Rome’s forgotten princes, ambitious women, and catastrophic loves emerge from the archives. New episodes out now.
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July has arrived in Melbourne cloaked in golden light, relentless pollen, and the season’s familiar theatrical inconstancy.
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Dear readers,
The city performs her annual drama: warm afternoons that seduce the senses, only to yield to abrupt chills and hay fever that afflicts the unwary with almost poetic injustice. One moment one contemplates the grandeur of the past, the next one is reduced to a state of quiet rebellion against the elements.
The archives continue to yield their treasures of human folly and imperial spectacle. Here is your monthly collection of discoveries.
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What’s emerging this month
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8 July:
Castor: The Roman Prince History Forgot
Meet Castor, Drusus the Younger, Tiberius’ only son who shone briefly in the Julio-Claudian shadows before vanishing from the spotlight. His story reveals the brutal machinery of imperial succession and the quiet cost of being born on the wrong side of dynastic favour.
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15 July:
Germanicus Had Charisma. Agrippina Had Fury. Caligula Inherited Both.
Germanicus, the golden boy of Rome, paired with the fiercely ambitious Agrippina the Elder created a force of nature. Their volatile blend of charm, loyalty, and unyielding rage forged one of history’s most infamous emperors: Caligula.
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22 July:
Three Daughters of Germanicus, Three Sisters of Caligula
Beyond the scandal and spectacle lie three remarkable women whose lives were forged in the crucible of their brother’s reign. Power, survival, ambition, and betrayal: the sisters of Caligula navigated a world where family love and lethal politics were never far apart.
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29 July:
Nero and the Catastrophic Art of Romance
Nero’s reign was equal parts artistic ambition and romantic catastrophe. From forbidden loves to deadly obsessions, this episode explores how the emperor’s passions—both personal and performative—blazed a trail of destruction through Rome, blending genius, madness, and the grotesque beauty of imperial desire.
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PUBLIC WRITING (FREE TO READ)
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3 July: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Or, The Original 'It's Complicated'.
10 July: Zheng He, the Voyaging Eunuch Who Made Emperors Blush (And Kingdoms Bow)
17 July: Chinese Opera. Or, The World's Most Elaborately Colour-Coded Soap Opera
24 July: A Bureaucratic Thunder God: Lei Gong and the Ministry of Thunder and Storms
31 July: Judge Bao’s Greatest Hits: Beheading Imperial Brothers-in-Law and Other Bedtime Stories
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IN THE PRIVATE COLLECTION
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The Virgin Economy
Beauty, Power, and Ritual Death
Virgins as ancient currency: offered to gods, monsters, and stressed states for victory. Iphigeneia at the altar, Andromeda as bait, Jephthah’s daughter, and Japanese maidens as monster snacks. Athenian sisters honoured their fatal oath while Mum declared one house a bargain for the city. Saffron robes, spectacle, and daughters footing the cosmic bill — classic civic duty.
If these pieces appeal to you, the Private Collection is where the deeper, longer, and more personal explorations live. You can join by pressing the button and read them immediately.
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The Oath of Stone and Silence
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In the shadow of Majapahit’s golden empire, power is carved in stone and silence. A sweeping historical romance of forbidden desire, ruthless ambition, and women who refuse to be mere ornaments of empire. When duty and passion collide amid palace intrigue and ancient oaths, one woman must decide whether to uphold the throne… or burn it down.
The throne is a cage we forge for ourselves.
Available now
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A SMALL SUGGESTION FOR JULY
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This month, take a moment to stand by an open window at dusk and listen to the city as it settles into night. Let the sounds remind you that life continues its rhythm, empires or no.
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Until next month, may your days be filled with small moments of grace and quiet wonder.
Warmly,
Marianne
Domina Tempora
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