, North and South, campaigning north of the Rhine like Germanicus and Drusus, showing the Persians that Rome was no longer afraid, in short, helping to reinforce Aurelian's miracle.  To friend and foe alike, lest there be any doubt, thanks to Probus all knew - ROME WAS BACK.

Emperor Claudius Gothicus is dead.  Aurelian is dashing around Thrace, chasing a Goth horde, while Claudius' weakling brother Quintillus is elevated to the purple.  Rome is still broken in three, with the Gallic Empire going strong in Gaul, Britannia and Germania.  While the East is increasingly independent, and anti-Roman, under Odaenathus' widow Zenobia.  What Aurelian accomplishes next is difficult to fathom, and will bestow upon him the most extraordinary and well deserved of honorary title: RESTITUTOR ORBIS.

Aurelian.  Farm boy.  Born in the dirt somewhere near Sirmium, son of a soldier, and a priestess of Sol Invictus.  He entered the army at the very bottom and fought his way to the top of the military hierarchy, the old fashioned way - he earned every bit of it.  By the time Claudius Gothicus died, he was the number two to the emperor, the general in charge of the entire army.  But this was a reduced Empire, split in three, overrun by barbarian enemies on the frontiers, and devastated by the Plague.  What is Rome in 270AD?  And who is Aurelian?  Does any of it matter when the world as we know it no longer exists?

In the heart of darkness that was the Crisis of the Third Century, Postumus was one of those super talented generals cherry picked by the supreme talent scout that was the Emperor Gallienus.  A Roman through and through, as Juthungi and Frank warriors poured across the Rhine, Postumus rode a wave of discontent, was declared emperor of a new world that would be known as the Gallic Empire, killed Gallienus' son, and would build a new regime dedicated to holding the line on the Rhine frontier.  Villain or hero?  Emperor or usurper?  Tune in to Episode 44 to find out....

Who could have possibly imagined, that when Rome's fortunes hit their nadir, when the West had fallen away (to be ruled by the new Gallic Emperor Postumus) and the East crumbled under Shapur's relentless onslaught, it would not be a Roman Emperor, or a Roman General that saved Rome's eastern provinces from annihilation, but it would be a young guy born in the desert oasis town known as Palmyra that would rescue Rome.  Odaenathus rose from obscurity in an obscure place - Palmyra - last stop on the Silk Road, a watering hole in the Syrian desert.  And through sheer force of will and brilliant military and political tactics, he would become Rome's indispensable man in the heart of the storm known as the Crisis of the Third Century.

Poor Gallienus, son of poor Emperor Valerian, if you had existed in an earlier era, who knows what might have come of you?  As it was, you had the bad luck of being born in the heart of the disastrous 3rd century, when the machine that was Rome careened down the tracks, no one at the helm, brakes shot, with the wheels coming off.  With the Rhine and Danube frontiers overwhelmed by a relentless barbarian tide, the new Sassanid Empire in the East under vigorous Shapur I clawing back ancient Persian lands, and an endless line of internal usurpers aiming for the throne, one can't help but feel sympathy for Gallienus - but does he belong in the hall of heroes if the world nearly ended on his watch?  

Septimius Severus, Rome's first African emperor.  Born in Leptis Magna, he ended the civil war that erupted following Commodus' death during the Year of the Five Emperors, restoring order to the Empire, cowing the Senate, strengthening the borders, and ushering in a new era of warrior-emperors just in time for the Crisis of the Third Century that would shortly bring Rome to her knees.  Rome wouldn't look this good again for A LONG TIME.  Pretty impressive resume, except for the whole dying-and-leaving-the-Empire-to-Caracalla bit.

Lucius Artorius Castus, centurion of the Roman legions, Primus Pilus under Rome's Philosopher-Emperor Marcus Aurelius himself in the Legio V Macedonica.  This man went wherever the Empire needed him - from the scorching deserts of Syria to the frigid Danube at Belgrade and Carnuntum he served with distinction.  But his true star turn came when he was sent with the Sarmatian knights to serve on the Wall in Britannia, where his valor, bravery and remarkable deeds planted the seeds (we believe) of the legend that we know as KING ARTHUR!

Marcus Aurelius, the gentle philosopher who lived through the inconceivable, heart-wrenching loss of ten children.  Heir to Antoninus Pius against his will, he became emperor of 1/3 of the known world just as the Pax Romana began to fracture.  True to his stoic core, Marcus set aside personal wants and rose to the occasion, transforming himself from the first philosopher-emperor into the first warrior-emperor who spend his final 10 years camped on the Danube, fighting the barbarian wave that would eventually overwhelm the West.

Hadrian the Builder!  Third of the Five Good Emperors, and as unknowable as the sphinx.  He took over control of the Roman Empire from Trajan at its greatest territorial extent, inheriting a crazy Frankenstein of a territory that no one since Augustus had really focused on managing well, his predecessors had wanted to milk it or expand it, but Hadrian wanted to optimize it.  A remarkable ambition, a mysterious man, and a legacy worthy of remembrance, and debate.  But does he qualify as a Roman hero?  

Trajan.  Why do we feel so conflicted when we think about you?  Well, Trajan was one of the Five Good Emperors, rising to power at a moment when Rome was the bully in the schoolyard and he knew how to wield that power brilliantly, Octavian-like, in a manner that did not threaten the Senate.  Golden boy, Pompey-ish.  Forever more, new emperors would be blessed in his name upon their ascension.  The Roman Empire would reach its greatest territorial extent thanks to his efforts.  But is he a hero???  Can we say no???

