S8 Ep1122: (1) Regulatory Certitude in Londinium: The Power of the Building Inspector and Beachfront Evictions Guests in Londinium, 92 AD: Gaius and Germanicus. The show is temporarily halted due to occupancy issues at the wine bar. Gaius admits to a "completely unf

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, News, Arts, Books

4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2026

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

(1) Regulatory Certitude in Londinium: The Power of the Building Inspector and Beachfront Evictions Guests in Londinium, 92 AD: Gaius and Germanicus. The show is temporarily halted due to occupancy issues at the wine bar. Gaius admits to a "completely unforgivable error": failing to give the building inspector an annual birthday raise. He notes that even far from Rome, the local inspector's "red ticket" carries enough weight to shut down their beachfront wine bar despite the Emperor Domitian's distance. The inspector cited concerns about running water, windows, and roof tiles, though Gaius suspects it was a move for more "generous gifts." He laments that his focus on a "robot" sent from Chinafor the orchestra caused him to neglect the inspector's welfare. The hosts plan a "great big party" with the help of centurions to scrub the facility and restore order for the following week's broadcast. (1)
londinium 1682 ad

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The And good day. This is Lundianian Chronicles, 92 AD on a summer evening. Beautiful summer evening.
0:50.3	I rushed you with my apologies. The building inspector for Lunditiam served us with notice at our wine bar
0:58.9	that we didn't pass his inspection.
1:02.0	I will translate that.
1:03.9	We didn't meet his expectations of generous gifts for his annual birthday celebration. It's a completely unforgivable error on our part.
1:18.2	We knew about it. We didn't properly give him a raise year to year. I see that. He wanted more.
1:24.7	He sees the number of centurions who show up now, and he expects all of them to contribute to his welfare.
1:30.9	Even though we are far from Rome and worry not in the least about the walls have ears,
1:37.6	Domitian is a very jealous emperor. He doesn't like people talking about him unless they're praising him.
1:43.0	I'm sure in the 21st century you all understand.
1:46.4	Well, in any event, far away from Lunditian, far away from Rome, we still have building inspectors.
1:53.8	Every city has building inspectors in the Roman Empire. And they are necessary for success.
2:01.8	And our building inspector has been dutiful and kind these years.
2:05.8	All of a sudden, must be something at home, some pressure.
2:10.3	So he gave us a red ticket.
2:12.3	We have some things we have to do to clean up the wine bar.
2:16.4	And I'm disappointed to say there'll be no show this week.
2:21.2	We're not allowed to have occupancy.
2:22.9	We're not allowed to just drift in and out.
2:25.9	We have to correct the inspections that he wants,
2:29.6	having to do with running water and the windows and the roof. You understand. And we'll return next week,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.