The Assassination of Spurius Maelius

The Partial Historians · Jul 14, 2022 · 1h 16m · transcript

Famine Strikes

After a peaceful year in 441 BCE, the Romans are in for nasty shock over the course of 440 and 439 BCE. It all begins with a crippling famine, and there seems to have been signs of problems ahead before the food shortage really set in. In Pliny the Elder, there is a reference to an aedile of the plebs (Marcus Marcius) selling grain to the poor at a very low price.

Episode 127 – The Assassination of Spurius Maelius

There are some startling differences in our source material this episode. What we can agree on is that the crisis was so severe, Lucius Minucius was appointed…