0:12 oh, hey there hey, there how's it going? Good that's good. I'm kate and I'm bradley, and this is history buffoons, huzzah. I don't think we say that every time, so I wanted to make sure that we said we are history buffoons I was gonna also suggest that because I think we forgot maybe a couple times a couple times, but hey, here we are yeah again yeah, this is history, buffoons, it is. I'm just preparing for the next time. We, we don't remember true, we are history buffins three times now what are you drinking? uh well, nothing yet. Uh, let's see, I got the potosi hazy bluff hazy ipa.

0:54 Paradise in the driftless sounds, dark and ominous it really does it's from potosi, wisconsin where's that? Wisconsin Cool, I always forget. I think it's up north a bit, I believe, I'm not sure. Does it tell me where it probably wouldn't say we are northwest Wisconsin? Yeah, it just says brewed and canned by Potosi Brewing Company, potosi, wisconsin. So I apologize. I don't know where they are off the top of my head. I just knew they were in Wisconsin. Yeah, I've got a Brewsicle peach, mango wheat ale.

1:36 Yeah, it's a wheat ale made with peach juice Yum Yum, mango juice, yum Yum. And natural flavors, yum who doesn't like some natural flavors? Mine is a 5.0 percent do you want to say who it's from, or do you want me to? yeah, it's from lake front brewery, from milwaukee yeah, I've been there many a time have you I've sold a lot of their beer in my life. Their ipa is delicious, especially on tap their can has a little saying. It's kind of cute okay, let's hear it says please recycle me, I want to come back. That's super cute that's funny.

2:17 Yeah, they're. They're a good brewery. I like them a lot. I've, like I said, over the last't know 20 some years I sold a lot of that beer. Have you ever had this one? Yes, I have, it's really good. I want to have one now. I had it on. Oh all right, hold on. That was weak. There, it is Okay, I'm going to sit first. Okay, I had it on oh shit. Pretty good, right right it's really weird, it's different, but once you get past the, it's a mango beer. Yeah, well, mango peach mango, peach beer, that's weird no, it's a mango peach natural flavor, beer natural flavors. Don't forget the natural flavors.

2:58 Uh, I had it on draft. A while ago. The wife, kids and I went strawberry picking I believe I told you that once and we went to late lunch, early dinner afterwards and the place that we went to had that. So I had, I had it on draft. It wasn't as fresh as it should have been, but it's probably not super popular, it's really it's unique, yeah, unique. It's unique, yeah, which is fine, but all right, I'm going to try mine. Okay, what was it the Hazy? Hazy Bluff, bluff. That's pretty good. Not overly citrusy for a hazy, but I like it. Oh is hazy, typically citrusy.

3:39 I mean yeah, for the most part. Oh. It all depends. Yeah, well, I I had a question for you because I actually had one of these for breakfast this morning. Oh dear, how would you define a sandwich? uh, bread on either side, meat and some other things in the middle what other things? Well, it depends because, like I don't like lettuce, but people put lettuce on there or tomatoes, stuff like that I want to know what you would put on it oh dear, like my ideal sandwich oh yeah, let's go there all right. So it wouldn't be just bread, it would be actually like a roll. I'd prefer a roll oh okay, um, with uh turkey hard salami, some type of cheese, cheddar, pepper jack.

4:21 I like cheese, I'm from wisconsin and uh honey mustard oh that's usually what I make for a sandwich yeah but I like also like uh not shredded uh, lunch, meat, chicken, ham, lots of meats. Yeah, put some pepperonis on there, whatever it's delicious mini pepperonis yeah, mini hot dogs yeah like I put in my chili yeah, mini hot dogs. I had a sandwich for breakfast this morning. What'd? You have I had a turkey cheese and mayo with lime, a sandwich mayo with lime yeah, there's like a lime flavoring.

5:03 It's mild um in this mayo and it's so good. I think it's from the brand mccormick's. It's so good I am not what you would call a fan of mayo, so you're not a fan of anything white. You don't like. What about alfredo? Do you like alfredo? you're pretty cool hey, I I love alfredo. Okay, alfredo is delicious. You don't like um sour cream. I love Alfredo. Alfredo is delicious, you don't like sour cream. No Cottage cheese ranch Cottage cheese. No, you eat that with a spoon, I just want to throw up. I do, just give me the container. The tub that it's in. That sounds terrible.

5:44 You like whipped cream? I do like whipped cream, I will also just eat the tub. Well, that's it's like yeah, it's so good. It's like candy in like fluff form. Basically, I know it's delicious, I know like I think I've told you that before, though that's how my parents used to get us to, uh oh yeah take our medication when we're younger, like if we had to take even just take a Tylenol or something. Just, kids are terrible at swallowing pills, so do that, yeah, and it worked really well. Yeah. Yeah, I got a burp so I apologize. Try not to do it into the microphone. Let me distract the listeners hey.

6:25 Al the microphone, let me um distract the view, the the listeners. Um yeah, so we are gonna talk about nero, the roman emperor. Nice, do you know anything about nero? not. I mean, I know of him, but I don't. I wouldn't say I know anything. Yeah, I actually probably knew nothing about him when I started researching him. Emperor nero, yeah, so I was researching something completely different in this same time frame and nero kept popping up and I was like, all right, let's read up on this guy before I continue on much farther with this other topic. And I was like, okay, I like this. Sure, all right, and I actually tie in nero to this original topic at the very end, there you go. Yeah, that works yeah, so um, mr Nero was Mr Nero yeah, he was born December 15th in 37 AD oh wow, yeah, a couple years ago you remember the time?

