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On this episode, Cameron and Ray wrap up the fall of Jerusalem in September 70 CE — Titus strolls into the ruins, declares Yahweh helped him destroy Yahweh's own temple, and the boys go deep on the genuinely wild linguistic coincidence that the Roman sky-god Jove and the Hebrew God share the same name. Then it's grim accounting time: survivors get sorted into gladiators, mine slaves, and beast-fodder, Josephus rescues some mates, and rebel leader Simon Bar-Gioras emerges from a tunnel dressed in a white robe trying to pass himself off as a ghost. Plus Cameron's AI fact-checker contradicts itself mid-episode, Ray declines to answer questions about his Michael Jackson glove, and somehow it all makes sense. The post YHWH v JOVE – Vespasian #19 appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

This week we finally reach the end of the Siege of Jerusalem — and it's brutal. Titus storms the upper city, the rebels' back is broken, Simon and John have vanished into the tunnels, and by September 25th, 70 CE, the city is rubble and the Temple is gone forever. We also dive into the fate of the sacred Menorah — where it went, what it meant, and why nobody knows where it is today. The post UNLEASH THE CARL – Vespasian #18 appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It's August 70 CE, and the siege of Jerusalem is entering its apocalyptic final act. In this episode, Cameron and Ray pick up where the last one left off — starving rebels launching desperate sorties against exhausted Roman legionaries, Titus ordering his men to burn down the silver-coated temple gates to finally crack open the last Jewish stronghold, and the mounting pressure on one of the ancient world's most sacred structures. Before the walls even fall, Cameron takes a deep dive into the remarkable cast of Jesuses and Ananiases haunting Josephus's account of the war — including a wild-eyed plebeian prophet named Jesus son of Ananias, who spent seven years and five months wandering Jerusalem's streets howling "Woe to Jerusalem!" until a Roman siege engine stone ended his career mid-prophecy. Cameron draws pointed connections between this forgotten street-prophet and the Gospel accounts of Jesus of Nazareth, noting that the Gospel of Matthew — written around 75–80 CE, after Jerusalem had already fallen — may owe more to Josephus's war stories than to genuine prophecy. Then history's most consequential act of arson takes centre stage: against Titus's explicit orders, an unnamed Roman soldier — dubbed "Carl" by Cameron and Ray in an extended bit of comedy gold — hurled a burning torch through a golden-framed window of the Temple, setting in motion a conflagration that consumed one of the ancient world's greatest buildings while Titus himself was still inside the Holy of Holies. The looting that followed was so spectacular it caused a gold glut across Syria, halving the price of the metal. Titus freed roughly 40,000 non-combatants into the smouldering ruin of their city — good news delivered alongside very bad news. The end of the siege is now finally within sight. The post Goddamn it, Carl! – Vespasian #17 appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It's 70 CE, the walls of Jerusalem are crumbling, and the city is eating itself alive — literally. In this episode of Life of Caesar, Cameron and Ray wade deep into Josephus's harrowing account of the final, grinding assault on the Antonia Fortress and the Temple Mount, where the siege of Jerusalem has reached a level of horror almost beyond comprehension. Titus is still trying to take the city intact, still offering surrender terms that rebel leader John of Gischala keeps refusing, even as 600,000 corpses have been thrown out of the gates and the starving population has been reduced to eating dung, leather belts, and — in one unforgettable episode — a widow named Mary from Perea who roasts and eats her own infant son, leaving even Jerusalem's most hardened killers staggering into the street in shock. Meanwhile, the Roman assaults keep producing their own gruesome catalogue of disasters: brave volunteers like Sabinus the Syrian and the Abian centurion Julian charge the walls in spectacular solo acts of courage, only to be undone by the cruel physics of hobnailed caliga boots sliding out on blood-slicked marble floors. A trumpeter and sixteen centuries break into the Antonia in a daring pre-dawn raid, a legionnaire named Longus cuts his own throat rather than surrender or burn, and a soldier called Artorius survives a sixty-foot jump by landing on — and killing — his tentmate Lucius, who had agreed to catch him in exchange for his inheritance. Through it all, Josephus insists it wasn't the Romans but God himself who condemned the Jews, a theological contortion Cameron links to the writing of the Gospel of Mark and the birth of Christianity from the ashes of the Temple. There's also a lengthy and highly entertaining detour into medieval witch trials, broomsticks, and the surprisingly pharmaceutical origins of flying — Cameron has been reading Carlo Ginzburg, and he has things to tell you about salves and sticks that will change how you watch *Wicked* forever. The post Slip, Trip, and Slit – Vespasian #16 appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

News of Galba’s betrayal makes its way to Nero who is shocked into action. He sends troops to stop Galba - but they switch sides and join the conspiracy. Nero goes into hiding with the intent of running away to Alexandria and Greece, but even that plan is betrayed. Finally, he comes to the end of his story. And so do we! This is our last episode ever. The post Nero #47 – THE END appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero celebrates two official triumphs. Not for military victories, but for singing. It’s the last straw. A new rebellion is formed, lead by Vindex and Galba. The post Nero #46 – The Last Straw appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero didn’t visit Athens or Sparta while in Greece because he was scared of religious and political retribution. Besides, he was too busy trying to become the periodonikes, the Grand Slam champion of all of the Games. But things weren’t going well back at Rome, so he is finally convinced to return. He had six months left to live. The post Nero #45 – Grand Slam appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The year is 67 CE. Nero is still on his 14 month tour of Greece. He dropped into the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and tickled the Omphalos. The post Nero #44 – Horny Dolphins appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It’s 67 CE. Before he sets out for his World Tour of Greece, Nero first needs to insult the Senate, then he needs to deal with a new conspiracy, this one involving Corbulo. While Greece, he becomes unhappy with Vespasian who apparently doesn’t clap loudly enough at Nero’s performances. The post Nero #43 – To the Deuce! appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero gets, not one, but TWO new wives. One of them is a dude. The post Nero #42 – Dude Looks Like A Lady appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero’s first attempt at building a single property that covered his estates on the Palatine Hill and the Esquiline Hill was The Domus Transitoria, the House of Passage. It burned down in the Great Fire. He replaced it with the Domus Aurea (Golden House), designed by expert engineers Severus and Celer, and it was so revolutionary that it appears to be the stuff of genius. The post Nero #41 – The Stuff of Genius appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero built his Domus Aurea between 64-68 and, in doing so, revolutionised Roman architecture. He also built a massive statue of himself, because, hey, why not? The post Nero #40 – The Golden House appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Nero was a lover, not a fighter. Not a great leader of armies. He thought of himself as an artist. He wanted to be on stage, not on horseback. He was very proud that he closed his Janus. The post Nero #39 – Closing His Janus appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

If you want to marry a woman, remember to kill her husband first The post Nero #38 – A Woman Woo’d appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

The Stoics Thrasea and Soranus go on trial. And we run out of Tacitus. The post Nero #37 – “Spare your ears” appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.