Pausing our narrative with the death of Silvius in 1111 BCE, we follow his exiled younger son Brutus, who winds up in Britain after a series of Odyssey-style adventures and becomes its first king. His family will rule Britain for centuries according to the mythological narrative of Geoffrey of Monmouth, taking us all the way to the epoch of Rome's founding before we circle back next week to deal with Aeneas II...

Sources for this episode:

• Baker, R. (1670), A Chronicle of the Kings of England. London: Printed for George Sawbridge.
• 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.
• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
• Geoffrey of Monmouth (1966), The History of the Kings of Britain. Translated by L. Thorpe. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Sélincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
• Shakespeare, W. (2014), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New York: Race Point Publishing.
• William of Malmesbury (1847), William of Malmesbury’s Chronicle of the Kings of England. London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden.
• Author unknown (date unknown), Nuremberg Chronicle: being the Liber Chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann translated in English. Morse Library, Beloit College.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Silvius (online) (Accessed 05/09/2024).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Totnes (online) (Accessed 05/09/2024).

With Ascanius gone, his half-brother Silvius- the posthumous son of Aeneas and Lavinia- steps into the narrative. This week on Autocrat, a contested royal election, murky regency timelines, and the podcast hosts declaring war on Titus Livius.

Would you be interested in a discussion on what the historical founding of Rome was like outside of its mythological origins? Let us know!

Sources for this episode:

• Appian (1972), Appian’s Roman History in Four Volumes (Volume I). London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dio (1961), Dio’s Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Diodorus of Sicily (1993), The Library of History Books IV.59- VIII. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. 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 Sélincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Meade, G. (2021), Romans, Religion and the Aid of the Gods: An Exploration of the Pontifex Maximus in Roman Society. Portland State University: University Honors Theses: 1035.
• Ovid (1959), Ovid's Fasti. Translated by J. G. Frazer. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Ovid (1968), The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (2004), Origo Gentis Romanae: The Origin of the Roman Race. Translated by K. Haniszewski, L. Karas, K. Koch, E. Parobek, C. Pratt and B. Serwicki. Canisius College Translated Texts 3. Canisius College, Buffalo, New York.
• Suetonius (1983), The Twelve Caesars. Translated by R. Graves. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Author unknown (date unknown), Nuremberg Chronicle: being the Liber Chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann translated in English. Morse Library, Beloit College.

Sources for the pope's pontifical association (even if not outright calling him pontifex maximus):

• Kelly, J. N. D. (1996), Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Author unknown (1916), The Book of the Popes (Liber Pontificalis) (Volume I). Translated by L. R. Loomis. New York: Columbia University Press.

Alba Longa is here! Pig City! Or Long White City. Or Longtown... The etymology is disputed. As is pretty much everything else from the reign of Ascanius! Join us for revisions of our timeline from episode 77, a wine obsession on the part of Dionysus of Halicarnassus, and far too much of our Auto-cat Felix disrupting recording.

Sources for this episode:

• Appian (1972), Appian’s Roman History in Four Volumes (Vol. I). London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Dio (1961), Dio’s Roman History (Volume I). Translated by E. Cary. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
• Diodorus of Sicily (1993), The Library of History Books IV.59- VIII. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. 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.
• Eutropius (1760), Eutropius; Epitome of the Roman History. London: Printed for W. Johnston et al.
• Livy (1971), The Early History of Rome. Translated by A. de Sélincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Ovid (1968), The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Sextus Aurelius Victor (2004), Origo Gentis Romanae: The Origin of the Roman Race. Translated by K. Haniszewski, L. Karas, K. Koch, E. Parobek, C. Pratt and B. Serwicki. Canisius College Translated Texts 3. Canisius College, Buffalo, New York.
• Virgil (1976), The Aeneid. Translated by W. F. J. Knight. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Wilkinson, P., Carroll, G., Faulkner, M., Field, J. F., Haywood, J., Kerrigan, M., Philip, N., Pumphrey, N. and Tocino-Smith, J. (2018), The Mythology Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd.
• Author unknown (date unknown), Nuremberg Chronicle: being the Liber Chronicarum of Dr. Hartmann translated in English. Morse Library, Beloit College.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Dionysus of Halicarnassus (online) (Accessed 23/11/2025).
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Falerna (online) (Accessed 23/11/2025).

Everyone has their time come sooner or later- and that time has come for Aeneas. The new king of the Latins shuffles off this mortal coil, either to die and head down to Hades, or else to transform into the god Indiges. Either way, it's time for us to leave a character we've accompanied since the Iliad behind and travel on with his descendants!

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.
• Diodorus of Sicily (1993), The Library of History Books IV.59-VIII. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. 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 Sélincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Ovid (1968), The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

Now that we have finished the Aeneid- and indeed the epic narratives surrounding the Trojan War- we pause the narrative for a quick intermission before we finish off Aeneas. So, join us for three more stories of Greco-Roman protagonists founding nations of their own!

Sources for this episode:

TBA

Aeneas has his final stand-off with Turnus, but that seems almost tangential in comparison to a daughter of a king called Camilla who carves a path of destruction and intimidation through the Trojan lines. As we wrap up the Aeneid and indeed the cycle of epics about the Trojan War and its aftermath, join us for vengeance for Pallas, military circle time and anti-prayers.

Sources for this episode:

TBA

Pentheus is a man with a simple feeling- he does not think this Dionysus kid is all that. He really doesn't. No, it doesn't matter that he's already caused sailors to turn into dolphins and made them hallucinate all sorts of crazy stuff. He doesn't care it will see him get torn to pieces- wait, what was that last one?

Sources for this episode:

• Ovid (1968), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

Our thanks to various Pixabay artists for the special effects.

Virgil may be slowly unravelling as Augustus forces him to write propaganda into the Aeneid, but Aeneas is charging full steam ahead into his conflict against the Rutulians. Join us for duels, ancient world macchiatos and a boat-based answering machine. Oh, and a tangent exploring who exactly these Etruscans are we will be hearing so much about.

Sources for this episode:

• Dudley, D. (1978), Roman Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
• Herodotus (1971), The Histories. Translated by A. de Selincourt. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
• Matyszak, P. (2008), Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rome from Romulus to Augustus. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
• Mountford, P. (date unknown), Aeneas: An Etruscan Foundation Legend. ASCS 32 Proceedings.
• Oglivie, R. M. (1976), Early Rome and the Etruscans. Glasgow: William Collins & Sons, Ltd.
• Oltermann, P. (ed.) et al. (date unknown), The Ancient World Day 3: Rome. The Guardian, The Observer and the British Museum.
• Pellecchia, M., Negrini, R., Colli, L., Patrini, M., Milanesi, E., Achilli, A., Bertorelle, G., Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Piazza, A., Torroni, A. and Ajmone-Marsan, P. (2007), The mystery of Etruscan origins: novel clues from Bos taurus mitochondrial DNA. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274(1614): 1175-1179.
• Suetonius (1983), The Twelve Caesars. Translated by R. Graves. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Thucydides (1971), History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated by R. Warner. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Woolf, A. (2014), A Short History of the World: The Story of Mankind from Prehistory to the Modern Day. London: Arcturus Publishing Ltd.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Odysseus (online) (Accessed 20/10/2025).