7:19 I was there he was born in Antiem Italy so I so I used to, I don't not used to. I always joke about my mom being old, and she knows that I do, so I ask her sometimes, like what was it like walking with Jesus? Anyways, that's fantastic, yeah, sorry, continue so, nero's father died when he was three. I'm sorry, where was he born, Antiem? Italy. Okay, sorry, continue. So Nero's father died when he was three. I'm sorry. Where was he born? Antium, italy. Okay, sorry, I know we kind of cut you off there no that's okay. Um so um, his mother remarried emperor Claudius. Okay, okay. So Claudius had two sons, one of which died um fairly early on in life, and the other one was Britannicus, britannicus yeah, sounds like an encyclopedia.

8:09 Oh wait, that was Britannica. That's real close Britannica, britannicus. So Claudius adopted Nero, so he's officially then his stepson Gotcha, but he became the heir. Wouldn't he be a stepson anyways? But not I mean. Well, because he got adopted yeah. He became the heir of Rome. Yeah, correct, all right, his wife, nope, just kidding His mother. Her name is Agrippina, agrippina, mm-hmm.

8:49 And she was very ambitious, oh yes. Go get her. She plowed the way for her son, Nero, by replacing Britannicus' tutors and confidants and guards with her own loyal supporters. Okay, how did she get so many loyal supporters? What's like? You know, I'm going to follow this chick. I think she had a big voice already. Sure, and being the wife of an emperor, she just had. I'm sure that didn't hurt. No, obviously no, but you know she just had. I'm sure that didn't hurt? No, obviously, but you know.

9:30 So at 16 narrow married his dun dun dun stepsister oh well, I mean, it's not blood, so that's something um. So his stepsister, now wife, is claudia octavia. Okay, okay, claudius dies in ad 54 that was the stepdad yep, he died in 54 and many historians claim that he was probably poisoned by agrippina oh, so she was really going out of her way to be. Yeah, nero. That is speculation. Well sure, Historians differ, but yeah, so that's the kind of woman she was.

10:10 Oh, murder, they're like huh, yeah, we're just going to blame it on her. She seems like the type. That seems like something she would do. So Nero became emperor. Then, on October 13th, 54 AD, at just 16 years old. That's pretty early to be an emperor. Yeah, and Agrippina, the mother controlled him. Imagine that. Yeah, she actually murdered. Well, she commanded other people to murder political rivals. Mm-hmm. And even though her relationship with Nero deteriorated, eventually she was basically his puppeteer for quite a while.

10:53 Okay. So as he became a little bit more independent, agrippina was eventually exiled after threatening to support her son, britannicus. So she was trying to throw him under the bus. Then yeah Said nah, you're not listening to me, I want to do this kid now. Now I'm just going to go for Britannicus. What the hell. Yeah, and Britannicus was poisoned. By I think Nero. That would make sense, because she all of a sudden wanted to overthrow him and put this other kid in there. I mean, he was the biological son, he was a political threat to Nero.

11:33 Well, wasn't he her biological son though? No, this was Claudius' biological son, not hers. Right Britannicus was yes. But Nero was her biological son. What I, what? I was saying yes, so you have to be a real, yeah, yeah, see you next tuesday. Yeah, I was just gonna say that to uh. Want to kill your own kid yeah, so britannicus was poisoned at a dinner party in 55 ad and so only a year after he took the throne at 16. Yes, wow, yes, that escalated quickly it really did, at least back in those days so the circumstances of the poisoning are debated, and it is generally accepted that nero did it well mean all signs kind of point to that yeah.

12:25 With what the mom was trying to kind of accomplish, I guess. So Nero's early reign was characterized by well-intentioned and ineffective policies. Okay, so his advisors, which used to be Britannica Britannica, you told me, britannica, and now that's all I can think of Britannicus. Britannicus, so his advisors used to be Britannica, and now that's all I can think of Britannicus. Britannicus, so his advisors used to be Britannicus's. Just call them encyclopedia. Okay, so his advisors Burrus and Seneca are credited with all the administrative processes that Nero did. There's a football player quarterback named Seneca.

13:05 Yeah, it's a cool name. Seneca Wallace. Super cool name. I think I got that right. So Nero struggled to make decisions independently, especially during crises. Oh, that's the worst time not to panic, I guess. And despite his early reign he was still widely praised. Oh, that's good, at least. And it was later described as the Golden Age. Oh well. Well, it's because he's not acting on his own. Hey, you're doing a great job. Because you're not doing anything. It's the people behind you. It's the puppeteers. Nero implemented fiscal reforms and provided slaves with a means to complain about their treatment. Oh, that's nice. Here's a form. Fill it out.

13:45 That's what I was just going to say. Write it for the suggestion box, but I don't know how to write, sir. Figure it out Wow. Nero would also hold Senate meetings at the palace so that his mother could listen in on the proceedings. While she was exiled, or just well, this was before she was exiled. This was before she was exiled. Okay, I mean that makes sense. Obviously she was given the title of priestess oh Lord, and was seen on imperial coinage both by herself and with her son, with Nero. Yeah, okay. So, despite publicly praising his adopted father, claudius, in a senate speech, he took steps to distance himself from from claudius's policies.

