History Podcast / TheHistoryOfRome

* ICouldaBeenAContender:[[invoked]] Duncan feels this way about some Emperors who died before they could fulfill their potential. He especially cites Aurelian, calling his death by assassination an incident "I still get angry about". While he's more skeptical about Julian the Apostate, he also feels that his ideas were so ambitious that historians "are never gonna stop discussing [[WhatCouldHaveBeen what might have]] been had he [lived longer]"

* TheGhost: Duncan's girlfriend, later fiancée, and then wife, known as "Mrs. ''The History of Rome''" after they got married in 2010. She finally does appear on the 100th Episode however.

* WeddingDay: One of the breathers, covering Roman wedding customs and the marital lives of Romans over the centuries. This one was [[RealLifeWritesThePlot precipitated by his own marriage]] to "Mrs. ''The History of Rome''."

* RunningGag: Whenever something amusing or unexpected occurs, Duncan is liable to say, "then a funny thing happened" (a ShoutOut to ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'').

** When describing a battle against enemy war elephants, Duncan notes that the Roman strategy--have charioteers trip the elephants by winding wires around their legs--had previously proven effective [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack against the Imperial Walkers at the Battle of Hoth.]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Without once breaking his deadpan.]]

'''''The History of Rome''''' ("[=THoR=]" to its friends, 2007-2012), is a podcast by Creator/MikeDuncan. As you might expect, it covers [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the history of]] UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire from the founding of Rome to the death of the last Western Emperor in 476. It achieved massive acclaim and (for a podcast) popularity in large part because of three factors: (1) Mike Duncan's incredibly detailed and accurate research, (2) Duncan's amazing ability to relate the story not only well, but in a way that made things ''interesting'', and (3) the fact that episodes are generally about 30 minutes--long enough to be engrossing, but short enough that they hold your attention. It's perhaps no wonder it was voted the best educational podcast of 2010.

* ICouldaBeenAContender:[[invoked]] Duncan feels this way about some Emperors who died before they could fulfill their potential. He especially cites Aurelian, calling his death by Assassination an incidient "I still get angry about". While he's more skeptical about Julian the Apostate, he also feels that his ideas were so ambitious that historians "are never gonna stop discussing [[WhatCouldHaveBeen what might have]] been had he [lived longer]"

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes are ''much'' less polished and substantially more variable in length. His delivery also sounds much less nuanced and stresses are much less notable compared to his later work and especially compared to Podcast/{{Revolutions}}. Part of this is due to inferior audio equipment during the first few episodes.

* JerkAss: Duncan's opinion of Romulus. He points out that Romulus murdered his brother and ordered the Rape of the Sabine Women, and says that it's enough to make him want to root ''against'' Rome.
* NoExceptYes: "There weren't seven kings of Rome, but there were seven kings of Rome." By this Duncan means that Rome almost definitely did not ''actually'' have only seven kings (that would require improbably long reigns for all of them), but it had seven kings who were important to its cultural and social development and who we know about.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes are ''much'' less polished and substantially more variable in length. His delivery also sounds much less nuanced and stresses are much notable compared to his later work and especially compared to Podcast/{{Revolutions}}

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes are ''much'' less polished and substantially more variable in length.

* UnreliableNarrator: Not Douglas himself, but rather the ancient sources he pulls the material for the podcast from. He's quick to point out that, for example, the absolute lambasting of Emperor Domitian is the result of the fact that he didn't give the senate much say in the way his administration was run, and the senators were typically the ones writing the history books.

* DeadpanSnarker: Duncan is a master of sarcasm and irony.

* TheGhost: Duncan's girlfriend, later fiancée, and then wife, known as "Mrs. ''The History of Rome''" after they got married in 2010.

* ArchiveBinge: The episodes are generally about half an hour long--which makes listening to ''[=THoR=]'' for hours on end, just popping one episode after another like popcorn, is ''ludicrously'' easy.
* ArchivePanic: There are over 180 episodes of ''[=THoR=]'', now that the series is complete. It's pretty easy to be daunted--but see ArchiveBinge, above.

* ScheduleSlip: An occasional problem, chiefly because Duncan was a grad student through most of the podcast's run, and [[RealLifeWritesThePlot his life often got in the way of his writing and recording]].

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Duncan mentioned that after completing recording an episode, he treated himself to a nice beer. (This carried onto his next project, ''Podcast/{{Revolutions}}''.)

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes are ''much'' less polished and substantially more variable in length.

* WeddingEpisode: One of the breathers, covering Roman wedding customs and the marital lives of Romans over the centuries. This one was [[RealLifeWritesThePlot precipitated by his own marriage]] to "Mrs. ''The History of Rome''."