"Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!"

Published on 7 February 2023 at 06:01

Hey there, Mike here.

 

Admittedly, I have not been great at keeping up the blog. So here is an update.

 

Much has happened since the last blog entry. We have released a few new episodes, we are seeing healthy growth in subscribers (thank you!), and Sam and I have planned out episodes all the way through forty. There is a lot of excitement in that. We have some really great episodes planned for you all and cannot wait to share them with you.

 

But for now, Episode 25: The Battle of Teutoburg Forest. This was scheduled to release tomorrow, February 8th. However, we are pushing it to the right and releasing it a week later on the 15th. As much as we like to stick to weekly episode releases, some episodes just take a bit more time and we wanted to make sure we got this one right. This particular battle is actually one of the first ancient battles I researched during my studies early on and I was immediately intrigued with it. Teutoburg has many elements to it, part of the reason for the delayed release, and at times it has been difficult to narrow down what to keep and what to omit. As many of you know, Roman history as it pertains to Germanic peoples can become quickly convoluted. In the case of Teutoburg there is the battle to cover, logistics, terrain, some history related to the conquest of Germania Superior and Inferior, and the child hostage system that existed (with plenty more not mentioned!). What Sam and I found in preparing the episode was that we needed more time to ensure clarity, but also to make the episode as exciting as possible.

 

Sources have been rather enjoyable but have also added to the workload! There are two particular ancient sources that have been of great benefit, the first being Cassius Dio and the second Lucius Annaeus Florus. For those that have studied Ancient Rome, you are well aware that Roman historians were not exactly unbiased, and their writings and claims were often inflated or minimized in Rome's favor. Navigating those waters can be tricky so we have to ensure we differentiate between concrete fact and biased opinion. For some history on Gaul and Rome's dealings with Germania, we have been using the works of Herwig Wolfram.

 

Leave us comment about some of your favorite ancient primary sources and what makes them stand out. Is bias a blatant issue with any of them?

 

Alright, loyal listeners, until next time stay safe, stay tuned, and do something nice for yourself today.

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