14:33 So some of the things that he did was um public officials no longer had to pay for public games that are their own pockets oh, so they're just like you get to go for free yeah, and then they also um prohibited lawyers from collecting defendant fees that couldn't have made them happy agrippina didn't like it much. Well, apparently she didn't like much because she wanted to kill her own kid yeah so who is? I don't? Did you mention who his dad was like, like his actual dad was. No, it didn't really say. I'm sure it did, I just didn't write it down. Well, I guess it's not pertinent because you know you're going past that point, but I was just curious if you knew.

15:14 Because, yeah, where's daddy in all this? Yeah. Probably dead. Honestly, Agrippina probably killed him. So in 55 AD Agrippina's face was taken off the coinage and Seneca, the tutor, so did they have to collect them all up and scrape them off. I'm sure it went back to the mint. Well, I'm sure they just melted it down and reformed a new coin or whatever. Yeah. So his tutor, seneca, encouraged Nero's autonomy from his mother. So this is when Agrippina started promoting her stepson. Botanicus he is the true heir, so wait.

15:56 Botanicus was her stepson and he was Claudius's stepson, so no, it was. Claudius's son is Botanicannicus but not with agrippina correct oh, that I did. Okay, I mixed that up from before. I thought they had britannicus. No, she had okay no so they each were okay, I got you yeah, so in 55 ad, nero began having an affair with a former slave called Claudia Actae. Okay. And he threatened to divorce Octavia the stepsister.

16:38 Though it never came to fruition, claudia, actae and Nero lived openly together, okay, despite not being divorced. Gotcha. Then Britannicus died. Poor guy. Yeah, so Agrippina losing her grasp on what power she did, have she claimed an ally in Nero's sister, stepsister, slash wife, sister wife, I don't know I mean, mean kind of in a way and she. She also um claimed allies in other influential individuals I'm sure she tried to and roman guards which I mean they do a lot back then, I'm sure yeah, so nero caught on and went after the same guards with a bribe of free grain.

17:26 Oh, who doesn't want free grain? Yeah, so Nero banished his mother from the palace and also removed her guards, but sneakily. Oh no. As it looked like they were actually being called on for military purposes. They're like I'm not actually stripping it from you, but it looks like I'm stripping them from you. So it's kind of like have you ever seen the movie man in the Iron Mask? Once upon a time. With Leo DiCaprio. Yeah, probably when it first came out. I think it came out in like 97, if I'm guessing, I was probably there in 97, to be honest, In England or France or whatever. No, France At the time of the viewing. I know that's what basically Leo's character, what King Louis sent drawing a blank on her name, but it was John Malkovich's kid and his girlfriend or whatever he was going to propose.

18:22 But he liked her. He didn't really want to be with her, he just wanted to bang her, basically, basically. So he sent him to the front lines and that's where he died. Yeah, yeah, weird, so it's like that. Anyway, sorry, that was really got derailed quickly we should watch that, you know for historical purposes. It's a historical document right. So in her weekend state, agrippina, or the rivals of Agrippina, teamed up against her and went to Nero accusing his mother of crimes against the emperor. Well, I mean, they're not wrong. They're not wrong because she wanted to kill him basically because you're not being my puppet, no more. It's kind of like he was like Pinocchio he cut the strings.

19:02 I'm a real boy. So Nero panicked and ordered her to be exiled. Okay. His once advisor Burrus. Burrus. Asked for proof before exiling her. I mean, that's something you should honestly do. Yeah, so Nero agreed Right and they held a trial for her. Okay do yeah. So nero agreed right and they had held a trial for her. Okay, nero ended up dismissing the charges against her and ordered her conspirators to be exiled and some to be killed oh geez yeah sucks for them. Yeah, even though they were probably right so conflicts surrounding nero and his mother worsened in 58 AD, when Nero had an affair with Papea Sabine.

19:45 Papea, papea Sabina, my bad. Sabina oh, how could you fuck that? up Papea Sabina. Everyone knows Papea Sabina. Well, Papea's marital status at the beginning of the affair is disputed. Some claim that she was married to Roman aristocracy. Okay so. It's clear that Agrippina opposed the relationship due to her affection of Nero's wife Octavia. Well, yeah, because she had her in her pocket right, yeah, it's all about who your ally is Well, of course, that's why she was pissed about it. Yeah, she honestly probably didn't give a shit. So even though we probably know and understand what's happening here next, the exact reasons for Nero's next decision in 59 AD seems to be unclear for some.

20:33 Oh okay. So, fearing that his mother, agrippina, was trying to plot a murder to murder Nero, he instead ordered his mother to be killed. Oh well, that's brilliant. Nero ended up staging a shipwreck. What? Yeah, so she was exiled, right? Did they say where she was exiled? somewhere overseas. Well, I mean, that's pretty vague um, yeah, but I I didn't write it down, but it's. It's somewhere like close by, but you had to go there by ship like sicily, I mean ish yeah, yeah, probably some kind of island.

21:13 Okay, feel free to correct me. I mean, we are professional, not professionals. I say not, I like how you start to say we are, no, we're not this is a thing again. Let's reiterate real quick before you continue we to say we are, no, we're not. This is a thing. Again, let's reiterate real quick before you continue. We are not. We are buffoons. Yeah, we are. We're trying to learn stuff. We're going off of the information we find. Again, feel free to text us, email us. If you ever hear anything. They're like well, that's not right. Right Because we'd like to know the real thing for sure. If we're wrong, yeah, but again we go off the research that we, that you do, and uh go from there but anyways, and so continue.

