1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: always so much for tuning in. I am Ben Bullen 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: on the road yet, joined as always with our super 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: producer mister Max Williams r. Palellin Ol Brown is on 5 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: some adventures. But all three of us are very happy 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: to report we have not died due to molten gold. 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: So two quick things. First and foremost, this episode came 8 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 2: out originally on April twelfth, twenty eighteen. That was my birthday. 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 2: I'm not going to say how old I turn on 10 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 2: that date, but it was my birthday, April twelfth, April 11 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 2: twelf It's my birthday. It's also the same day as 12 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 2: Civil War started and FDR died. 13 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: Which are three ostensibly unrelated events exactly. 14 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 2: But the other thing I was going to say is, 15 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: as the writer of the Ridiculous Royal Deaths series, I 16 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 2: have come across as death multiple times. Yeah, it's agreed 17 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 2: and I and every time I saw it, I'm like, 18 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 2: I'm not going to write about that. 19 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 3: That is too grizzly for a family show. 20 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, we did a whole episod about it before. 21 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 2: And I see that now that y'all are way more 22 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 2: of a cop than I am well. 23 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: I did kind of conscript you, and thanks for sticking 24 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: with us. But yes, it is a grizzly death. It 25 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: is an unclean death. It's one that is so notorious 26 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: it became. It became fertile soil for all sorts of 27 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: fiction and fantasy. If you're a fan of a Song 28 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, 29 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: or the much less cool television adaptation thereof, than you 30 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: are certainly aware of one of the most harrowing scenes 31 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: wherein someone meets their end by having a molten metal 32 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: of some sort poured upon them or inside them. Lead 33 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: or true story sometimes gold. Ridiculous History is a production 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:27,959 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio, Fair Warning, Friends and Neighbors, Strangers, Fellow History 35 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: buffs alike. Today's episode is grizzly. Let's set the tone 36 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: with a quotation. With my own eyes, I saw Spaniards 37 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: cut off the nose and ears of Indians, male and female, 38 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: without provocation, merely because it pleased them to do it. Likewise, 39 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: I saw how they summoned the chief rulers to come, 40 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: assuring them safety, and when they peacefully came, they were 41 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: taken captive and burned. That is a quote from Bartolommey 42 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: de las Casas, who was officially appointed to Protector of 43 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: the Indians during the sixteenth century. High I'm Ben Ben shocking, 44 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,639 Speaker 1: well it is. It is definitely graphic, and we are 45 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: talking about something graphic today. Right, But first, who are you? 46 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,519 Speaker 3: I don't want to say, you don't want to say, 47 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 3: all right, well, I can't participate in this, all right, 48 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 3: all right, I'm NOL and we are talking about grizzly 49 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 3: things today. We are talking about come up, and I 50 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 3: guess sure poetically yeah, poetically right, And we're talking about 51 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 3: death by molten gold. 52 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: Yes, yes. And the reason that NOL super producer Casey 53 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: Pegram and I are bringing up this quotation by de 54 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: las Casas is because this is one of the few 55 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: Spanish colonists of the time who stood up against the 56 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: rank abuse, the systemic plundering of the native lands in 57 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: Central in South America and in the Caribbean. And my 58 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: co host here is absolutely correct. We are talking about 59 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: molten gold, specifically molten gold in fifteen ninety nine. Now, 60 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: for fans of a lot of you know, very graphic 61 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: works of fiction, this this seems like something an author 62 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: would make up out of whole cloth just to be spooky. 63 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's true. You know, I know you're talking about 64 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 3: Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin, and you 65 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 3: may or may not know if you're a fan, that 66 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 3: he did tend to pull some of the more graphic 67 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 3: depictions of death and execution in the Game of Thrones 68 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 3: books or the Song of Fire and Ice books from 69 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 3: history that includes things like the Red Wedding. Don't google 70 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 3: that if you don't know what I'm talking about. Sure, 71 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 3: it's a massive spoiler. Just let it go. Just let 72 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 3: it go. It'll come around then it will upset you. 73 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 3: And death I'm molten Gold, which was the poetic end 74 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 3: to a character. Can I do a quick spoiler? Can 75 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 3: I do a countdown? Uh? 76 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll count you down then you go right Credick 77 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: three two one spoilers. 