The reign of Tullus Hostilius includes the year 660 BCE- the same year that, half a world away in Japan, a certain individual named Iwarehiko no mikoto, descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu, invaded the Japanese islands and created an imperial line that is still with us until today.

Time period: 660- 585 BCE

Relevant individuals: Jimmu, 1st Emperor of Japan; Suizei, 2nd Emperor of Japan

Sources for this episode:

TBA

War has come between Rome and Alba Longa, but in a bid to avoid both powers battering themselves into the dust before being swept aside by the Etruscans, they settle it via single combat. Well... more like triple combat. Join us for the We Hate Horatius Club, dictators called Foof, and the origins of walking under the yoke.

Time period: Between 672 and 640 BCE

Relevant individuals: Tullus Hostilius, 4th King of Rome; Horatii brothers; Curiatii brothers; Mettius Fufetius, Dictator of Alba Longa

Sources for this episode:

TBA

With Numa gone, we now see the election of Tullus Hostilius- the grandson of Sabine war hero Hostius Hostilius- to the Roman throne. He is a lot more belligerent than old Pompilius ever was, and immediately sets about engineering a war with Alba Longa.

Time period: c. 672- 671 BCE

Relevant individuals: Tullus Hostilius, Gaius Clulius

Sources for this episode:

TBA

The empire has a Princess Imperial as of 2026, but we do not have a formal regent established. Well, this episode sets up two of them...

The second king of Rome may be dead, but his story isn't quite. Today, we scrape together the crumbs of evidence our primary and secondary sources give us concerning Egeria. Is she a nymph? A goddess? Is she Numa's second wife or his lover? And what's the deal with her maybe turning into a spring? Let the defence and prosecution assemble!

Time period: 716- 627 BCE

Relevant individuals: Numa Pompilius, Egeria

Sources for this episode:

TBA

In the spirit of having fun with the show, here's another Imperial Edict sorting out the year count for the empire. 2026 is now also Year IV/V...

Sources for this episode:

TBA

Numa Pompilius' rule is a lot less exciting than that of Romulus in terms of warfare. Instead, we get a whole lot of religious restructuring, instilling piety into the rabble that is Roman society, and a mysterious burial with sacred texts the later Republic will never address again... That and calendar administration.

Time period: 716- 672 BCE

Relevant individuals: Numa Pompilius

Sources for this episode:

• Cassius Dio (1961), Dio’s Roman History in Nine Volumes. Volume II. Translated by E. Cary. London, United Kingdom and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
• M's Chronicle of the Roman Republic (TBA).Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Via Sacra (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).

Between 716 and 715 BCE, Rome undergoes what becomes known as an interregnum- an inter regnum, or period between kings. Senators take five-day turns ruling the country, and then one year into it, Numa Pompilius becomes elected king! However, our Sabine protagonist just refuses to become monarch until all sorts of hoops have been jumped through...

Sources for this episode:

• Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dionysus of Halicarnassus (1960), The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus of Halicarnassus. Translated by E. Cary. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives (Volume I). London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (TBA).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Olympiad (online) (Accessed 27/10/2025).