Your Attention Please

Early morning. 11th of January, 49 BC/E. Gaius Julius Caesar stands on the banks of the Rubicon River separating the province of Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. He ponders what crossing it will mean - war against his fellow Romans and all the misery that ensues. Invading his homeland he officially becomes a Public Enemy. Town after town, region after region falls to the Caesarean forces. Rome is in tumult, Pompey and the Senate abandon it and with their conscripted soldiers leave Italy for Greece. Caesar, unable to stop them makes this war affect the entire Roman world and beyond. Meanwhile Cato, assigned to Sicily to control the grain supply for the Republicans, grows deeply disillusioned wit the war he helped engineer.    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources  Primary Sources The Civil Wars - Appian (Penguins) The Gallic War - Julius Caesar (Folio Society) trans. S.A Handford and Jane F. Gardner The Civil War – Julius Caesar (Oxford Classics) trans. John Carter  The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy - Sallust (Penguin) The Fall of the Roman Republic (Books 36-40) - Cassius Dio (Oxford Classics) Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar) - Suetonius  Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger – Plutarch trans. Rex Warner Secondary Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  In the Name of Rome – Adrian Goldsworthy The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome – Guy de la Bedoyere Fiction Cicero Trilogy (Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator) – Robert Harris Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    TV Series Rome – 2005-6 (HBO) iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au

The Years of 51 BC/E to 10 January 49 BC/E were some of the most critical of the Roman Republic. Caesar is due to return from Gaul, Cato eagerly await this homecoming so they can haul him off to court for innumerable illegalities. Despite this Caesar has some cards to play to avoid that bleak future. will that be enough to safeguard his achievements, his person, his dignitas (the esteem he holds in eyes of his fellow Romans)? The answer will be the difference between a political war and a military war. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opening Reading - Appian, The Civil Wars Book II.31  Sources Primary Sources The Civil Wars - Appian (Penguins) The Gallic Wars - Julius Caesar  The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy - Sallust (Penguin) The Fall of the Roman Republic (Books 36-40) - Cassius Dio (Oxford Classics) Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar) - Suetonius  Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger - Plutarch Secondary Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  Lawless Republic - Josiah Osgood In the Name of Rome – Adrian Goldsworthy Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough  Caesar - Colleen McCullough  Cicero Trilogy (Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator) - Robert Harris TV Series Rome – 2005-6 (HBO) iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au

Your Attention Please Presents On Flicks where this week we review the 1983 Bollywood film Masoom. Where an idyllic family life is thrown into chaos when it deals with the arrival of a child who is a product of the father's infidelity. From its heart-rendering content, the power of its musical numbers this controversial film deserves to be analysed. Unfortunately, I am barely able to do it justice in the short time we have. Don't worry, we plan to remedy this with an upcoming podcast that takes a deeper dive into this and some other topics - we are thinking of calling it AVX Uncut. Let us know what you think on yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources Masoom (1983) The Story of Film - Mark Cousins  

Vercingetorix sets off a Gallic-wide revolt but Caesar's ambitions are not that easily brushed aside. Back in Rome, well technically outside of Rome, Clodius encounters Milo and ends up murdered. His body when brought back to the city sparks hysterical scenes of mourning and inevitable riots. This results in the Senate House burned to a crisp. Pompey is made sole consul to quell the disorder and is now married to the conservatively connected Cornelia Scipionis. Cato eyes him as less an enemy than a potential counter-weight to the rising power and influence of Caesar.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources Primary Sources Appian – The Civil Wars (Penguin) The Gallic Wars - Julius Caesar Sallust - The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy (Penguin) Cassius Dio (Books 36-40) - The Fall of the Roman Republic (Oxford Classics) Suetonuis - Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar)  Plutarch - Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger Secondary Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Cicero: A Lawless Republic - Josiah Osgood Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  The Patrician Tribune – W. Jeffrey Archer  In the Name of Rome – Adrian Goldsworthy The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome – Guy de la Bedoyere Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    TV Series Rome – 2005-6 (HBO) iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au  

