{"podcast":{"title":"The Pax Romana Podcast","slug":"the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386","podcast_index_feed_id":6582386,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e76256a0/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://paxromanapodcast.com","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/38719816/38719816-1729179050701-aec544dacce82.jpg","author":"Professor Colin Elliott","episode_count":115,"summary":"The assassination of Julius Caesar 2,000 years ago unleashed a wild era of Roman emperors, dark conspiracies, intense battles, economic booms and busts and profound religious shifts. Was this truly the Roman Empire's golden age? On the weekly Pax Romana Podcast, Historian Colin Elliott brings gripping stories from Roman history to life. Dive into history starting in episode 1 , or pick your poison from our catalogue: the birth of the empire in the Age of Augustus, Nero's Great Fire, the rise of Christianity, the wisdom and wars of Marcus Aurelius or the military chaos of the third century AD.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386"},"episode":{"title":"Did Smallpox Plague Ancient Rome? - The Pax Romana Podcast 95","slug":"did-smallpox-plague-ancient-rome-the-pax-romana-podcast-95","published_at":"2025-12-24T06:32:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386/did-smallpox-plague-ancient-rome-the-pax-romana-podcast-95","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paxromanapodcast/episodes/Did-Smallpox-Plague-Ancient-Rome----The-Pax-Romana-Podcast-95-e3cod4q","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/e76256a0/podcast/play/113046106/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-23%2F7f7c7797-05da-527a-4ddb-4e690f250455.mp3","summary":"Disease shaped population levels, military strength and the stability of imperial institutions in the Roman Empire. Smallpox, a highly lethal viral disease known from the early modern period and eradicated only in the twentieth century, has long been assumed to have been part of that ancient disease environment. A recent-ish article in the Journal of Roman Studies challenges that assumption, showing that there is no firm evidence that the classical form of smallpox existed in the Roman world. This article helped shape my own thinking in my book, Pox Romana , and I'm thrilled to take the time to explain the article's argument and why it matters for Roman history. Read Newfield et al. (2022), ' Smallpox's Antiquity in Doubt ' Donate: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WZTWCMWCJJYFC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ProfCPE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Buy Professor Elliott's book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .","meta_description":"Disease shaped population levels, military strength and the stability of imperial institutions in the Roman Empire. Smallpox, a highly lethal viral diseas…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1264,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386/episodes/did-smallpox-plague-ancient-rome-the-pax-romana-podcast-95/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-pax-romana-podcast-6582386/did-smallpox-plague-ancient-rome-the-pax-romana-podcast-95.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}