{"podcast":{"title":"Autocrat- A Roman History Podcast","slug":"autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332","podcast_index_feed_id":6816332,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e838e3a0/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.autocratpodcast.wordpress.com","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/38860424/38860424-1726953607732-5f477ff75c235.jpg","author":"Vince and Cassie","episode_count":142,"summary":"A relaxed journey through Roman history and mythology, hopefully with plenty of tangents, sidebars and interesting distractions along the way. Our goal- even if it ends up being unrealised- is to journey from the Theogony all the way to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and beyond. This show is just for fun, and we hope you have fun with it too!","last_synced_at":"2026-08-02T10:20:56.628272+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332"},"episode":{"title":"110- Thunderbolts and Lighting Part II: House Fire or Murder?","slug":"110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder","published_at":"2026-07-19T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/autocrat/episodes/110--Thunderbolts-and-Lighting-Part-II-House-Fire-or-Murder-e3m0a5b","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e838e3a0/podcast/play/122742379/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-12%2F34afa641-0931-a539-7de2-ff60980ec8fe.mp3","summary":"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…","meta_description":"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 hou…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1136,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/episodes/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/autocrat-a-roman-history-podcast-6816332/110-thunderbolts-and-lighting-part-ii-house-fire-or-murder.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}