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When in Rome · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I
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  Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
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  Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
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  Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Look around and you're likely to find quite
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  Speaker 1: a few traces of ancient Rome persisting to this day.
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  Speaker 1: Our governments utilize many aspects of the Roman republic, such
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  Speaker 1: as checks and balances, vetos, and trials by jury. The
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  Speaker 1: vulgar Latin that the Romans spoke influenced the languages that
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  Speaker 1: later developed in other countries such as France and Italy,
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  Speaker 1: hence their classification as Romance languages. And the modern aqueducts
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  Speaker 1: of places like Los Angeles and Germany were heavily inspired
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  Speaker 1: by the Roman versions of old that carried water to
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  Speaker 1: the people. But not everything from ancient Rome stuck around,
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  Speaker 1: and that's probably a good thing. Perhaps the biggest concept
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  Speaker 1: in both size and level of danger is the colosseum.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, we have arenas and stadiums today, giant, sprawling
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  Speaker 1: sporting venues that showcase everything from football games to monster
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  Speaker 1: truck rallies. The Colosseum, on the other hand, was home
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  Speaker 1: to all manner of events, both sporting and deadly. Chariot races,
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  Speaker 1: animal hunts, gladiatorial battles, and public executions were all held
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  Speaker 1: within the high walls of the enormous Roman amphitheater. But
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  Speaker 1: one event was only put on a handful of times,
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  Speaker 1: and for good reason, as it was a logistical nightmare
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  Speaker 1: for everyone involved. The first such instance was held around
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  Speaker 1: forty six b C. And it was called No Machia.
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  Speaker 1: It came about after Julius Caesar had just returned from
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  Speaker 1: successfully defeating army in Gaul and Egypt. He demanded a
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  Speaker 1: celebration beheld in his honor, but this would be no
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  Speaker 1: ordinary party. He ordered an artificial lake to be constructed
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  Speaker 1: near the Tiber River. It was to measure eighteen hundred
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  Speaker 1: feet long by twelve hundred feet wide, with marble seats
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  Speaker 1: for an audience of dignitaries and wealthy elites. Once the
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  Speaker 1: lake was filled with water, a dozen Roman galleys were launched,
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  Speaker 1: helmed by crews of thousands. The ships then carried on
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  Speaker 1: a full scale naval sea battle for the entertainment of
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  Speaker 1: the emperor. As you can imagine, putting on such a
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  Speaker 1: massive demonstration took teams of thousands to build the lake
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  Speaker 1: and then stage the nomachia. It wasn't something that could
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  Speaker 1: happen all the time. But when the Colisseum was finally
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  Speaker 1: completed around a d. A d. Emperor Titus saw no
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  Speaker 1: better way to break it in than with another naval battle.
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  Speaker 1: He had a colisseum flooded and brought in ships with
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  Speaker 1: flat bottoms so they wouldn't scrape against the ground in
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  Speaker 1: the shallow waters. Historians believed that the smaller size of
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  Speaker 1: the arena meant that full size ships weren't used. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: replicas were most likely constructed to fit within the space
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  Speaker 1: more easily. This fight, however, was different than the one
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  Speaker 1: staged by Caesar, in that Titus added something new an island.
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  Speaker 1: A small piece of land was constructed in the center
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  Speaker 1: of the colosseum so that fighters comprised of prisoners and
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  Speaker 1: men sentenced to death could jump from the ships and
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  Speaker 1: engage in hand to hand combat for the audience's amusement.
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  Speaker 1: This first pageant was a re enactment of an ancient
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  Speaker 1: sea battle between Athens and Syracuse. Six years later, another
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  Speaker 1: naval battle was put on, possibly the last ever seen
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  Speaker 1: at the Colisseum. Heavy rains flooded the stadium as the
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  Speaker 1: festivities were going on. All the fighters were killed, as
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  Speaker 1: were many audience members in attendance. After the tragedy, the
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  Speaker 1: floor of the Colisseum was redone and a series of
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  Speaker 1: rooms were built beneath it, making it impossible to fill
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  Speaker 1: the structure with water ever again. Given the expense of
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  Speaker 1: putting them on and the man power required, Namakia eventually
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  Speaker 1: fell out of favor with the Empire. Instead, the Colisseum
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  Speaker 1: became a venue for various forms of combat focused entertainment.
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  Speaker 1: Over the next four years, gladiatorial fights gave way to
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  Speaker 1: more practical uses for the space. The Colisseum became a
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  Speaker 1: fortress during times of war, a quarry, and was even
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  Speaker 1: picked apart by builders in need of materials. It was
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  Speaker 1: damaged heavily by an earthquake in thirteen seventy nine, but
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  Speaker 1: it still stands today. The Roman Colisseum is considered one
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  Speaker 1: of the New Seven Wonders of the World, alongside the
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  Speaker 1: Great Wall of China and the ancient city of Petra
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  Speaker 1: in Jordan's and for good reason. It's still here after
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  Speaker 1: almost two thousand years, and it will probably be here
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  Speaker 1: for another two thousand, as long as nobody leaves the
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  Speaker 1: water running. When we think of the great characters of mythology,
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  Speaker 1: we think of Greek gods like Zeus and Athena, or
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  Speaker 1: the Norse gods such as Thor and Odin. But mythology
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  Speaker 1: isn't something that only lives in the past. Turn on
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  Speaker 1: a television show or open up a book written in
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  Speaker 1: the last hundred years, and entire worlds of modern mythos
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  Speaker 1: are open to us, from Narnia to Middle Earth to
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  Speaker 1: wester Ros. These places and characters were created from minds
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  Speaker 1: that could not let them go. It wasn't about fame
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  Speaker 1: or fortune, but of creativity and inspiration. Well except for one.