21:56 Nero invited his mother to a resort. They had resorts back then, like a sandals, or was it all inclusive? They're probably wearing sandals, well, hey-o, so he was. I see what you did there. He invited his mother, pretending to want to reconcile, and she agreed, and she came by ship. They made nice and quote unquote reconnected. How cute is that. Nero walked her down to the shore to see her sail off, but then the boat capsized and Agrippina survived. Weird. I mean, I kind of knew that was going to happen, because I feel like that would be a really short episode otherwise here. Well, it's not about Agrippina, it's about Nero.

22:36 I get that. But she made it back home and immediately wrote a letter to nero explaining the accident. My dear reconnected son I almost died. Horrified that she survived, nero dispatched three men to kill her oh, good lord before she died, she bared her stomach and told the killers to stab her in the womb that carried nero. Wow, boom. Such a mic drop um, I don't understand why he had to like conspire. He's the fucking emperor of rome to say go kill this lady.

23:19 Yeah, she was my mom, but Well, he ended up having to do that. He was trying to save face. I mean I guess, but I'm sure a lot more debaucherous shit went on during the Roman times than killing a mother or family member. Well, she received no state funeral and was quickly cremated and buried in an unmarked grave oh, I can't even go visit it. No, was it buried in the island she was exiled on? No or grave, I guess the questions you ask. I'm like I don't know, I didn't read that should I not be asking these questions? You're fine so before agrippina's death, nero's reign was marked by successes such as um exploration of the nile river.

24:06 Oh yeah, um. However, he his conduct deteriorated significantly after her murder do you? is that like a direct correlation with it? be like they think it is yeah like kind of lost his mind by hey, I just killed my fucking mother I don't think it was so much he lost his mind, but the the population was more like wait a minute, he just killed his mother, like what the fuck well, didn't, but he had it ordered. Which is I mean, if I conspire to kill someone, I'm still being put up for trial, even though I didn't do the deed. No, I get that yeah.

24:46 I'm aware how that works, but Good. I've watched a lot of true crime. He does not. I don't. What is true crime? It's crime. That is true. Is there a false crime category? Yeah, it's called fiction. Oh shit, yeah. Okay, all right. So some historians argue that Nero's decline began as early as 55 AD with the killing of his stepbrother. Britannicus, oh yeah, Britannicus. But his mother's death marked a turning point leading to a complete disregard for morality and a susceptible susceptibility can you try that? susceptibility there it is to flattery.

25:27 I need to learn to not write long words or tough words, a the at You're good, okay, I got that one right. Did you though? Yes. All right. After Agrippina's death, nero embarked on ambitious projects such as building the Domus Transitoria, a vast palace connecting various imperial estates. Well, fancy that. He would conduct extravagant parties and games inviting only his supporters. Fancy that he would conduct extravagant parties and games inviting only his supporters so that he would ensure a positive reception well, I mean, it's not like. That's like hey, I'm gonna throw a party.

26:08 Let's invite all the people that hate me yeah, why would you do that? no, that doesn't make any sense but nero was what you would call an artist. Oh he painted. No, oh, he liked plays. He liked acting in plays, he liked playing the, the lyre okay um is that? was that a common role? yeah, it was a common instrument, the ly lyre. The lyre. Is it lyre, l-y-r-e? I thought it was lyre. It's lyre, I think. I don't know. And then they would also play Greek games. But they're Roman.

26:51 Which is why I said Greek games, Following the death of his advisor Burrus what his advisor there it is what I say advisor a the anyways so following burris's death in 62 ad, who was against nero divorcing Claudia Actavia? he was free to do just that so he ended up getting divorced finally he ended up getting a divorce oh so no, she's just a step sister again yeah, so it was because she she failed to provide him an heir like that. That was his excuse.

27:31 I love how that's a common theme throughout history, especially obviously way back then, right. Because you didn't give me a son. You suck. And then he exiled her because why not? I mean, I don't need to see your face anymore. It's a common practice. Right, I don't want to do that anymore. So Nero ended up marrying Papina, oh, and she got pregnant. She delivered a baby girl, but only months later she died the baby girl did yeah, okay, and he never had another child, oh man, yeah. So nero's reign became increasingly tyrannical oh dear, what did he do. He exiled even more potential rivals he liked to exile people he really did.

28:15 He's like be gone with you. How's that go? Be gone with you. You, sir, can fuck right off, Fuck off. That's funny. He conquered Armenia. He defeated a Britain rebellion. Oh snap. He initiated treason trials against political opponents and abandoned his previous support for the Roman Senate. His relationship with the Senate deteriorated as he pursued a more autocratic path. Autocratic. Autocratic. Wow, the way you said that I thought you were having a stroke. It's because I was trying not to in the middle of it. Yeah, hold on, I've got to wet my whistle.