78 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 3: So Denari's Targarian, who is you know, the Mother of 79 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 3: Dragons and all that. In the first season of Game 80 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 3: of Thrones, her brother the series is is a is 81 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,239 Speaker 3: a real brat, He's a real pill and he feels 82 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 3: very entitled to a crown. He wants to rule the 83 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 3: Seven Kingdoms with a golden crown and in order to 84 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 3: do that, they employ, you know, the the help of 85 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 3: this barbarian horde, the Dothraki, and he basically pours his 86 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 3: sister out to this cal Drogo is the head of 87 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 3: the doth Raki, and as it turns out, they they 88 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 3: actually hit it off quite well, despite his evil intentions 89 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 3: and you know, treating his sister like chattel and he 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 3: kind of really gets cut down to size and has 91 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 3: no power, and she kind of really starts to uh 92 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 3: rise above him in terms of her influence over cal 93 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 3: Drogo and the dath racy. And ultimately, when he brings 94 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 3: a sword and threatens her unborn child by cal Drogo 95 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 3: in the presence of all of his uh what do 96 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 3: you call them, his blood riders, right, yea, his crew, 97 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 3: he demands this, this golden crown. He says he's been 98 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 3: waiting too long and he needs it now. And he's 99 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 3: got this sword. He's holding it to Denari's belly and 100 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 3: cal Drogo kind of chills for a second. He's like, 101 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 3: all right, I got you. We'll do this. We'll get 102 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 3: you your golden crown. And then they break his arm, 103 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 3: hold him down, and he pours a cauldron of molten 104 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 3: gold over his head and he dies diest right, and 105 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 3: it's it gets it gets a great scene. It's it's 106 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 3: very well done. When he kind of falls, he makes 107 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 3: this amazing kind of clunk sound and then there's steam 108 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 3: rising from the head which will be important later, very important. So, uh, 109 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 3: maybe maybe we should do a time code for spoiler. 110 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 3: I don't know, is it okay? Uh? 111 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: Noel, I think that's I think that's completely fine as 112 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: a spoiler. We did count down and I like your 113 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: blow by blow description because it is going to come 114 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: and play later in a big way. Also, boy is 115 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: George R. R. Martin and also the producers of Game 116 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: of Thrones, that whole team is just great at making 117 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: people severely unlikable. 118 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 3: Oh big time because by the. 119 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: Time that guy finally gets his come up and everybody 120 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: is just praying that he will sally. He had the 121 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: worst catchphrase, which was wake the Dragon, to wake the dragon, 122 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: Wake the Dragon. And it was very very weird about it. 123 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 3: Yes, and also super rape to his sister and just anyway. 124 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: Insolent, arrogant. 125 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 3: Yes. 126 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: But the but the point here is that this kind 127 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: of thing, as we said, actually happened. I not on 128 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: the MTV show irl in actual real life. 129 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know the quote you read at the 130 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 3: top of the show is more about the atrocities perpetrated 131 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 3: by the Spanish conquerors. Yes, but what we're seeing here 132 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 3: is sort of that turnabout's fair play kind of situation, 133 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 3: because the Spanish were so brutal and ruthless with conquering 134 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 3: these native peoples, for example, the Javarro tribe of Lagrono, 135 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 3: and in fifteen ninety nine they had had enough. 136 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: Yes, let's I'm glad you bring up the quote because 137 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: let's let's paint the context here. Let's paint the background 138 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: in which this fifteen ninety nine event occurs. The Spanish were, 139 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: I believe the technical term is utter bastards. During the 140 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: colonization period, they implemented something called the encomienda system, which 141 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: was the idea was that groups of indigenous people would 142 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: be placed under Spanish oversight to foster quote, cultural assimilation 143 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: and ultimately to convert them to Christianity. But what this 144 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: actually led to was legally sanctioned atrocities by the Spanish government, 145 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: exploiting natural resources, forcing people to work in minds for gold, 146 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: forcing people to labor until they die. I mean forget 147 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: a coffee break, sure, and very few people, relatively from 148 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: the Spanish side of this event, very few people spoke 149 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: out against the injustice. De las Casas was one of 150 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: the only people who did. 151 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 3: What's the political climate here, Ben, Is this sort of 152 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 3: the conquistador era? Yeah? 153 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, the Spanish conquest of the Americans. And you know, 154 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: just from disease alone, up to eight million people died 155 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: Indigenous people just from contacting these diseases. And one of 156 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: the brutal things that would happen here that's very important 157 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: for our story, is that these Spanish governing systems would 158 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: also just tax the pants off people and this, and 159 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: then they'd sell them pants, and then they'd sell them pants. Yes, 160 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: there was a system in play. So the Varro tribe 161 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: they eventually, as as you said, Nol, they have had enough. 