The Western Traditions Podcast

Episode III.15 - The Second Punic War I: A Violent Interlude

This episode covers the fragile peace after the First Punic War, focusing on Carthage’s internal rebellions, Hamilcar Barca’s campaigns in Spain, and Rome’s expansion in northern Italy.

It introduces key figures like Hamilcar, young Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and explains how political, military, and social changes set the stage for the Second Punic War.

Episode XIB.014 - Genesis 20-26: Abraham and Isaac

Abraham and Isaac as types of God the Father and His son, Jesus. The love story of Isaac and Rebecca. The death of Abraham and Sarah.

Episode XIB.013 - Genesis 21-22: The Birth of Isaac

Isaac is finally born to Sarah. Almost immediately, Abraham‘s legacy is threatened when God commands him to sacrifice his newborn son.

Episode XIB.012 - Genesis 18-19

Abraham meets the Holy Trinity by the sacred trees of Mamre. Lot is saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Episode XIB.011 - Genesis 15-17: The Covenant

Abram deepens his relationship with God. Rituals of animal sacrifice and human circumcision seal the covenant. Abram becomes Abraham, the father of nations.

Episode III.14 - The First Punic War III - To the Peace of Catullus

Rome fights on until Carthage must beg for peace. Catullus and Hamilcar Barca.

Episode III.13 - The First Punic War II: To the Invasion of Africa

Rome and Carthage come face-to-face for the first time. Carthage sees the war in terms of profit and loss. Rome sees only the matter of honor. The Romans dare to build a fleet to cross the ocean that belongs to their enemy and to bring the war to Carthage.

Episode III.12 - The First Punic War I: Prelude to War

Hiero of Syracuse is the unknowing third-wheel in an increasingly vicious relationship between two superpowers. By 264 BC, he is already lost in the background, as Rome and Carthage finally square off to decide, not just who controls the Mediterranean, but who owns the future.

Every man thinks of Rome at least once per day but once-great Carthage is less than a memory.

Episode III.11 - Carthage

A look at the great counterpart of the Roman Republic: Carthage. How the Phoenicians colonized the Western Mediterranean and what little else we can learn about this ancient culture that the Romans destroyed completely by the end of the Punic Wars. A meditation on child-sacrifice in ancient cultures.

Episode III.10 - The Conquest of Italy

The Romans expand beyond their central Italian limits. In the 4th and 3rd century BC, they conquer their enemies and allies in central and southern Italy. They are led by consuls like Publius Decius Mus, who sacrificed his own life to give Rome victory. But every Roman soldier shows himself to be both valiant and indomitable.