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  Speaker 1: One of the most famous characters we know today started
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  Speaker 1: out as a gimmick but quickly grew into a beloved
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  Speaker 1: hero for children and adults all over the world. And
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  Speaker 1: it all started with one man, Roy Thomas Jr. Thomas
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  Speaker 1: was born in Jackson, Missouri. In He grew up an
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  Speaker 1: avid reader, mostly of comic books, and even wrote and
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  Speaker 1: illustrated his own to hand out to his friends as
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  Speaker 1: he got older, He attended Southeast Missouri State University, graduated
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty one with a Bachelor of Science and Education.
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  Speaker 1: Thomas was a history major with a teaching degree, the
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  Speaker 1: perfect combination for someone who wanted to create modern myths
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  Speaker 1: for young readers. But he couldn't make and publish books
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  Speaker 1: on his own for a living. Instead, he moved to
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  Speaker 1: New York City, where he got a job as an
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  Speaker 1: assistant to MORET. Wessinger at d C Comics. More was
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  Speaker 1: editing Superman books at the time and invited Thomas to
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  Speaker 1: work for him for a few weeks to see how
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  Speaker 1: things went. Long story short, it was rough more it
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  Speaker 1: was difficult to work for with Thomas softened, returning to
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  Speaker 1: his hotel at nights in tears, he knew that he
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  Speaker 1: wanted to work in publishing, but this wasn't it, so
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  Speaker 1: he wrote to the editor in chief of another publisher.
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  Speaker 1: The funny thing about that letter, however, was that he
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  Speaker 1: didn't ask for a job. He merely gushed about his
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  Speaker 1: love for the work that publisher was doing and offered
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  Speaker 1: to buy the man a drink, hoping for the best. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Roy had an iron in another wire waiting for him
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  Speaker 1: a fellowship to study foreign relations at George Washington University
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  Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. Even if things didn't work out
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  Speaker 1: in New York, at least he had a backup plan,
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  Speaker 1: but he didn't need it. The editor in chief of
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  Speaker 1: the other publisher had received his letter and called him
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  Speaker 1: up for an interview. Thomas headed over to their offices
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  Speaker 1: to take a writing test and was almost immediately hired
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  Speaker 1: as a staff writer. He bid mort farewell, declined the
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  Speaker 1: fellowship from George Washington University, and started a career that
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  Speaker 1: would change his life and eventually the future of entertainment.
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  Speaker 1: Thomas was given a desk, a typewriter, and a job
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  Speaker 1: punching up various titles around the company. He stayed there
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  Speaker 1: through the nineteen sixties and well into the nineteen seventies
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  Speaker 1: as other writers departed for greener pastures. The company wasn't
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  Speaker 1: doing well, especially in international markets, and they were in
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  Speaker 1: need of a new hit. He then took over as
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  Speaker 1: editor in chief in nineteen seventy two when the man
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  Speaker 1: who had hired him became the head of the company.
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  Speaker 1: As part of his duties, Thomas was required to come
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  Speaker 1: up with new ideas on how to boost circulation. It
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  Speaker 1: was while looking at the sales numbers when he got
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  Speaker 1: an idea. About five to ten percent of their readers
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  Speaker 1: lived in Canada, but they didn't have a character to
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  Speaker 1: call their own. Almost every popular title was based in
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  Speaker 1: the United States, so Thomas set out to give his
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  Speaker 1: neighbors to the north someone to cheer for and of course,
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  Speaker 1: to spend money on. He started thinking about animals as
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  Speaker 1: a basis, specifically Canadian animals. Moose weren't particularly heroic, and
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  Speaker 1: badgers came with a negative association due to the name
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  Speaker 1: being a synonym for annoying. But there was another creature,
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  Speaker 1: one with sharp claws that was known to attack beasts
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  Speaker 1: much larger than itself. Without question, that provided the perfect
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  Speaker 1: foundation for a brand new hero, one who got his
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  Speaker 1: big debut in ninety four against the Incredible Hulk. You see,
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  Speaker 1: Roy Thomas Jr. Was editor in chief of Marvel Comics,
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  Speaker 1: and he was higher by stan Lee himself. He helped
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  Speaker 1: create a brand new character to boost sales in Canada
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  Speaker 1: and Adamantium Claude cigar chopping mutant from way up North
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  Speaker 1: who changed the face of comics forever. I'm talking, of course,
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  Speaker 1: about Weapon X himself Wolverine. I hope you've enjoyed today's
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  Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
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  Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
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  Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
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  Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
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  Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
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  Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
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  Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.