Literature and History

In the twilight of the Western Empire, Boethius (c. 476-523) served as consul, but ended his life imprisoned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, writing The Consolation of Philosophy.

Episode 103 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=351&catid=2

Episode 103 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-103-boethius

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Augustine?s City of God, Part 2 of 2. The second half of the City of God contains some of Late Antiquity?s most influential writings ? most notably Augustine?s take on Original Sin.

Episode 102 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-102-quiz

Episode 102 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-102-an-old-mans-book

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Augustine?s City of God, Part 1 of 2. The first half of the City of God is a broadside against paganism ? its culture, religion, and history, subjects about which Augustine had much to say.

Episode 101 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-101-quiz

Episode 101 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-101-against-the-pagans

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Augustine?s Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine?s Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history.

Episode 100 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-100-quiz

Episode 100 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-100-late-have-i-loved-you

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Augustine?s Confessions, Part 1 of 2. The first half of Augustine?s Confessions tells of his wayward early years, his intellectual journey, and his spiritual awakening.

Episode 99 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-99-quiz

Episode 99 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-099-the-boy-who-stole-pears

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Polyglot Jerome (347-420) had a gigantic impact on all subsequent Christian history, leaving behind a huge body of works, including the Latin Bible.

Episode 98 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-98-quiz

Episode 98 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-098-the-life-and-works-of-saint-jerome

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Ancient Greece Declassified Tour:
https://www.greecepodcast.com/tour/

The Dionysiaca, Part 2 of 2. The last surviving Greek epic of antiquity draws to a close with Dionysus fighting wars far to the east, in India.

Episode 96 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-97-quiz

Episode 96 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-097-blood-and-ivy

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The last epic from Greco-Roman antiquity that survives in full, Nonnus? fifth-century Dionysiaca tells of the wine god Dionysus? journey eastward, to India.

Episode 96 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-96-quiz

Episode 96 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-096-the-last-pagan-epic

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In 417 CE, the Roman poet Rutilius Namatianus journeyed from Rome back to his homeland of Gaul, not knowing whether there was a home to return to.

Episode 95 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-95-quiz

Episode 95 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-095-rutilius-namatianus

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One of the later Latin poets of the Empire, Ausonius? expansive body of work gives us a window into the changing world of fourth-century Roman culture.

Episode 94 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-94-quiz

Episode 94 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-094-ausonius

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Sulpicius Severus? (c. 363-425) life of St. Martin is one of the great hagiographies ? a portrait of a timeless saint, but also of a human being and working bishop.

Episode 93 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-93-quiz

Episode 93 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-093-severus-life-of-saint-martin

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Athanasius (c. 297-373) wrote a wildly popular biography of the desert hermit St. Antony, touting the ideals of asceticism and triumph over demonic temptation.

Episode 92 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-92-quiz

Episode 92 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-092-athanasius-life-of-antony

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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In Carthage, in 203 CE, a Roman noblewoman and her retinue were butchered in an amphitheater. Learn her story, and the earliest history of Christian martyrs.

Episode 91 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-91-quiz

Episode 91 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-091-the-passion-of-perpetua

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earliest church fathers.

Episode 90 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-90-quiz

Episode 90 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-090-ante-nicene-catholicism

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Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd/4th century CE) wrote the longest novel to have survived from antiquity, an adventurous romance that reemerged into Europe in the 1500s.

Episode 89 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-89-quiz

Episode 89 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-089-the-aethiopica-of-heliodorus

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Great Anthology of Ancient Greek Fiction:
B.P. Reardon's Collected Ancient Greek Novels

In roughly the 160s CE, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote A True History, one of history?s earliest surviving novels, with strong tinges of what we?d call science fiction.

Episode 88 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-88-quiz

Episode 88 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-088-ancient-greek-sci-fi

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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The satirist Lucian (c. 125-180) was popular in his own time and during the Renaissance, among other things probably being the first author of science fiction.

Episode 87 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-87-quiz

Episode 87 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-087-lucian-of-samosata

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Once pervasively described as a period of fall and decline, today Late Antiquity is often understood as a period of cultural flowering and economic revolution.

Episode 86 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-86-quiz

Episode 86 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-086-an-introduction-to-late-antiquity

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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A primer on Biblical canon formation, retrospective on what we?ve covered so far, and introduction to the upcoming season.

Episode 85 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-085-river

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to learn about it firsthand.

Episode 84 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-84-quiz

Episode 84 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-084-manichaeism

Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early Christianity.

HarperOne Nag Hammadi Scriptures https://harperone.com/9780061626005/the-nag-hammadi-scriptures/
Episode 83 Quiz https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-83-quiz
Episode 83 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-083-gnosticism
Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content
Patreon
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Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth?s oldest living monotheism.

Episode 82 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-82-quiz

Episode 82 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-082-zoroastrianism

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world?s religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians.

Episode 81 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-81-quiz

Episode 81 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-081-revelation

Bonus Content:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Write Large Podcast:

https://www.writlarge.fm/

The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the Ancient Mediterranean.

Episode 80 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-80-quiz

Episode 80 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-080-the-general-epistles

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Possibly the most influential theologian in history, Paul codified and clarified Christianity as it emerged into the diverse world of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Episode 79 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-79-quiz

Episode 79 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-079-the-pauline-epistles

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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The story of Christianity?s first missionaries is a sweeping , intercontinental narrative, filled with danger, strange encounters, and the hope for a better future.

Episode 78 Quiz:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-78-quiz

Episode 78 Transcription:
https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-078-the-book-of-acts

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https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of the New Testament. And today, historians and Biblical scholars know more about them than ever before.

Episode 77 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-77-quiz

Episode 77 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-077-the-gospels

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea for thirty years. Learn about his rule, and the political and religious climate of Judea just before the birth of Christ.

