Hey, I have not really had the time to listen to this podcast at all before now, I will try to make some time for it. I just wanted to say that I listened to the episode about your own research and it was really good! Your conclusion at the end about how the people really were impacted by these wars and that the people dedicated to saving lives were remembered for generations was deeply moving.
You are absolutely right that it is hard to really situate yourself into events that happened hundreds or thousands of years ago, but it is important to realize that people had to live through all that. It is also true that we tend to lionize the conquerors and the warlords and whatnot, but in reality, we should probably be celebrating people like Orientius.
One of the great joys for me of reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Iliad was seeing how the central deaths in those works still hurt millennia later. There were people who contributed to those stories, people who enjoyed them, people who cried about them. I bring up fictional accounts, but it was really nice to hear you talk about two extraordinary people, I got to feel like that again.
I also found it funny how Augustine wrote some clauses anticipating counter-arguments. I think we all know people who can talk the talk but won't walk the walk. Living up to your beliefs is hard so it is reassuring to know that people were always struggling with it, but also that there were always men of character and duty like Augustine and Orientius around as well.
Yikes! I'm so sorry this comment slipped through the cracks -- for some reason Wix never emailed me a notification about this post. In fact, I've seen it only because I accidentally clicked on the wrong button -- but I'm glad I did.
Thanks for checking out Agnus, and I'm glad you enjoyed this episode. The normal format is interviews of other scholars. I've largely let the show drift into a perpetual hiatus, but I hope to bring it back some day.
I'm especially glad that you were able to empathize with Augustine and Orientius, to imagine them and the nameless others who lived through these events. Telling their story has been the whole purpose of my work and it really means a lot to me to know that you found something useful there.