Agricola was a child of Rome's provinces whose father was murdered by Caligula shortly after his birth.  Raised by a remarkable mom, he entered the Roman army and distinguished himself in every way possible, eventually winning the confidence of the Emperor Vespasian who sent him to Britannia to accomplish the impossible - subdue the island.  Agricola reminded us of Agrippa in so many ways, and we had the benefit of hearing about his exploits from his son in law, the famous Roman historian, Tacitus.  This is a story that you cannot miss!

Equal parts cerebral and brawny, here comes Pliny, the original disaster flick action hero!  Join one of the most fascinating guys you've never heard of outside dusty academic circles. Pliny did it all, fought in Germania, was best buds with multiple emperors, and rode directly into the heart of darkness on August 24th of 29CE to save innocent lives as Vesuvius erupted, killing all in its wake.

Germanicus, son of Drusus, the golden boy!  As remarkable as his father in so many ways, he made his name campaigning across the Rhine just like dad, and managed to recover lost Eagles, to give a proper burial to the Roman dead at Teutoburg, and to teach Arminimus a lesson.  Perhaps he did too much in fact, inspiring jealousy in his adopted father, the Emperor Tiberius, and a suspicion that would bring about his early, tragic demise. 

We enter the world beyond the Republic with the first Roman to have earned the cognomen "Germanicus", through blood sweat and tears.  Grandson of Marc Antony, son of Livia, step-son to Octavian, you might think that he was tempted to live in the lap of luxury but instead, Drusus was cut from an older cloth.  Determined to win military glory, and to live an exemplary life, he did so in spades before that life was cut short, but not before he planted some extraordinary seeds.  

Join us for the last of two special episodes recapping the Heroes of the Republic, from Scipio Amelianus, the killer of Carthage, to Octavian, the midwife to Empire.  We give a little summary of each, revisit their scoring, bring a little fun, and then we will officially say goodbye to the Roman Republic, what a journey!  Next stop, the Principate!!  

Join us for the first of two special episodes recapping the Lost Roman Heroes of the Republic, a great way for new listeners to receive an introduction to the podcast, and for longtime listeners to have one last look at Rome's republican glory days before we jump into the Age of Emperors.  In this first special episode, catch up with every Lost Roman Hero between Aeneas and Scipio Africanus.

Octavian transforms himself into Augustus, and transforms the broken hulk of the Republic that was, into the Principate that would preserve Rome for fifteen centuries, and lays the framework for the world that we live in today.  Need we say more?

Tis the season of warlords - there is no Republic anymore, nor is there Empire, there is only a land of warlords, picking over the carcass of what the great had once created.  This is it, this is where the fate of Rome is decided, does it fragment forever into the grubby hands of Antony, Sextus, Brutus and Cassius, or can the two twenty-somethings, Octavian and Agrippa, somehow find a way to thread the needle, and survive? 

Octavian, ready for prime time!  Marc Antony disparaged him, the Senate disregarded him, and the Conspirators ignored him, all at their peril!  Join us as the 19 year old Octavian arrives in Rome with his BFF Agrippa and in 24 short months completes his meteoric ascent.

Silly, skinny little pleb Octavian, what were you thinking?  Or more importantly, what was Caesar thinking, what did he see, when the two of you shared a carriage from Hispania to Gaul in the autumn of 45BC, that made him change his will to name you the 17-year-old Gaius Octavius his sole heir and adopted son?  Join us in Episode 27 on the first steps of Octavian's journey, from awkward teen to colossus that bestrode the world (with the invaluable aid of Agrippa, the best, best friend that any human could ever hope for). 

The younger son of a no-name family from a no-name provincial town, this young man would do more than anyone else (even more than Julius Caesar himself) to establish Octavian at the pinnacle of the Roman power structure, doing everything that needed to be done with supreme competency, and humility.   He vanquished Marc Antony, singlehandedly rebuilt Roman infrastructure, left buildings of indelible beauty, and always had Octavian/Augustus' back, from the day they met in school as teenagers to the day he died. 

Join @LostRomanHeroes for a special episode on the men who conspired to murder Julius Caesar, with a special focus on Cassius, Brutus, and Decimus.  Were these men patriots, heroes of the Republic who brought down a tyrant, or, is the story more complex?  

ALIA IACTA EST!  He crossed a little stream just north of Ravenna, and drove a stake through the heart of the Republic.  Join JC for the ride of a lifetime, as he sweeps through Italy, chased Pompey to Greece and Egypt, has an affair, has a love child with Cleopatra, and returns to Rome just in time for the Ides of March.  Ah Caesar, you were so close to your dreams.  But in the end, are you a hero?  Or just another aspiring tyrant?

Consul!  Gaul! Triumvirate!  Julius Caesar starts picking up steam, the situation on Rome's streets deteriorates, and the Senate, led by Cato the Younger, starts to get very anxious about Caesar, who is starting to smell vaguely Marian...

One of the most complex fellows that we will cover, Gaius Julius Caesar, the first of three episodes devoted to the man, the mystery, the legend.  What is a figure that is universally know doing in a podcast on Lost Roman Heroes?  What can possibly be lost about Caesar?  And what is heroic about Caesar, the man who drove a stake through the heart of the Republic?  Join us here for Part 1, Caesar's early years.