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POLL: Pick the Next Extra History Series! "Rome: Emperors & Empires"
🕑 Added 2020-04-15 02:31:43 +0000 UTCA classic amongst classics, here are the topics of one of the largest and well-known empires in the world.
Caligula: Mad Emperor or Bad Emperor?
It is written that the first six months of Caligula's reign were stable and promising. Then... well... there was the whole thing with making his horse a consul. Or going around playing dress-up with Alexander the Great's armor and calling himself a god. Or that time he got bored at the games and had a portion of the audience thrown to wild beasts. But did any of that actually happen, is this or a smear job? Was Caligula a sadist born, or one forged through violence when the Emperor Tiberius executed the rest of his family? Whether madman, statesman, or consummate actor, his reputation for erratic behavior lives on into our own world.
Diocletian: Ending the Crisis of the Third Century
For half a century, the Roman Empire had teetered on the brink of collapse. Barbarian raids, peasant revolts, and leadership schisms have torn it in three pieces. Twenty-six different men have been declared emperor. The Emperor Aurelian had managed to patch things back together, but when Diocletian defeated the Emperor Carinus and began wearing the purple, he inherited a crumbling state. But in a series of deft administrative reforms and military campaigns, including a division of imperial power, Diocletian managed to pull the empire back from the brink—though in doing so, he took on more autocratic powers.
Nero: What an Artist Dies in Me
Nero didn't fiddle when Rome burned, but he may have pulled on a stage costume and sung poems as he watched. Other accounts say he wasn't even in Rome, and rushed back to organize a relief effort, even opening the palace as a shelter for the newly homeless. (He did, though, use the newly-cleared land to build his great Domus Aurea, or "Golden House.") Reviled by historians, occasionally labeled as the Antichrist by Christians, and accused of trying to have his mother killed with a booby-trapped yacht, it might have been better if this wannabe poet had just been allowed to act. (Oh, and have you heard about the time he competed in the Olympics? He won. Everything.)
Julius Caesar: Road to the Rubicon
Julius Caesar is one of the most famous people in history, a man whose life marks a turning point between Republic and Empire, and whose death became a subject for theatrical tragedies almost as soon as it occurred. Scion of a powerful family, Caesar grew up amidst conflict—a priest by the age of 16, he was stripped of his rank and inheritance after winding up on the wrong side of a civil war, but spared his life. He took to the military for advancement, distinguishing himself in battle and leading a series of successful campaigns—all with an eye to gaining wealth and political office. Gaining a consulship, he began a series of populist reforms that relied as heavily on street violence as political persuasion, frequently avoiding prosecution by fleeing Rome on new military ventures. Likely these will be Episodes 1-5 of a ten part series, leading either up to the Great Roman Civil War or the crossing of the Rubicon—we'll see how far we get.
What series would you like us to air on Extra History? Cast your vote(s) below and let us know!
Friendly reminder: You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. The poll will end at 11:59 PM PT on Thursday, April 16th.
Current Schedule: Making the Middle East --> The Pascific Islands --> Your vote!
Comments
Joshua Evans-Lowell
Caesar has already been pretty thoroughly covered by Historia Civilis
Hawkeye Pierce
I've learned about Caesar, but not from Extra Credits. They do a different job and often a better one.
Chico Cabalatungan
Damn it! All the choices are so good!
hannah barboza vianna bekierman
i would like to see those other ones, but defnetly fall of rome first
hannah barboza vianna bekierman
i`ve seen other history channels cover ceaser, nero and caligula, but never something on the fall of rome that wasn`t superficial
Lady Bug
Really interested in when Rome was besieged by barbarians in the third century; hoping to learn something new from this period
Manek Rudolph
I have been waiting on ceasar since you teased him in your first few episodes
Martin Verran
Yes but that doesn't make him any less interesting.
Martin Verran
Me too ~ I can't get enough of those Romans!
Cesar E. Lopez El ll
Dang Julius and the 3rd century crisis man close call thanks for the vote as always
Sagitta
I tried to do the same, but my dice box doesn't have a lid.
Ksqared
really tough one this time
Thomas Alfred Weaver
We know about Caesar and the mad emperors. Diocletian is far less known
Bryden Thomson
I know almost nothing about Diocletian but plenty about the others. Hopefully the team can remedy that!
Mateusz Hatys
definitely voted for a IIIc crisis which is barely covered in today's history classes and series
Francis DiStefano
Want to see Caesar because I'm curious to see if you will depict him as the populist hero he was or side with the ruling class
Martin Verran
When Julius eventually gets his well earned series will Asterix and Obelix be dropping in on some episodes in bean form?
The Deaf Mans Lands
Since I couldn't decide, I followed my boy Caesar's advice and cast a die. The die landed on 4. GG, WP Caesar. Plot twist: he had the die weighted.
William Neil Tippins
I remember studying Nero and taking a whole day to look at the extent to which he tried to kill his mother. Gotta give the guy credit where credit is due - he really tried to make it an accident
Sientir
Very agree, they all sound fascinating.
Sümer
Caligula and Caesar are already in a long Netflix series, so i think it should really be Diocletian or Nero, for the sake of overall variety.
Bradley Ogilvie
I know this makes my vote meaningless, but I’m picking all four because they all sound amazing!
BlueFanfictionInc
Great list, but still my pick does not show. Thus my quest to put in Commodus, the man who would bring Rome to its downfall, continues. I really want Caligula to win, just to see how you all talk about the....... close family relationships.
Caner Oleas Pekgönenç
yup! Very hard to decide.
Alexander Wu
Wow I want to see ALL of these