162 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: And the straw on the camel of colonialism's back here, 163 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: the golden straw on the camel of colonialism's back. Here 164 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,719 Speaker 1: is the moment when the tribe finds out that not 165 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: only are they submitting to this ridiculous, egregious tax, but 166 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: that the governor of the town has been cheating them, 167 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: so adding insult to injury, it was already a rapacious tax. 168 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: It was already terrible. Yes, and they attack the Longrono settlements. 169 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 3: They did. They massacred up to twenty five thousand. 170 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: Just regular killing, though regular killing. 171 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 3: But that wasn't enough for the governor who was responsible 172 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 3: for this egregious behavior. They held him down and giving 173 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 3: him a taste of his own medicine, a lot more 174 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 3: than a taste, yeah, a heroic dose, shall we say, 175 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 3: of his own medicine, that medicine being greed. God, I 176 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,199 Speaker 3: love this poetic justice. Here. They poured molten gold down 177 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 3: his throat. 178 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: And then they burned the town to the ground to ash. Yes, 179 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: and this sounds crazy, right. We do know that, according 180 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: to the article and Journal of Clinical Pathology, molten gold 181 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: was poured down his throat until his bowels burst. That 182 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: is the title of this paper. 183 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 3: Yes, really leaving nothing to the imagination there, Yeah, by FRW. 184 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 3: Van de Goot and team. 185 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: We do know that the pouring of hot liquids or 186 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: metals like letter gold had been before. This was not 187 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: the first time someone came up with it, but the 188 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: given the value of gold, typically if you saw Roman 189 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: torture and executions this way, it would be a metal 190 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: like leg. 191 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 3: It's true, and you can even see today this is 192 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 3: a much less grizzly version of this, but it will 193 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 3: show you how how much damage a hot liquid like 194 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 3: this can do, a hot molten metal like this can do. 195 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 3: There's all these YouTube videos where people pour molten metal 196 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 3: on like watermelons, or there's even one way they pour 197 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 3: it on an ant hill and you just see insane 198 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 3: amounts of steam coming up and it hardens like instantly. 199 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 3: Then you can like open the watermelon and look inside 200 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 3: and it filled all the crevices and it's created the 201 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 3: shape of all of the open space and an hills 202 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 3: look really cool, and it hills look super cool. It's 203 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 3: like some sort of thing you'd see in the Guggenheim, 204 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,559 Speaker 3: Like it's a really fascinating sculptural kind of vibe. 205 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: Or mri of a brain or some kind of nervous system. Yeah, yeah, 206 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: that's this is a great point. You can see it 207 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 1: in the metal does cool very quickly. In fact, scientist 208 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: who used lead for a test found that the lead 209 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: solidified within ten seconds. So this means, you know, think 210 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: about think about the span of time we're talking and 211 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: this this stuff pouring down solidifying in ten seconds. It's 212 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: not going to go through the entirety of the body. 213 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 3: No, let's set up the situation here though you mentioned 214 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 3: this paper, molten gold was poured down his throat until 215 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 3: his bellls bursts. That is again the title FRW. Vandergrut 216 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 3: and R. L. Ten Berg. This is what they did. 217 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 3: They procured a cow's larynx from a slaughterhouse, and they 218 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 3: make it very clear here in the paper that no 219 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 3: animal was harmed or killed specifically for this purpose. You 220 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 3: could probably get a cow's larynx from your local butcher. Sure. Yeah, 221 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 3: they got to have them laying around somewhere. It's not 222 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 3: something you see in the case. Necessarily, you can at 223 00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 3: least get them to order. You can make it. Yeah, 224 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 3: you can make a special request if you'd like to 225 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 3: do this at home exactly. Yeah, maybe, you know, make 226 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 3: sure there's an adult present kids when you do this. 227 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 3: So they fixed the larynx in a horizontal position to 228 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 3: a piece of wood, and then they closed the bottom 229 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 3: end using tissue paper, which I guess is a pretty 230 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 3: good stand in for the type of membrane that would 231 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 3: be you know, present if this were connected to a 232 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 3: a you know, the rest of a body. And then 233 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 3: they poured seven hundred and fifty grams of pure lead, 234 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 3: which was at around four hundred and fifty degrees celsius. 