The Pax Romana Podcast

How did the daughter of a mathematician acquire enough authority to teach Plato, edit difficult astronomical texts, advise powerful men and attract students from across the Mediterranean? What did elite education actually look like in the fourth century, especially for a woman? What kind of mathematics did Hypatia practice, and what can we really say about her lost writings? ...

This episode begins a short series on Hypatia of Alexandria--famous philosopher, and some say martyr for science, who died in Alexandria in the early 5th century AD. This series will explore Alexandria’s transformation, Hypatia’s education and philosophical school, the religious and political conflicts surrounding her and the circumstances of her death.Before we meet Hypatia,...

Rome was sacked in AD 410, but the western empire did not end. What did the Roman Empire Honorius do after this disaster? This episode argues that Honorius failed to preserve the Empire because he confused the survival of his court with the survival of the Empire.

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In AD 410, the emperor Honorius told the British communities to look to their own defense—a moment often treated as the official end of Roman rule in Britain. But by then, how much Roman power was really left? This episode traces the crisis from the late fourth century to the years just after 410: from usurpers like Magnus Maximus and Constantine III, to raids by Saxons, Pict...

In August AD 410, something happened that many Romans believed was impossible: Rome fell. After eight centuries without a foreign conquest, the “Eternal City” was breached by the Gothic king Alaric and his army. But was this really the violent apocalypse later generations imagined? This episode follows the collapse of diplomacy after the execution of Stilicho, the sieges that...