28:55 I thought you were having a stroke. It's because I was trying not to in the middle of it. Yeah, yeah, hold on, I got to wet my whistle. I should have brought another beer that first one was pretty good, though we can pause for a moment and pause and we're back. Guess who's back. Shady's back. Back again. You screwed it up again. What did I do, al? send us an email at the right lyric. She doesn't get it, guess he's back back again. There it is shady's back. Tell a friend now you're getting it, did I? yeah, oh pat on the back. Okay, what do you got this time? I got a liney summer. Shandy, that's your favorite, that's my summer favorite yeah, okay but apparently it's available your own.

29:40 No, I was told I hope that's true for you. Well, I mean I hope it's not wrong okay, so so, as I said, his the senate deteriorated yeah, well, I mean when he's trying to fuck it all up. I don't't doubt that. And then he had ordered Claudia Octavia's death, like he exiles her, is that not? enough. Why did he want to kill her all of a sudden? And this is kind of a content trigger warning, I guess, of suicide, which I guess is a common theme in this story. So my apologies. Well, I mean it's history. It's not our fault. Yeah, so he ordered her death by slitting her wrist to make it appear as if it was a suicide oh dear yeah that's pretty uh gruesome intense.

30:25 Yeah, so in 64 ad a fire started at the campus meritus. Meritus. What is that? It is a large open field that was used for military exercises, parades and public events. Fair enough, that makes sense. Yeah, so the fire spread quickly with the wind's help. Sure it engulfed everything in its path, including Nero's palace. Oh dear, like his whole entire palace, yeah but he wasn't there. Well, was he exiled? he was staying in antiem where he was born. Oh fancy that when he heard the news he went to rome immediately and with the fire brigade it took them six days, oh dear, to get the fire under control.

31:12 That's, that's a long fire. Obviously the men needed rest and to refuel and during this downtime the fire searched again for another three days. Damn, 75 of the city was destroyed really holy shit. Isn't that a lot? I mean, that's, yeah, that's three quarters of the city, so that and that's they're saying is rome burned. Yeah, I, I did not know that ever happened, to be honest and there was a rumor that nero played the fiddle during the burning or the leer well, they mentioned fiddle, but then the documentary that I was watching, they're like if it did happen it would have been a liar. But he in fact did weep openly and also cited poetry at the same time.

32:00 Like I said, he's an oddus. He's got to have his stage. Yeah, I mean, did he put makeup on? And oh, woe is me. I don't think Shakespeare was alive yet. I wasn't okay. I'm pretty sure he wasn't alive yet. So he was being accused of starting the fire. He wasn't there. So, to save face, nero brought in extra grain and slashed food prices to help the community recover. He's running a sale at the local supermarket. Yeah. Check out these prices, folks. You probably haven't seen these in years. I mean, what the fuck? 50% off Get your grain here, alright. Check out these prices, folks. You haven't seen these in years. I mean, what the fuck? 30% off Get your green here, all right. He also reformed some regulations in an attempt to make the city safer, but then he took it upon himself to claim a huge piece of land, so convenient now that it's available.

32:54 Yeah, that's a little suspect. I mean, you're not going to really win any favors like that. You didn't start this fire that you now have a sudden. Well, hey, this burned down. I'm going to take this Mm-hmm. He built a 100-acre golden house. A golden house. That's what they called it. Yeah so 100-acre like the house was 100 acres Like there were multiple buildings a part of this palace, so the property was 100 acres. Yes, wow, that's crazy, including a giant pool. Well, you got to have some refreshments and like for sure, whatnot for sure, for sure. So, of course, more suspicions of him starting the fire because of this golden house.

33:36 While modern historians generally believe that nero was not responsible for starting the fire, the historical narrative that blames him has persisted for centuries. Well, you know good thing he's dead, because he can't hear that persistence yeah, somehow someone turned the blame to the christians. Oh jesus, how I mean come on so the christians refuse to acknowledge the roman gods? Well, yeah, because they're christ. They believe in one. God, Mm-hmm. So to spite them, they think the Roman gods brought on the fire. So therefore, they're going to blame the Christians. Wow, this started the massive execution of Christians.

34:22 Oh, lovely. They were to wear clothes soaked in tar and burned alive. Oh good Lord. They were torn apart by dogs. Some were crucified. Is that not horrible? That's terrible yeah. There's a senator named Piso. Piso, mm-hmm Like P-I-S-O. Yeah, hey, look at me go. Good job, are you Roman? Apparently. So he was harboring some resentment towards Nero Wow and he ended up forming a conspiracy against him. Oh geez, Was he exiled then. So Seneca, one of the advisors of Nero when he was young was initially asked to join but declined, but not out of loyalty or anything.

35:07 He just like nah, I'm good, I'm gonna sit over here, but then he found out that his nephew joined the cause and seneca was like all right, oh, okay yeah, he's like all right, fine, I'll join the well I guess my family's part of it now yeah okay, fair enough so the conspiracy involved a plan to assassinate nero during a festival, with senator piso stepping up as emperor Wow. Yeah, they're like we'll just put you in his place. That's quite the escalation. Yeah, but he was ultimately betrayed by one of the conspirators. Who was? Piso oh really. Piso was betrayed by one of the conspirators, and the conspirator went to Nero, I'm guessing, because he's like well, I'll get Nero's good graces and let him know what this is and he went to. oh, and the conspirator went to nero, I'm guessing, because he's like well, I'll get nero's good graces and probably let him know what this is and he'll give me fortune and fame and blah, blah, grain and grain and slash food prices.

