Emperor Macrinus: Usurper of Rome
The Ancients17 Nov 2024

Emperor Macrinus: Usurper of Rome


Denzel Washington stars as Emperor Macrinus in the epic new movie Gladiator II, but who exactly was this shadowy ruler of Rome?


Join Tristan Hughes as he sits down with Dr Alex Imrie and Matilda Brown to explore the real story behind this lesser-known usurper of Rome, a North African-born knight who toppled the fratricidal tyrant Caracalla and took the throne for himself. Discover the dramatic and brutal events that shaped Macrinus' reign, including his conflict with the powerful women of the Severan dynasty and the fateful battles that sealed his fate.


Presented by Tristan Hughes. The producer is Joseph Knight, audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.


The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.


You can take part in our listener survey here.


All music courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(599)

Fall of the Sumerians

Fall of the Sumerians

Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of the Sumerians.4,000 years ago, the great cities of Su...

11 Sep 20251h 1min

The Minoan Eruption: Bronze Age Cataclysm

The Minoan Eruption: Bronze Age Cataclysm

More than 3,500 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption devastated Thera - modern day Santorini - engulfing the Bronze Age world in ash and fire. Entire landscapes were buried, ash darkened the skies, ...

7 Sep 202555min

How Greece Shaped Rome with Mary Beard

How Greece Shaped Rome with Mary Beard

Professor Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins join Tristan in this episode all about Greece and Rome - the two greatest civilisations of classical antiquity.How did the Romans borrow, adapt, and sometime...

4 Sep 202553min

The Sumerians

The Sumerians

More than 5,000 years ago, in what is today southern Iraq, one of the world’s first civilisations emerged. A civilisation often credited with the invention of writing, the wheel and cities. The Sumeri...

31 Aug 202550min

The Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples

Tristan Hughes sits down with Professor Eric Cline to explore the enigmatic Sea Peoples, often blamed for the catastrophic Bronze Age collapse over 3,000 years ago.Together they explore surviving sour...

28 Aug 20251h 11min

Origins of Homo Sapiens

Origins of Homo Sapiens

Where do we come from? The origins of modern humans stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, and new discoveries are reshaping how we understand our species’ story. In this episode, recorded on lo...

24 Aug 202541min

Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria

Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria

Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a scholar, ruling the great Assyrian empire at the heigh...

21 Aug 202552min

The White Huns

The White Huns

The Huns weren’t just Attila’s warriors in Europe — in Central Asia, the White Huns built the most powerful Hunnic empire, ruling for a century and dominating the ancient Silk Roads.While the European...

17 Aug 202553min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-katastrofe
henrettelsespodden
historier-som-endret-norge
rss-historiske-romanser
rss-benadet
historier-som-endret-verden
sektledere
med-egne-oyne
aftenposten-historie
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
historiepodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-gamle-greier
vare-historier
undersattene
rss-historiepodden-ww2
rss-alt-var-bedre-for
taakeprat