Tom Holland
speaker
36,971 appearances
149 recordings
9 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard 9 Sep
Tom Holland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 86 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 11.
Appearances
With whom?
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Well, I mean, that is the question, isn't it?
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Because we left you last time with the Republic in the shadow of two great patrician strongmen.
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The first of these is Sulla.
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a man who is at once completely charming and utterly sinister.
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He's very cultured.
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He's unbelievably brutal.
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He is a conservative, but he is also a revolutionary because he is the first man ever to lead a Roman army on Rome.
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So Sulla had led his army on Rome in 88 BC, and in the intervening years,
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So between his march on Rome and the burning of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, he has achieved remarkable things.
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He has taken the war to Mithridates, who was this bold and ruthless and vindictive king who had conquered the Roman province of Asia and invaded Greece.
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In only three years, Sulla had reversed all of Mithridates' conquests,
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He had brought Greece and the province of Asia once again to acknowledge the might of Rome, and Mithridates had retreated to within his own borders, and he was obliged to accept Roman weapons inspectors to make sure that he wasn't rebuilding his offensive capabilities.
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And so you would think that back in Rome, the news of Sulla's triumphs would be greeted with praise and with thanksgiving and with all kinds of celebrations, but not a bit of it.
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Because back in Rome, the city is ruled by Sulla's enemies.
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And they have responded to Sulla's great feats by declaring him a public enemy and raising his house and running his family and friends out of the city.
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And Sulla is not happy about this.
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This is not a man that you offend recklessly.
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And in 84, he had written a letter to the Senate and Arian, the Greek historian, describes what he said.
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He said he would be back very soon to take his vengeance on behalf of all those who had been wronged and on behalf of Rome itself upon the guilty men.
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