military history

After defeating Glaber on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, Spartacus and his rebels enjoyed a glorious Italian summer—taming wild ponies for their infantry, attracting new [...Read More...]

In our last episode, Spartacus and his compatriots broke out of the ludus and began their rebellion. Spurred on by the Dionysian prophecies of his lover, the Thracian Lady, [...Read More...]

  Become a Patron! Sorry, we absolutely have to do this:   The Italian Horse Protection Association rescues and rehabilitates abused and abandoned horses in Italy. [...Read More...]

The story of Spartacus is the story of the Roman Republic at a crossroads. In the 70s BC, the city of Rome was a powderkeg, the peninsula was wracked with starvation and [...Read More...]

 First, these show notes would not be complete without a gif from the STARZ Spartacus TV series.   Spartacus GIF from Spartacus GIFs   We couldn’t have [...Read More...]

The Thracians were the most feared professional killers of the ancient world—serving as hired assassins, enforcers, and mercenaries in famous battles from one end of the [...Read More...]

Here are the sources that helped us bring the Thracians to life. The Warriors of Thrace (Discover Bulgaria Website) Roman Expansion in Thrace (Balkancelts WordPress) The [...Read More...]

During the First Servile War, the epic prophet and fire-breather named Eunus led a rebellion that threatened the Republic to its foundations. For a time, Eunus controlled all [...Read More...]

Become a Patron! Here’s a video that does a great job of summing up the Second Servile War: Our ancient sources include: Diodorus Siculus’ Library of History (G. [...Read More...]

The First Servile War started in 135 BC—about 62 years before Spartacus led his rebellion. It lasted about twice as long as the Spartacus war, and involved hundreds of [...Read More...]