In 440, the Huns turned their attentions to Europe and arrived in force on the borders of the Roman Empire. Attila, became one of the most feared military leaders and began to spread fear into the heart of Rome.
http://podcast.co.uk/the-history-of-rome-podcast-episode-170-attilla-cometh/
Mariella Frostrup speaks to Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer about her collected short fiction; author Tom Holland discusses the legacy of I, Claudius; writers Ian McMillan, Tessa Hadley and Andrew Martin explain the enduring allure of railways in fiction.
Welcome to your Atheist Christmas Podcast for the Year of Our Overlords, 2010. This year, I’m looking back at Christmas past. "Your past" you ask? No, long past. Looooong past. Go back, back, back before that cloudy April when some guy who may have been named Jesus but decidedly didn’t perform any miracles and wasn’t born of a virgin and may or may not have been a prophet or a rabbi, and may or may not have been crucified, was born. You’ll see Egyptians lounging about, you’ll see Greek women tearing apart a hapless young man, and you’ll see masters pretending their slaves are "free" for a fortnight. You’ll see yetis and wildmen covered in fur, delivering presents to people in northern Europe and Scandinavia. You’ll see holly, ivy and trees, decorated in festive gold and silver, and blazing fires, while people warm themselves and gorge on meat. You’ll see lascivious displays of cross dressing and public orgy. You’ll marvel as reindeer fly on psychedelic mushrooms, and wonder why you still see those mushrooms on Christmas trees. There is so much to see, and only a month to see it all. So strap in and get ready to be overwhelmed, or, in the case of most of you, underwhelmed. "Seen that, done it."
My listeners are edumacated.
Tagged with christmas pagan history saturnalia solstice rome wenceslaus vomitorium