# 110- Thunderbolts and Lighting Part II: House Fire or Murder?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder.md
Podcast: [Autocrat- A Roman History Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332)
Published: 2026-07-19T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/autocrat/episodes/110--Thunderbolts-and-Lighting-Part-II-House-Fire-or-Murder-e3m0a5b
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e838e3a0/podcast/play/122742379/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-12%2F34afa641-0931-a539-7de2-ff60980ec8fe.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/episodes/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder
Duration seconds: 1136

## Resource

Tullus Hostilius' time is drawing to a close. Today, we see a plague overtake Rome, and Tullus himself die alongside his wife and children in a tragic housefire caused by a lightning strike. But- hang on... what's this? Ancus Marcius, what were you doing with that lighter? And why is your sword dripping? Oh, food colouring, you say? All right, carry on... Time period: 640 BCE Relevant individuals: Tullus Hostilius, 3rd King of Rome; Ancus Marcius, 4th King of Rome Sources for this episode: Appian (1972), Appian's Roman History in Four Volumes (Volume I). London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press. Caseau, B. (2018), Too Young to be Accountable: Is 15 Years Old a Threshold in Byzantium? Chapter in: Ariantzi, D. (ed.), Coming of Age in Byzantium. Berlin: De Gruyter Brill. Cassius Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press. Diodorus of Sicily (1993), The Library of History Books IV.59- VIII. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press. Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Eutropius (1760), Eutropius: Epitome of the Roman History. London: Printed for W. Johnston et al . Harkness, A. G. (1896), Age at Marriage and Death in the Roman Empire. Transactions of the American Philological Assocation 27: 35-72. Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd. Matyszak, P. (2008), Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rom…

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