235 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: Four hundred and fifty degrees celsius is eight hundred and 236 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: forty two degrees Fahrenheits, so nothing to sneeze at. 237 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 3: No, definitely not. And what happened was immediately huge amounts 238 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 3: of steam began to burst out of both ends of 239 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 3: this larynix. And of course that piece of tissue paper 240 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 3: was no match for this kind of pressure and steam, 241 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 3: and it shot out with force, they said. And then 242 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 3: within ten seconds Ben, as you mentioned, everything had congealed 243 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 3: and the lead completely filled the larynx and hardened, creating 244 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 3: a shape the perfect cross section of the larynx once 245 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 3: it had cooled. 246 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: But there's something fascinating here because after everything had cooled, 247 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: they examine the larynx, They take cross sections and look 248 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: at them under a light microscope. They find that the 249 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: throat mucus layer being completely burned off and the muscle 250 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: was cooked or damaged to the depth of only about 251 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: one centimeter, which is fascinating because you know, initially some 252 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: of us are probably thinking, well, a hot molten metal 253 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: is going to shoot straight down your throat, burning everything 254 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: in its path, and you know, fall out of your 255 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: Australia for lack of a better phrase. Yeah, But, as 256 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: Rachel Newer writes an article for Smithsonian called Here's what 257 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: actually happens during execution by molten gold, it's not the 258 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: metal that kills you. 259 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 3: No, it's the pressure and the steam, the absolute ferocity 260 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 3: of you know, think about like when you even if 261 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 3: you have a pan, right, a hot pan, and you 262 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 3: put it under cold water in the sink. If it's 263 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 3: hot enough, that thing produces all kinds of steam. That's very, 264 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 3: very hot. Can you imagine molten liquid being poured on 265 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 3: your flesh? H Absolutely, and the difference of temperature would 266 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 3: cause that insane amount of pressure and steam and rupture 267 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 3: your gutty parts. 268 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: I mean on the outside of your body alone, that's 269 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,479 Speaker 1: unimaginably painful. But then on your inerts, on your insides. 270 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: This gets to a point where the victim is probably thinking, 271 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: just let me die. And we know, you know, we 272 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: mentioned rom right, and we mentioned the use of molten lead. 273 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: The practice of pouring some sort of molten metal down 274 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: a person's throat was also used by the Spanish during 275 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:04,959 Speaker 1: the Inquisition. 276 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 3: Yep, so again taste of their own medicine and more 277 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 3: ways than one. 278 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: And I have to ask, this is something where we 279 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: insert our own opinions. 280 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 3: Are you cool with that? Sure? Man? 281 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: I want to hear some I want to hear your 282 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:23,959 Speaker 1: take on this. Do you think the tribe was justified 283 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 1: in this massacre or this sort of that's a big question. 284 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: Do you think the tribe is justified in murdering this 285 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: governor this way? 286 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 3: I don't know, man, I mean, they had been just 287 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 3: dicked around so much that I think they probably had 288 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 3: had enough and they wanted to make an example out 289 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 3: of him. You know, it was brutal times, and they 290 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 3: had been treated with brutality, and you know, I mean, 291 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 3: these tribal people had a history of brutality in and 292 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 3: of themselves. So it's certainly not something they invented out 293 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 3: of whole cloth because they were pushed too far. 294 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, these violent delights have violent ends, right, and 295 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: delight obviously is not the right word for this. But 296 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: we're by no means saying that anyone involved in this 297 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: had some sort of inborn predisposition towards these acts. Of violence. 