Instant Classics

• Boudica: The Woman Who Defied an Empire pt 1

  Boudica. Britain’s original badass. A warrior queen who almost defeated the Romans, gave voice to the oppressed and inspired countless school children ever since. But what do we really know about her? Mary and Charlotte trace her story, asking how much of the myth is true and whether we should really celebrate her today.  History is told by the victors - and everything we know about Boudica comes from the Romans. It’s almost certain that there really was a woman called something like Boudica who drove terror into the hearts of the Roman colony in Britain. Archeological evidence also suggests the scale of the devastation she wrought. But beyond that, we cannot be certain.  In this first episode of a two-part special, Mary and Charlotte look at the backdrop to her story - the Roman ‘conquest’ of a few patches of Britain, the delicate network of truces and bargains they forged with local leaders, and the emergence of Boudica as queen of a tribe called the Iceni. The episode ends with Boudica burning the Roman stronghold in (what is now) Colchester to the ground and marching towards London.  @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: [email protected] Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading: The main ancient texts are: Tacitus, Agricola 14-16; Annals 14, 29-39; Dio Cassius, Histories of Rome 62, 1-2, all conveniently collected at https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/roman-conquest-and-occupation-of-britain/boudica-the-iceni-warrior-queen/boudica-classical-references/ Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin, Boudica: Iron Age Queen (Hambledon Continuum pb, 2006) is an accessible account of Boudica from the Iron Age to her modern representations. Hingley reviews the evidence and some of the books on the subject, including his own, at https://fivebooks.com/best-books/boudica-richard-hingley/  The archaeological evidence for the revolt is very clear but can be difficult to interpret in detail. Some fascinating recent discoveries at Colchester are described and well illustrated at https://the-past.com/feature/the-fenwick-treasure-colchester-during-the-boudiccan-war-of-independence/ Charlotte tells the story of Boudica, and discusses some of the ways she has been represented, in her book Under Another Sky: Journeys In Roman Britain (Vintage, 2014) Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson Production intern: Amelia Reichert   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• A Trip To The Underworld

  Any Greek hero worth their salt makes a trip to the Underworld at some point during their adventures. Mary and Charlotte follow in their footsteps, crossing the River Styx to ask: what exactly was the Underworld? How was it different to the Judeo-Christian ‘Heaven’? And why has the idea of it proven so enduring even though nobody believes in it?  The Underworld can’t be mapped (although some scholars have tried) because it didn’t exist, but there are consistent features in the many myths in which it features: the River Styx, Charon the Ferryman, the god Hades, his wife Persephone, and the numberless dead like autumn leaves. Orpheus and Theseus visited. Hercules - hard man that he was - went twice. A human princess called Psyche also went in search of her lover.  Mary and Charlotte dwell on the longish accounts in Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. Through these stories they get some sense of what the Underworld really meant to the Ancient Greeks and Romans - and what it still means to us.   @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: [email protected] Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading: We focus on Odysseus’ encounter with the dead in Homer, Odyssey Book 11, and on Aeneas’ visit to the underworld in Virgil, Aeneid Book 6. But there are more! https://www.thecollector.com/mortals-underworld-katabasis-greek-roman-mythology/ is an online, well-illustrated, article detailing 14 ancient visits to the underworld. Modern fictions of the underworld based on the Odyssey are the theme of one chapter of Edith Hall’s Return of Ulysses (available free at https://edithhall.co.uk/)  Some of our very recent favourites are Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, “Eurydice”, from her collection, The World’s Wife (1999) and R. F. Kuang’s novel Katabasis (2025) Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson Production intern: Amelia Reichert   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Roman Ghostbusters

  As the Halloween season hits, Mary and Charlotte turn to the wealth of ghost stories from the ancient world to ask: did the Greeks and Romans really believe in ghosts and why are their stories so similar to ours when many of our beliefs are so different?  Mary and Charlotte recount a ghost story recounted by Pliny the Younger about a haunted house in Athens and the successful attempt by a philosopher to both encounter the ghost and lay its spirit to rest. They also tell the story, written down in Greece in the 3rd century CE, about a young man who is seduced by a vampire. And they discover the Roman methods of exorcism, which involves chewing on some beans and throwing them behind you. When it came to ghostbusting, then as now, don’t cross the beans!  Some Romans even believed that the city itself was haunted by the restless spirit of Remus who - in one telling of Rome’s favourite origin story - was murdered by his brother Romulus to take sole control of the new city.    @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: [email protected] Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Special Announcement! - Instant Classics Live

  Exciting News! Vespucci, in collaboration with the City of London Corporation and the Culture Mile Business Improvement District, is thrilled to present the very first live recording of Instant Classics on November 26th, 2025.   Join hosts Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins as they journey back nearly two millennia to uncover what life was really like in Roman London. What did a typical night out look like for a Londoner in the first century CE? Were they cheering on gladiators, swapping gossip in the baths, or making offerings to mysterious gods? We’ll explore all this and more right where history happened, within the atmospheric remains of London’s Roman Amphitheatre at the Guildhall Art Gallery, dating back to the first century CE. Book Club Members: Check your inbox today for an exclusive early-access link to purchase tickets before the general release on Friday, October 31st. For those wanting to gain early access, you can join our Book Club at www.instantclassicspod.com. Spaces are limited, and this intimate setting promises an unforgettable evening. Have any questions? Drop us a line at [email protected]. We can’t wait to see you there and meet you in person (how novel). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned?

  ‘Fiddling while Rome burns’ is an accusation flung at every political leader at some point in their career. In this episode, Mary and Charlotte uncover the origins of this phrase and ask: why has it proved so resonant that it has carried through the centuries and right around the world?  In 64 CE, a huge fire broke out in Rome. It lasted for over a week and devastated much of the city. Today, what is more famous than the fire itself is what the emperor Nero did while it was going on. He watched - and played his lyre.  This story, perhaps more than any other, has given Nero a bad rap, but ancient writers also say that he supervised rescue efforts, gave free food to the people, introduced sensible planning regulations and was visionary in rebuilding the devastated areas. So why has the fiddling image won out and why is it used so often in contemporary political discourse?  Mary and Charlotte explore these questions, pointing out in the process that fiddles hadn’t been invented at the time Nero is meant to have played one, that the Colosseum gets its name from a colossal statue of Nero, and that it’s the forgotten parts of the fiddling legend that make the modern use of the term so powerful.  Finally, they ask: all things considered, did Nero REALLY fiddle while Rome burned? And they give an answer.  Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading The ancient sources are collected and analysed in detail here: https://dcc.dickinson.edu/tacitus-annals/introduction/annals-outline/annals-38-41-outline Nero has always attracted a LOT of academic interest.  E. Champlin, Nero (Harvard UP, pb, 2005) is an accessible biography (rather favourable to Nero) For a focus on the fire itself, and its wider context, see: A. Barrett, Rome is Burning: Nero and the Fire that Ended a Dynasty (Princeton UP, pb, 2020)  The history of modern cartoons of political leaders fiddling while Rome burned is explored by Ginna Closs here: https://eidolon.pub/x-fiddled-while-y-burned-80abf13e7c08?gi=5d659c5e2688 @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube @insta_classics for X email: [email protected] Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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