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This week, in honor of the coming rise of Zenobia, everyone's favorite

Neo Cleopatra, I'm going to recommend the new biography of the original.

Cleopatra, a life by Stacey Schiff.

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Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome.

Episode 116. Here come the Allerians.

As I said at the end of the last episode, the assassination of Galenus

in 268 marked the beginning of the end for the crisis of the third century.

In the 33 years since the death of Alexander Severus, the Roman Empire had been

on a pretty impressive downhill slide. Emperors were dropping like flies.

Barbarians were running a muck. The Empire had broken in three.

...