298 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: What we are saying is that when people are forced 299 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: into a situation wherein brutality becomes a vocabulary, right, wherein 300 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: we communicate through these acts of violence, then this escalation occurs. 301 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: You know, you can check out various podcasts we and 302 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: our cohort have done on torture devices, right, and one 303 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: thing you'll find is that torture goes across all civilizations 304 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: and all cultures. But in this case they go out 305 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: on a limiaral and say, I think he had it 306 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:02,679 Speaker 1: coming to him. 307 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so too. 308 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: I think he earned this. I think he earned this torture. 309 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: Of course, we can't condone the masker of twenty five 310 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: thousand people, not all of whom would be fundamentally involved 311 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: in these gross acts of injustice. 312 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 3: Well, the way it's written in everything that I saw 313 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,919 Speaker 3: was that they were fighting back against being overtaxed. But 314 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 3: they had been colonized in the first place, and you know, 315 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 3: essentially forced to work for nothing and had their natural 316 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 3: resources totally commodified by an invading people. Right, So you know, 317 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 3: it wasn't the best arrangement in the first place. This 318 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 3: isn't even like a rebellion, This is a revolt. This 319 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 3: is like a slave revolt. 320 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, because these people were considered inhuman and the 321 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: Spanish government was saying, well, we can do whatever we 322 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: want because ultimately we're bringing them to out, we're converting 323 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: them to our religion for our means are justified. Sure, 324 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: and you know this is a fascinating, terrible thing that 325 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: we see so often in colonial history. Also, the Spanish 326 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: were singularly obsessed with gold myopically, so sure. 327 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,880 Speaker 3: Yeah. And you know, speaking of being myopically obsessed with wealth, 328 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 3: have you heard of Crassus, the Roman figure of great opulence? 329 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: Yes, yes I have, And this is a great time 330 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: to bring up Marcus Licinius Crassus born one fifteen BCE. 331 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: He was a Roman politician, right, even taught some other 332 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: Romans a few things. 333 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,679 Speaker 3: Oh big time. He was only a politician. He was 334 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 3: considered one of the wealthiest men in republican Rome. 335 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: And he got there by corrupt means. 336 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 3: Corrupt means there was a lot of invasion of other 337 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 3: cultures as well, as we know all roads lead to Rome, 338 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 3: because they just kind of took everything at the end 339 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 3: of those roads. Right, So he was hugely responsible, had 340 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,639 Speaker 3: a very successful military career where he would you know, 341 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:20,239 Speaker 3: he essentially gained control over most of Italy in his 342 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 3: struggle against the forces of Gaius Marius and Cornelius Senna, 343 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 3: and his father was part of that, and he actually 344 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 3: committed suicide. And then Crassus took off and fled to Spain, 345 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 3: and he ended up siding with the opposing force in 346 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 3: that conflict, a leader named Sola against Marius, and he 347 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 3: was able to reap the benefits of that through a 348 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 3: practice called prescription, which is where you take the spoils 349 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 3: of war from your defeated foes. You essentially commodify their property, 350 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 3: their slaves, their land, and they become your personal wealth. 351 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: It's important to mention the slavery aspect there, because again 352 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 1: slaves at the time were considered property, not people. This 353 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: is like for modern analogue. This is similar to civil forfeiture. 354 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: Civil forfeiture is the practice in the US whereby law 355 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: enforcement can confiscate property if a crime is suspected, and 356 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 1: it changes a little bit state to state, but this 357 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: is on a much higher level. This is, as Noel said, 358 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: spoils of war, and all you have to do is 359 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: declare someone an enemy of the state. But why are 360 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: we bringing up crosses here? 361 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 3: He is rumored to have met a delightfully violent end 362 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 3: as well, at the hands of another group that he 363 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 3: was attempting to conquer, and that group was known as 364 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 3: the Parthians. And what were they about then? 365 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, the Parthian Empire was a major socio political power 366 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: located in modern day Iran and Iraq. So it's just 367 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: across the Euphrates, and Crasis says, you know, he has 368 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: Syria as his province, and he said, that's not enough. 