35:56 Fortune and grain so pisa was ordered to be executed without a trial, but but before he was arrested he committed suicide I say, before he was arrested, he was exiled no, he committed suicide. That's sad, not by your hand no, that's uh. I mean, I guess he was going to be dead. Anyways, it sucks that he had to take his own life, but so, despite nero's initial reluctance, seneca, the other advisor, was eventually ordered to commit suicide. Ordered hey man, you got to kill yourself. How do you do that? So Seneca says this quote Nero murdered his mother and brother, and now he has nothing worse left to do than kill his foster father and mentor that's sad yeah wow but you also joined a conspiracy against yeah, you should.

36:55 You should have just let the nephew do it, man. Yeah, stay out of it. This is why people don't join conspiracies. Yeah, it's terrible but there's actually. It remains a debate among historic historians that he was actually involved in the conspiracy clearly he was to, even if it's a very minute degree yeah because he was forced to do this to himself, right, wow? So many conspirators were executed and narrows paranoia increase, leading to further purges and executions. Well, can you blame him? He's like you can die, and you can die, and you can die. Was he like the Oprah of death back then?

37:36 You've got a car and you've got a car. You can die and you can die. Look under your seat, You're dead. I think that might be the episode title Oprah of death. No, oh my God, that. I think that might be the episode title, oprah of death. No, oh my god, that's pretty great. We're going to hell. Well, no, they did, oh my gosh. Okay. So in 65, ad nero's beloved poppea died. Aw. Supposedly. Oh wait, maybe she didn't. No, oh, there's a rumor that she was kicked to death by Nero while pregnant. Like pregnant a second time.

38:18 So, how okay. Like he was so mad at her for some reason that he kicked her to death. I'm so mad you're dying. No, she wasn't. She wasn't dying, I was joking. He kicked her. Calm down, take a breath. So how can we call her his beloved papaya? Wait, what's her name? Papaya, papaya, papaya. Pepperoni. What Papaya. Papaya? I said papaya, papaya, papaya, pepperoni. What papaya, papaya? I said papaya, my bad, that's a fruit, that's a fruit. Um, but like, how can we call her beloved if he kicked her to death?

39:00 well, like I said, it was a rumor. Well, I'm sorry, but there seems to be a lot of rumors surrounding this character. So and well, she probably died from miscarrying her baby and she probably continued hemorrhaging. That's what historians think happened. Instead of the kicking yeah, one or the other Because, instead of a traditional Roman cremation, nero had her embalmed like an Egyptian royal woman. So he clearly loved her, and he probably did not kick her to death. So how did they get the kicking then? Like, where did that even come, people? he hated Nero they probably came up with all kinds of rumors against him, make him seem worse than he was kind of thing okay, okay yeah.

39:42 I mean, I can see that, but what the hell? yeah, so in 60, 67 ad he went to greece and he met a young slave boy named sporus. Sporus, he's a fun guy that's a knee slapper right there folks, he's a fun guy. Nero was reportedly captivated. Oh, so all of a sudden he's switching teams. Well, no, he actually had him castrated. Oh wow, what a dick, sir, you got it.

40:31 God we got really warm in here, oh wow anyways. So sporus apparently looked like papaya. Well, okay, so he would dress. He would dress sporus up in clothes and wigs and and stuff to resemble papaya here's some coconuts, put those up front, okay. So he he saw his dead wife in a slave boy. In a slave boy like you know what you got too much man of you slice and then nero married sporus. What the fuck and um, they started calling sporus empress and they would shout and the people would shower him with gifts and affection.

41:18 The relationship caused significant scandal. You don't say it was seen as a violation of traditional gender roles well, yeah, because it was. You know. I mean at that point, what is he? Because he got his manhood chopped off. But again, this is a rumor. Uh, the the extent of the actions here are a rumor, because they think it's more of a negative portrayal of nero and because of all the shit that he was dealing with, I think that sure it was just an exaggeration, so to speak. Right, so Nero granted Greece its freedom by releasing them from giving taxes to the empire well, what a gentleman and he began construction of a canal but failed to complete it.

42:06 but his actions in Greece were seen as favoritism and lavish spending Because of spores, no, because of his love for Greece. So a major Jewish revolt broke out in Judea and other parts of the Jewish homeland. A war broke out after the murder of a Syrian governor. Oh dear. So Vespasian, which was like a military guard member, was sent to squash the rebellion. Okay, and he successfully captured Jerusalem. Oh well, so that is now part of the Roman Empire, Congrats, I think. So Nero was persuaded to return to rome due to his growing unrest and opposition because he was still in greece.

42:53 Right now, there happens to be a rebellion in rome oh dear yeah, so governor gaius julius vindex oh, you got Gaius and Julius in that name. He rebelled against Nero and he raised an army of like-minded individuals. Fair enough. Nero took no interest. He just didn't care. Nope, and he continued to build his palace. Oh, with his spore. Mm-hmm spores. I know, I know it was spores spore sporous? I know, I know it was spores. When nero's rule became increasingly unpopular, galba, a senator, declared himself emperor and gained support from other roman provinces.

43:38 So he just said I'm the emperor now he's. He's in the situation where we're going to overthrow the current emperor and make me one oh wow, I mean, okay, did it work well, nero eventually betrayed, uh eventually betrayed and disposed by his own guards, he was declared a public enemy nero was okay and would be faced with the punishment of being paraded through the streets naked and beaten to death. Oh A la Game of Thrones. Cersei, but she wasn't beaten to death. She wasn't beaten, no, so I wrote down. Galba casually took the Emperor's new groove.