Episode 76 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-76-quiz

Episode 76 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-076-judea-under-herod

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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A retrospective on the material we?ve covered thus far as we head into Early Christianity and Late Antiquity, plus some announcements.

Episode 75 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-075-dusk-and-starlight

Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Marcus Aurelius? Meditations show an intelligent emperor coping with the realities of an empire buckling under its own weight.

Episode 74 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-74-quiz

Episode 74 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-074-marcus-aurelius

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Apuleius? The Golden Ass is Ancient Rome?s only novel to survive in full ? a strange, often disturbing fairytale that had a huge influence on posterity.

Episode 73 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-73-quiz

Episode 73 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-073-the-golden-ass

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Patreon:
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Juvenal?s Satires, produced some time in the decades around 100 CE, mercilessly mock some of the more colorful aspects of Roman life.

Episode 72 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-72-quiz

Episode 72 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-072-bread-and-circuses

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Patreon:
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Statius? Thebaid, Books 7-12. Six hundred years after Aeschylus, Statius once again brought the Theban epic to a thunderous conclusion.

Statius? Thebaid, Books 1-6. This epic is hardly ever read or taught these days, but in 100 CE, it was as famous as anything in the Roman world.

Episode 70 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-70-quiz

Episode 70 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-070-romes-forgotten-epic

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Petronius? Satyricon is a contender for history?s first novel, a picaresque filled with sex, misadventures, and details about daily life.

Episode 69 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-69-quiz

Episode 69 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-069-romes-comic-novel

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Seneca?s Phaedra (c. 50s CE) is the story of an illicit passion, a stoic cautionary tale and simultaneously vivid character study.

Episode 68 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-68-quiz

Episode 68 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-068-love-means-sin

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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Seneca?s Thyestes, probably written around the 50s CE, is one of the most horrifying and influential plays ever written.

Episode 67 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-67-quiz

Episode 67 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-067-jaws-dripping-blood

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Stoicism, starting with Zeno in 300 BCE, was a popular philosophy by the lifetime of Seneca, perhaps even making its way into the New Testament.

Episode 66 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-66-quiz

Episode 66 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-066-seneca-stoicism-st-paul

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Seneca the Younger (c 1 BCE-65 CE) practiced the philosophy of stoicism over the course of several volatile, and very different imperial reigns.

Episode 65 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-65-quiz

Episode 65 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-065-seneca-and-the-julio-claudians

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

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For mysterious reasons, in 8 CE, Ovid was exiled from Rome. Ovid?s last works were composed an ocean away from  Italy, on the western shore of the Black Sea.

Episode 64 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-64-quiz

Episode 64 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-064-ovids-exile

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Ovid?s Metamorphoses, Books 11-15. The vast Metamorphoses draws to a resonant conclusion as Ovid brings his great poem to Rome itself.

Episode 63 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-63-quiz

Episode 63 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-063-all-is-in-flux

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Ovid?s Metamorphoses, Books 6-10. In the middle portion of Ovid?s great poem, psychological transformations become as gripping as physical ones.

Episode 62 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-62-quiz

Episode 62 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-062-a-curious-passion

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http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Ovid?s Metamorphoses, Books 1-5. This book influenced thousands of years of later literature, and remains one of our best source texts on classical mythology.

Episode 61 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-61-quiz

Episode 61 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-061-changes-of-shape

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
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Ovid?s Art of Love is ancient Rome?s manual of seduction ? a record of the steamier side of the Augustan Age.

Episode 60 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-60-quiz

Episode 60 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-060-how-to-make-love-to-a-roman

Episode 60 Song: "Bad Advice from Ovid"
https://youtu.be/kfx-sjGorVM

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The love poetry of Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) was standard Latin curriculum for hundreds of years, but it was also the product of a very specific historical moment.

Episode 59 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-59-quiz

Episode 59 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-059-early-ovid

Episode 59 Song: "Ovid in Elegiacs"
Video https://youtu.be/vE1jkidRthY

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Propertius (c. 50-1 BCE) took the Latin elegiac form to new heights of complexity and passion, even weaving subtle satire throughout his work.

Episode 58 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-58-quiz

Episode 58 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-058-she-caught-me-with-her-eyes

Episode 58 Song: "Arrogant Love Song"
https://youtu.be/BHEYVxqdztE

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil?s Aeneid, Books 10-12. The end of Rome?s great epic is about something Romans of Virgil?s generation knew very well indeed. War.

Episode 57 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-57-quiz

Episode 57 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-057-the-world-grows-dim-and-black

Episode 57 Song: "Dear Pallas"
https://youtu.be/WRZbUYwdTR0

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil?s Aeneid, Books 7-9. Aeneas? arrival in Italy begins auspiciously enough, but soon things take a turn for the worse.

Episode 56 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-56-quiz

Episode 56 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-056-i-shall-release-hell

Episode 56 Song: "Another Siege"
https://youtu.be/bjqsZbGL8oM

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil?s Aeneid, Books 4-6. The story of Dido and Aeneas, and his subsequent journey to the underworld, is the heart of Rome?s most famous poem.

Episode 55 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-55-quiz

Episode 55 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-055-among-the-shades

Episode 55 Song: "The Gods Are Insane"
https://youtu.be/Uybu1B2qq9o

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil?s Aeneid, Books 1-3. The Aeneid is Rome?s great epic. Learn the story of its first three books, and when and why Virgil began writing it.

Episode 54 Quiz:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-54-quiz

Episode 54 Transcription:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-054-out-of-troy

Episode 54 Song: "The Epic Cycle Waltz"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcJgKUMS8k8

Bonus Content:
http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory