Vespasian

Rome is burning. The fledgling Empire, once forged in iron and ruled with a steady hand, has been weakened by the tyrannical reigns of cruel, sadistic, and self-obsessed dictators. The days of Augustus are gone. His successors, infamous men like Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero, have driven the empire according to their own personal whims. Caligula made his horse a senator. Nero fiddled while the city burned around him. Now, in the wake of their ruin, an age of even more carnage appears, as civil war threaten to tear the Empire apart – unless one man – a man nobody expected – can rise up, take power, and save the Roman Empire from ultimate destruction.

A Kingdom isn't cool. A Dyansty is cool. Or so said Roman Emperor Vespasian's Justin Timberlake look-alike friend over drinks at the club. And so that's what Vespasian built: a dynasty. In this episode, Ben and Pat talk about a man who saved the Roman Empire, built the Roman Coliseum and so much more.

Badass of the Week is an iHeart radio podcast produced by High Five Content. Executive producers are Andrew Jacobs, Pat Larash, and Ben Thompson. Writing is by Pat and Ben. Story editing is by Ian Jacobs, Brandon Fibbs and Ali Lemer. Mixing and music and Sound Design is by Jude Brewer. Consulting by Michael May. Special thanks to Noel Brown at iHeart. Badass of the Week is based on the website BadassoftheWeek.com, where you can read all sorts of stories about other badasses. If you want to reach out with questions or ideas, you can email us at badasspodcast@badassoftheweek.com. If you like the podcast, subscribe, follow, listen and tell your friends and your enemies if you want, as we'll be back next week with another one. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.