44:23 Don't throw off his groove. So Nero actually committed suicide to avoid capture and execution by stabbing himself in the throat. Oh Jesus, His last words supposedly were you too, brutus. Oh wait no. What an artist dies here. Oh, good Lord. He was very popular in the arts. What did Sporus do? I don't know, know he probably grew up that was terrible, that was great I mean three sure on that one so nero nero died on june 9th of 68 ad wow, so he was in power for 68, you said AD 68 is when he died.

45:08 So 14 years. And he was 16 in 54 AD. Wow, so he was only 30. Yeah. So what follows Nero's death is actually a moment in history that people refer to it as they call it the year of the four emperors. Oh. Guess how many emperors they had in one year. In one year I'm gonna go with five. No, damn it so close, wasn't I so it refers to the year starting in june of 68 ad to december of 69 ad. Okay, so during this year four emperors ruled, rome emerged. So nero, yeah, okay so they're still counting him.

45:49 All right, yep and then galba. So he did end up taking um over the emperor position I say, take the throne. But they didn't really have a throne so he started june 9th of 68 okay to january 15th of 69. He was assassinated shortly after oh, oh wow. Why was he assassinated? I don't know. I'm talking about Nero. Fuck that guy. I don't know, he's not. Nero. Then there was Otto. He was a supporter of Gelba and he seized power after Gelba's assassination and he was an emperor from January 15th 69 AD to April 16th 69. AD. He was emperor for three months.

46:31 Mm-hmm, good Lord. And then there was Vitellius. Vitellius. He was a general who defeated Otto in a civil war, oh, and he became emperor, okay, from April 16th, 69 to December 20th 69. I mean, at least he lasted eight months. Yes, and this brings me to the original idea that I had. Oh, that ties in with Nero. Okay, so this was the original idea. So the year of the four emperors was a time of great political instability and turmoil. We've got civil wars, we've got new leaders. I would have never guessed that with four different emperors was a time of great political instability and turmoil. We've got civil wars, we've got new leaders. I would have never guessed that with four different emperors within a year.

47:12 So the rapid succession of emperors and the ensuing civil wars weakened the entire Roman Empire, makes sense, and it paved the way for the Flavian dynasty. Oh, not the Flavian. Yeah, Actually we like the Flavian dynasty. We sure do. It's our best dynasty. So at the end of December of 69, we welcome Vespasian Vespasian. And he ruled until 79 AD. So he ruled for almost 10 years Wow Okay. So guess what he does to Nero's palace. Burns it down. He fills in Nero's giant pool, oh okay. And he built the Flavian Amphitheater, but sadly he died before it was completed, sad Mm-hmm.

47:52 So his son, titus, another Roman emperor from 79 AD to 81 AD, finished the amphitheater. Wait, he was emperor for those two years, or that's when they finished it. That's when he was emperor, okay, and they finished it in 80 oh, gotcha okay yeah, so what do you think the flavian amphitheater was? um, well, probably some place to do plays and stuff it was the coliseum oh, that's what it would have turned out to be. That's pretty it started off with the name flavian amphitheater, but it is in fact the coliseum, what we call today the coliseum okay, I did not know that, so that originally was nero's pool yes that's messed up.

48:36 I had never heard that before fascinating yeah that is because I love the coliseum and obviously yeah I've mentioned before, big fan of gladiator, I mean my dog's named after him. He's not as cool as maximus in the movie, but whatever. Anyways, no, I never knew that's where that originated from. Isn't that cool. Yeah, that's kind of neat. So a lot of my information came from a documentary that I found on YouTube. Okay, it's called Nero the Evil Emperor. Should have been two question marks. Should have been like exclamation point. Yeah, or it should have been Nero.

49:18 What did you say, nero the? I just closed it. Why did you do? that Nero the Evil Emperor or douchebag, or was he? well, he liked to exile people. I think we should and execute well, that too. Eventually he was a big fan of exile early on and then he's like, oh fucking, let's just kill these people yeah good lord. Yeah, he definitely liked. Uh, I don't know off people, family members, whatever. Yeah. Dicks either way, yeah, so yeah, I just I love that. It just kind of like full circle, like oh okay, we're going to build the Coliseum, which is going to last a hell of a lot longer than your memory, and that was Flavian Flavian.

50:04 Amphitheater. Amphitheater? I never knew that isn't that cool that is kind of neat yeah when you went to Italy, did you go to Rome? Yes. Did you see the Colosseum? Yes, how was it beautiful. I'm not surprised so my mom was a chaperone when I went with our music group oh, that's who you went with yeah, it was a choir groupone when. I went with our music group. Oh, that's who you went with. Yeah, it was a choir group, okay. And Really you were in choir with how you sing. Holy shit, Wait what? This is news to me, folks. Holy crap, yeah, they put me in the back.

50:47 I carried the equipment Wow. But yeah, so we went. It was, I think it was May of 2002. I say 2011. And we weren't sure that we were going to be able to go because 9-11 had just happened, Sure yeah. And so we ended up going. We got to sing in St Peter's Basilica, which was amazing, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, so we took lots of pictures Coliseum, the Duomo in Florence, et cetera. Our photos did not come out. Oh really, yeah, my mom thinks that it was probably from the scanners at the airport.