It is mid-56 BCE. Our triumvirs meet in the Tuscan town of Luca to renew their alliance. Pompey and Crassus subsequently become joint-consuls for the second time in 55 BCE. They prolong Caesar's Gallic command for 5 more years. But this is the high-point - disasters beckon. Crassus, desirous of military glory comparable to his compatriots takes the province of Syria where he decides to make war against the Parthian Empire. Taking over 40,000 soldiers he meets a Parthian army less than half his size near the town of Carrhae. He perishes along with his son and over three-quarters of his men. Pompey's wife and Caesar's daughter, Julia dies in childbirth losing her son in the process. In mourning Caesar's enemies, in the form of a young Gallic commander, Vercingetorix and the irrepressible Cato sense an opening.    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources  Primary Sources The Civil Wars - Appian (Penguins) The Gallic Wars - Julius Caesar  The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy - Sallust (Penguin) The Fall of the Roman Republic (Books 36-40) - Cassius Dio (Oxford Classics) Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar) - Suetonius  Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger - Plutarch Secondary Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  In the Name of Rome – Adrian Goldsworthy The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome – Guy de la Bedoyere Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    TV Series Rome – 2005-6 (HBO) iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au  

Cesar arrives in Gaul and embarks on a War of Conquest. Meanwhile in Rome, the irrepressible Clodius now Tribune of the Plebs takes charge, banishing Cicero and Cato from the city, recruiting a private gang and expanding the grain dole (the annonae) to the populace. He now turns his metaphorical guns against Pompey, attacking his Eastern settlements. The arrival of the deposed ruler of Egypt Ptolemy XII Auletes (the flute player) and Berenice IV, the current Queen's envoys brings their dynastic feud onto the streets of Rome with fatal consequences. Things are heating up!   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources Primary Sources The Civil Wars - Appian (Penguin) The Gallic Wars - Julius Caesar  The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy - Sallust (Penguin) The Fall of the Roman Republic (Books 36-40) - Cassius Dio (Oxford Classics) Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar) - Suetonius  Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger - Plutarch Secondary Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  In the Name of Rome – Adrian Goldsworthy The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome – Guy de la Bedoyere Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    TV Series Rome – 2005-6 (HBO) iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au

Today Your Attention Please welcomes Amber from Youth Vision, a sister Alive 90.5 FM radio show. Her show delves into what is shaping the lives of our youth today from art to tech, mental health and much more. I think it is important when telling stories to interact with people from various backgrounds and the youth demographic has traditionally been a vital for the driving of artistic taste and movements. Hope you enjoy as we get into everything from high school cliques, the manosphere, technology and platforms and hopefully shed some misconceptions.    Note: This is a partial continuation of the collaborative show I did with Amber on Youth Vision dated 29 March 2026. So check out her show on iHeart or on alive905.com.au   

J.U.D.A.S. A name synonymous with the worst type of villainy, betrayal. This episode we look into the original story of Judas Iscariot, the discipline who double-crossed his master. We are leaving historicity aside and focussing on deconstructing the aspects of the narrative and its relationship to the portrayal of villains. Lastly we look at the afterlife of Judas. Note: This episode will be pared with a future episode on the Gospel of Judas Iscariot.   Sources: The Bible - King James Version The Gospel of Judas Iscariot - Bart D. Ehrman  

59 BC. The Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus. Caesar obtains high office after forgoing his Triumph. Cato and the boni attempt their usual methods of interference to stop Caesar's legislative agenda but realise their target is willing to resort to violence and is supported by Pompey and Crassus to boot! Intimidated, the Senate refuses to side with Cato. Consequently, Bibulus retires to his home for the rest of the year to look at the stars for celestial disagreement, and write reports of his findings with some first rate mudslinging that will be read out to the populace on a daily basis. Pompey has married Caesar's daughter Julia. At the end of the year Caesar will govern 3 provinces (the two Gauls and Illyricum) for a period of 5 years, an unprecedented post-consular command. Before he leaves he unleashes Publius Claudius who coverts to his even darker alter-ego Clodius, his target...Cicero.   Sources  Cassius Dio (Books 36-40) - The Fall of the Roman Republic Suetonuis - Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar)  Plutarch - Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Cicero: A Lawless Republic - Josiah Osgood Pompey the Great – Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au Photo: The modern ruins of the Roman Forum, Rome. 

