The new Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator II features two of Rome's most villainous emperors - the brothers Caracalla and Geta.And in today's episode of The Ancients were delving into the real history of these scheming siblings. Their story is a blood-stained and chilling one. It stretches from their opulent upbringing to their tumultuous rivalry and culminates with a brutal murder in front of their very own mother in 211 AD. Joined by Alex Imrie, Tristan explores how much we really know about Caracalla and Geta, their rise to power and their relationship - or perhaps lack of one.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.
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It's early 211 AD. The Roman emperor Septimius Severus lies on his deathbed in York. His two sons, already proclaimed emperors, stand nearby. They're young and roughly the same age. Both have enjoyed incredibly lavish upbringings, driving chariots around Rome, pampered by yes-men, and indulging in the countless luxuries of palace life. But there's one massive problem.
They cannot stand one another. Hatred between these two brothers ran deep. Severus wanted his two sons to rule together, to display peace and harmony, coexisting and cooperating at the peak of power. But these two young men, well, they had a very different idea. As soon as their father died, the clock was ticking, and it would end in blood, in murder, in fratricide.
It's the ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and today we're adding to the massive ancient history hype around the release of Gladiator 2. The movie is set a couple of decades after the original and features a number of characters loosely based on real figures, including the two young colourful emperors Caracalla and Geta.
These brothers, who ruled together in the early 3rd century AD, although not for very long. Thanks to this new movie, the names Caracalla and Geta have risen to the fore. So who were the real Caracalla and Geta? What do we know about them? Their rise to power? Their relationship with one another? Or lack of? That is what we're going to explore.
Our guest is Dr. Alex Imri from the University of Edinburgh. Now, I've known Alex for many years. He even marked one of my papers when I was an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh back in the 2010s.
Alex, he's a great speaker who has been on the podcast in the past to talk through the stories of both Commodus, another infamous Roman emperor famously played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original Gladiator, the original villain. And Alex, he's also been on to talk through the story of Caracalla in depth.
what a chaotic story this is let's get into it alex it is such a pleasure to have you back on the podcast i am thrilled to be here it's a really exciting time to be a sovereign historian so can't wait to get going it's exciting to have you back on because i remember i said your university of edinburgh so i have very fond memories of studying back then and i believe you uh have had a
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