51:28 Yeah, I wouldn't doubt. I mean because obviously it wasn't digital back then it was actual film. It was yeah, that's too bad. And she just recently went to did like a European cruise with my dad and I told her please replace our pictures of the Coliseum. I don't know if she was able to do that or not, but um, yeah, that kind of sucked, but that's too bad I do recall being there that's a feat in itself. That's one thing I've I hope to see before I die is I want to. I would love to see the coliseum yeah, they're actually um restoring it right now yeah, I heard that yeah they're cleaning it up yeah, um, and I'm sure doing some updates to help yeah, stabilize it yeah yeah, because I mean it's only well two thousand years old yeah, yeah, almost two thousand years old.

52:18 So, yeah, that's, that's wild. Yeah, it's too bad those pictures didn't turn out, yeah but that's the Emperor Nero. Well, he was kind of a D-bag. Yeah. I mean let's exile and kill people, yeah, towards the end, especially. And I don't know. I mean I knew of Nero, I didn't know any of that. Yeah. I like how it basically stemmed the production of the Coliseum though. Yeah, but basically stemmed the production of the Coliseum though. Yeah. Because again, obviously gladiators all that. And that's where I started my research was the Coliseum. Was it, yeah, and I was actually going to research gladiators in a specific fight, but there was nothing on this fight, and so then I started working backwards.

53:03 And I was like built on Nero. Who what? Wait, wait, what now? Yeah did I ever tell you um? I remember I was at my, where my parents live now um. One blockbuster was still a thing oh yeah people. That's where you used to rent videos anyways movies, aka movies movies on the vhs yeah, I bought some vhs's from there, but, um, so gladiator came out in 2000. Oh gosh, one best picture in one, um, when it was on video. Obviously it's a big thing. They had posters, so the blockbuster that was not too like a town or so over had, you know, like their windows, but it had, like the big bars in between.

53:49 So it was, like you know, four different windows and they had it all cut up but it was in the windows. Oh, that's cool. The big ass poster of Maximus fighting the. What is his name? Tigress of the Gaul or whatever. I'm probably saying it wrong, but he was the one with the tigers in the fight, basically, uh, where joaquin phoenix was trying to get him killed. But um, it's a really cool poster and so I went and asked him like, hey, when you're done with this, can I have that? And I was at my parents one day and all of a sudden I get a call from blockbuster. It's like that's crazy. Hey, would you like? I mean, yeah, I'll be right over. So I went, drove over and so I have this giant four section poster.

54:30 I have no idea where I'm ever gonna put it but. I think it's actually in my parents basement, but uh that's amazing that they like thought of you and they they actually kept like my note like, hey, this guy, yeah, wants this. Uh, let's give him a call. I'm like holy shit they. Yeah, the follow-through was pretty great. Well, it's great too, because it's actually like almost kind of like laminated yeah, so it's not really some of the corners got torn when they took it down, or whatever right, probably taped up or something, yeah and then they had like these big strips on the back that I just like put paper over to cover up the sticky parts and whatnot. But someday I'll find it. But I love that because of the coliseum, it's in the background and such and whatever, but and all the different things they used to do in the coliseum, like flood it for naval battles and shit.

55:15 I think that's a rumor. I don't think it is stay tuned for a future episode and and Coliseum, part 2. It could be a rumor. I mean, lots of things are rumors. Yeah, clearly, we just had a story full of them. Yeah, I know, exile Whatever, Ta-da Well no. I never knew it was called the Flavian Whatchamacallit Amphitheater. Amphitheater, yeah. That's cool, yeah, that's cool and I did not know that, yeah, well, there I learned something cool about something I like I know, but uh, well, you finished your beer. I did and you did get a second one. I did, and I finished that one, so oh, I am behind well, you again.

55:57 You do the most of the talking for the story, part of it, and I just interject, so you're very welcome thank you very much um potosi hazy bluff hazy ipa. I'll give it a thumbs up yeah, and I I enjoyed the lake front brewery from oh, it's the brew sickle peach mango wheat ale I did like it. I wouldn't have this a ton I don't think it's something you could like. Like me and summer shandy, I could sit down and probably have a 12 pack, right? I could not do that with that. Yeah Right, but it's really good. One or two would be good. Yeah. As it's like a kind of a different you know obviously flavor, but I enjoy it, I like it. Yeah, it's good.

56:38 So Thumbs up, but well, all right, cool. Thank you for teaching me about Nero. Hopefully some other people learn some stuff and whatnot. And thank you for listening. And I think so. I want to watch Gladiator now, but it's overplayed in my house Because it's good, it's just good. The problem is you put it on when you go to bed. You actually have like watch it I know, but I don't want to fall asleep I don't think you will well, we've got a brewers game pending and we've got a packers game pending.

57:18 And what? do you mean pending they're happening? well, I know, but like I don't think there's time for a movie because I have to like kill you with my dinner. Well, I suppose All right, see ya All right, buffoons. That's it for today's episode. Buckle up, because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you. Next time Feeling hungry for more buffoonery, or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore. Hit us up on social media. We're History Buffoons Podcast on Reddit, x, instagram and Facebook. You can also email us at historybuffoonspodcast at gmailcom. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn those notifications on to stay in the loop.

58:02 Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to rate and review us. Remember, the buffoonery never stops.