The Renaissance Times

• Ambrose had Theodosius so whipped that he was able to publicly declare that the emperor had recognised the moral supremacy of the church over the actions of an emperor. • It’s from this point onwards that the church decides it has the power to make and break emperors. • It was soon after the incident in 390 that Ambrose forced Theodosius embark on a massive programme suppressing paganism....

* Theodosius appointed his young children as his co-emperors, but he’s the sole emperor * He died a few months later, leaving the empire in the hands of his two young children. * Before we get on to what happened next, we need to talk about “Cunctos populos” * the so-called “Edict of Thessalonica” * On 27 February 380, together with Gratian and Valentinian II, Theodosius had issues the edict...

Vally went to Theodosius in Thessalonica, agreed to marry off his sister Galla to him to cement their alliance, and together they invaded from the east the following year and defeated Maximus in battle. He surrendered, pleaded for mercy as one good Christian to another… and was executed. His young son was also strangled by Theodosius’s trusted general Arbogast. Because that’s how Jesus would...

At the end of episode 6, the Augustii Valens and Gratian were dead. Valens burned alive in a cottage by the Goths. Gratian assassinated by a rebel general under Magnus Maximus. One story about that. While he was hunting down Gratian, The general, Andragathius, apparently hid himself in a litter carried by mules. He ordered his guards to send out a report that the litter contained the wife of Grati...

So let’s move on to Julian. Julian’s personal religion was both pagan and philosophical; he viewed the traditional myths as allegories, in which the ancient gods were aspects of a philosophical divinity. He was tutored by Eusebius of Nicomedia, the same guy who baptised Constantine on his death bed. He was apparently a vegetarian. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus tells us that he believed...

This is the first episode of the premium series! October 28, 312. The Battle of Milvian Bridge. Conny wins and marches into Rome, with the head of Maxentius carried on a spike. Just like Jesus would have done. Arianism started in Alexandria. It’s named after Arius, a pretty popular and charismatic priest who believed that Jesus was secondary to God, not equal to God.   The post Episode 5 &#82...

This is the first episode of the premium series! October 28, 312. The Battle of Milvian Bridge. Conny wins and marches into Rome, with the head of Maxentius carried on a spike. Just like Jesus would have done. Another thing Conny does to emulate his lord and saviour, is to have Maxentius’ family all killed. Including his wife and youngest son. Praise the lord. One of the first things he does after...

From episode 4 onwards, our episodes are for premium subscribers only. We’ll throw one up in the free feed from time to time, but if you want to hear all of them, you need to register AND make sure you subscribe to the premium feed in your podcast app. If you can’t remember the feed you signed up for, either look for the email we sent you at the time, or have a look at your account pag...

Then On 11 November 308, Gally called a council to put this nonsense to bed. He invited Maximian and Diocletian. Maximian was forced to abdicate again and Constantine was again demoted to Caesar. Licinius, one of Galerius’ old military companions, and a close childhood friend, was appointed Augustus in the western regions. But Conny wasn’t having it. He continued to call himself Augustus. Me...

* They were not only happy to be punished for their beliefs, some of them even welcomed it. * There’s a strong tradition of martyrdom in Christianity, which goes back, of course, to the idea that Jesus was the ultimate human sacrifice, and to follow in his footsteps was the ultimate show of devotion. * The historical sources tend to blame this persecution on Galerius. * He was very anti-Christian...

At its peak, the Library of Alexandria was estimated to contain somewhere in the order of 500,000 books on philosophy, science, medicine, history, tragedy, comedy, rhetoric and politics. Across the Roman empire, private and public libraries contained copies of these books. They were read, studied and appreciated. Of course, literacy was a luxury that not all citizens of the empire received. It was...