What will happen to the Catiline Conspirators as Caesar and Cato lead the debate in the Senate? Even after this crisis, there looms the threat of Pompey returning from the East bearing gifts and a lot of veterans, keen to claim their rewards. Cato now holding office is determined to frustrate him in yet another contest of wills. As for Caesar he is enveloped in a scandal, as the unruly Publius Claudius violates the sanctity of a women's only religious festival dressed as a flute girl. We are entering Roman soap opera territory!  Sources  Sallust - The Jugurthine Wars | The Catiline Conspiracy Cassius Dio (Books 36-40) - The Fall of the Roman Republic Suetonuis - Lives of the Caesars (Julius Caesar)  Plutarch - Lives of Cicero | Julius Caesar | Cato the Younger Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Lawless Republic: The Rise of Cicero - Josiah Osgood Pompey the Great - Robin Seager Caesar - Mattias Gelzer Before Augustus - Natale Barca  Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  Fiction Caesar's Women - Colleen McCullough    iHeart Podcasts: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-your-attention-please-326046416/ OmnyStudio: https://omny.fm/shows/your-attention-please Email: yourattentionplease@alive905.com.au

Caesar and Cato have finally returned from the East, existing in the shadow of two other powerful figures of the late Republic - Crassus and Pompey. Both our protagonists continue to make a name for themselves in the law courts and some other unconventional ways. Meanwhile, another wealthy nobleman, Catilina is accused to be an author of a conspiracy to overthrow the Senate. Sources The Jugurthine War/The Conspiracy of Catiline - Sallust   

YAP continues the story of the titanic feud between Caesar and Cato, that lead to the demise of the Roman Republic. Sources Cato the Younger - Fred K. Drogula Caesar - Mattias Gelzer

YAP sets the scene of the late Roman republic, the back drop for what will be one of the most consequential political feuds in history; Gaius Julius Caesar vs. Marcus Porcius Cato. Cato vs Caesar. Conservative vs. Populist. What is at stake? The future of the Roman Republic.  Sources Uncommon Wrath - Josiah Osgood Before Augustus: The Fall of the Republic - Natale Barca Cato the Younger - Fred Drogula  Caesar - Mattias Gelzer

Fancy reading about a trip to the moon only to fight the people of the sun, how about getting eaten by a whale and then visiting a island paradise to frolic with dead heroes? YAP and AVX explores the life of Lucian of Samosata (fl. 170 AD/CE) and novella A True Story possibly the first Sci-Fi written work in recorded history.

THE 90's. Amidst the revolutionary 60s and 70s, the go-go 80s, poor little 90s gets overlooked. Not anymore. AVX, as a child of the 90s wants to correct the record.  This will be the first part of a mooted series on this pivotal decade.  

YAP goes to Hollywood for its first film review episode. This time diving into Jonathan Demme's offbeat road trip comedy Something Wild starring Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta.    

YAP and AVX continue their exploration of the world's first story, the Epic of Gilgamesh and its legacy.

612 BC/E. Northern Mesopotamia. Nineveh Palace, the former capital of the Assyrian Empire destroyed by a coalition of Babylonians and Medes. Thousands of clay tablet fragments sit undiscovered for thousands of years. When they are discovered in the 19th century, their deciphering results in a global sensation. Ancient mythological worlds opened, epic poetry, and letters between kings allows a once quiet world to speak loudly to us. One of these works, The Epic of Gilgamesh has been stitched together by scholars across the centuries to give us access to the world's first recorded story. Albeit, a syncretism of Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Sumerian versions. Yet is this not a testament to the power of the story.  Sources Epic of Gilgamesh - trans. Sophus Helle 

Part 2 of our attempt to de-mystify stories. This week what are the major factors that impact how a story is told, felt and interpreted.      

AVX the Storyographer welcomes you to the realm of story with a focus on film and television. From fabula to syuzhet, and genres to types so let us be your guide to narrative. 

Your host AVX recalls formative events and moments that have impacted his life. In today's episode we investigate an overlooked part of colonial history, the story of Girmityas also known as Indentured Labourers. These people met the demand for workers when slavery was declared illegal and form a unique portion of the Indian diaspora, including in Fiji where AVX's ancestor's made a home.       

Happy New Year! To ring in 2026 we look at the origins of how we measure the calendar year. For this we must travel to 305 BC/E and to Babylon where Seleucas, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, founder of the Seleucid Empire, innovates how to record time.   Source Time and its Adversaries in the Seleucid Empire - Paul J. Kosmin