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Suggestion Survey is Open through 3/22
🕑 Added 2020-03-19 19:01:01 +0000 UTCOur theme for March/April surveys is ROME: EMPERORS & EMPIRES.
For centuries, Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. In this series, we’ll take a closer look at one episode in this history—perhaps the life of Caesar, Spartacus’ rebellion, or that time Caligula tried to murder his mom with a booby-trapped party yacht. From the Colosseum to the Capitaline, we’ll explore the glory (and the gory) that was Rome.
Some notes about your suggestions:
- Only one suggestion per person please! Multiple suggestions from the same person during any given survey period will be manually removed.
- If a suggestion we encounter only has enough research material/production scope for a one-off episode instead of a full series, we file it in a separate list to reference later when we are planning to schedule a one-off episode between series (this is true for every survey we do).
- Anything that happened or started before 1929 is fair game to suggest. We typically don't cover more recent events, unless we're working with sponsors who can provide more documentation about that historical topic.
- We have a ratio of 2 suggestion surveys to every 1 voting poll. So if/when we ever do a theme for the survey, that theme will appear twice in a row. The results of both surveys are collected and added together when we determine patron suggestions to include in the next voting poll.
Comments
The Rogue Chief
The invasion(s) of Attila the Hun. With Rome— the mightiest state on earth— divided between East and West, and with the the latter being chipped away by barbarian client tribes while the former is holed up in their lucrative trade circles, and Britain already lost, Attila leads his horde of Hun horsemen out of the steppes of eastern Europe to descend upon the withering mass that was once the world’s greatest power... now a shadow of its former glory. By some accounts, these Huns will form the modern nation of Hungary. But before that, they will wreak havoc upon the Romans, harassing the western provinces, before terrorizing the East, and then harassing the west once again. They will march on Rome and Constantinople BOTH, being stopped only by Constantinople’s walls and (by some accounts) the daring charisma of a Roman pope who stood whilst the emperor hid. All probably seemed lost, until a savior for the Romans came in a seemingly unlikely form: a Roman general, who had grown up among the Huns, the result of diplomatic bartering between the two states. Now this general— Flavius Aetius— will prove to be the final hope for the decaying Roman Empire, as his intimate knowledge of their foes will prove the undermining of Attila’s own empire-building dreams. Aetius will save Rome, the empire, and his emperor... only to be killed off by same thanks to court intrigues. Within a generation, Rome and the west will fall at last in the cataclysm of 467, finishing off the decline that went into overdrive with the Huns of Attila.
AZbytes
yup yup
Maciamo Hay
If you want some ideas about ancient Rome in general, I'd recommend to have a look at this collection of Interesting facts about the ancient Romans that I wrote (after reading over 30 books about ancient Rome). https://www.eupedia.com/history/roman_trivia.shtml
Vazul
What I suggested was the beginning of Rome, but I can absolutely see that as part of your topic. Or maybe the other way around. The point is to take an unconventional approach to Rome and turn it into an interesting, entertaining video (or short series) in the usual Extra way.
AZbytes
Ancient Rome: The Empire of Trade and Critical infrastructure I want to focus on Rome in general, and rather than single person, I would like to recommend what Rome left the world with after establishing, thanks to its city/road/trade networks, and much of the infrastructure they spread around causing a great rise of humanity as a whole. You know the boring stuff that is generally underrated/forgotten or we should be really grateful for
Maciamo Hay
I think that more people should know about Emperor Julian II, the last pagan emperor (reigned as Caesar 355-360, as co-Augustus 360-361, as sole emperor 361-363 CE). Julian was an intellectual, a Neoplatonist philosopher and was also intensely interested in literature and the visual arts. He was also an accomplished general who earned the admiration and respect of his soldiers and of the population. Julian managed to crush an army of Alamanni three times larger than his own in 357. He also defeated the Franks and allowed them to settle in Germania inferior as foederati (they would later became the Merovingians). Although he was a convinced pagan himself, upon becoming emperor he refrained from persecuting Christians in retaliation and restored the religious tolerance throughout the empire, even attempting to rebuild the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem. He tried to salvage Roman culture and paganism from the persecutions started by his cousin Constantine. His reign as sole emperor only lasted 18 months but was seen as a brief Renaissance in the decline of the Roman Empire. Julian purged the top-heavy and corrupted state bureaucracy, dismissing thousands of eunuchs and superfluous officials. He did not seek to rule as an absolute autocrat like earlier emperors since Diocletian. His own philosophic notions led him to idealise the reigns of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. He described the ideal ruler as being essentially primus inter pares ("first among equals"), operating under the same laws as his subjects, as opposed to the royal court established by Constantine. As such, Julian was frequently active in the Senate, participating in debates and making speeches, placing himself at the level of the other members of the Senate. He also sought to reduce direct imperial involvement in urban affairs. Despite his early death from a wound while fighting the Persians, Julian stands out among Roman emperors through his erudition, tolerance, probity, dedication and idealism. Julian was lauded by Enlightenement philosophers such as Locke, Montesquieu and Voltaire, who saw him as the ideal sovereign and the mascot of the age of reason. Montesquieu wrote of him: "There has not been a prince since his reign more worthy to govern mankind".