369 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: I want more. I want the riches of Parthia. So 370 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:33,640 Speaker 1: he crosses the river and he wants to prove that 371 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: he also is a military force to be reckoned with. 372 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: There's some internal competition in the empire big. 373 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 3: Time, and that specifically was he. He was one of 374 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 3: the responsible parties for starting the triumvirate between himself, Julius 375 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 3: Caesar and ultimately his greatest nemesis, POMPEII, Pompey the Great, 376 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 3: Pompey the Great exactly. And in fact, he had such 377 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 3: a beef with Pompeii that when people would use this 378 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 3: nickname Pompey the Great, he would respond, how big is he? 379 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: He's just such a bill man, and his plan to 380 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: his plan to attack Parthia just doesn't work out because 381 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,719 Speaker 1: they have a different type of attack strategy. 382 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 3: Oh for sure, it's a different terrain than he's used 383 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 3: to operating on. That's a very sandy terrain, and it's 384 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 3: a pretty poorly formed plan. But before we get into 385 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 3: that and finish that, I just wanted to mention some 386 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 3: of his bona fides and some of what led to 387 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 3: his beef with POMPEII. He was responsible for quashing the 388 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 3: Spartacus slave rebellion, right you you've all seen the movie 389 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 3: I Am Spartacus and all of that. Between seventy thousand 390 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 3: to one hundred and twenty thousand slaves who basically formed 391 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 3: an army who had created a huge kerfuffle in the 392 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 3: Roman Empire, and it was his job, Crasus's job to 393 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 3: deal with this, right, and he ultimately did after his 394 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 3: legion under the leadership of a lieutenant by the name 395 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,959 Speaker 3: of Mummius, failed miserably when Mummy has disregarded Crasus's orders. 396 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 3: Crisus was also ruthless because he instituted this punishment for 397 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,439 Speaker 3: this disobedience called decimation, where in one in ten soldiers 398 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 3: in this five hundred man part of the army were 399 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 3: killed by their cohorts in full view of their colleagues. 400 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,120 Speaker 1: We have to interject now, or I have to interject 401 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: at least now in this story to say, Rome is 402 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: the origin of the word decimate. When you hear someone 403 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: described something as decimated, they should not be saying that 404 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 1: if they mean destroyed, annihilated. 405 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,439 Speaker 3: And doesn't it seem like shooting yourself in the foot too, 406 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 3: You're literally like getting rid of your precious troops. 407 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: He also born wealthy too. It's not as if he 408 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: earned his way up by his bootstrap. No. 409 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 3: And this was a time too where just being wealthy 410 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 3: you could like buy your own army. That you know, 411 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 3: it wasn't necessarily like a standing government army. A rich 412 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 3: man could come forth and pay enough money to have 413 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:23,679 Speaker 3: his own army. So what happened next, Well, he, you know, 414 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 3: he ultimately, after this severe punishment, he did come through 415 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 3: and defeat that slave uprising at Lushania, where he cornered 416 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 3: Spartacus and his forces. It ultimately resulted in him crucifying 417 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 3: six thousand of the survivors on the Apian Way, which 418 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 3: was a road where it would be lined with crucified 419 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 3: corpse corpses, Yeah, exactly. But the beef with Pompeii came 420 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,159 Speaker 3: from the fact that after Crassius had done the bulk 421 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,880 Speaker 3: of the work, Pompey's force kind of swept in and 422 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 3: like just sort of picked off the last remaining straggler 423 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 3: of Spartacus's army and then got back home before Crassus 424 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 3: and was able to kind of reap the glory, the 425 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 3: credit of the credit of that, And that was a 426 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 3: thing that sort of haunted him and happened a couple 427 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 3: more times. But let's get back to the undoing of 428 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 3: Crassus and how he ultimately met his poetic end, ah, 429 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 3: his alleged end as well. 430 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: So he's got a real chip on his shoulder, a 431 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: real badger in his bag about this. Let's call it 432 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: an inferiority complex. Even he is in intense internal competition 433 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: with the other members of the Triumvirate, and this victory 434 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: over Parthia, if he can swing it, is going to 435 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: make him just as respected in his mind. 436 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 3: Maybe he can be. 437 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 1: Called Crassus the Competent or something like that. 438 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 3: Oh, come on, he wanted more than that, sure, Grassis 439 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 3: the badasses. There we go. There we go, or. 440 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: Crassis the cosmically cool something like that. Oh wait, no, 441 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: I got it, Crassis the celebrated something like that. Sure 442 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,879 Speaker 1: he wanted credit the revered, and he had, as I 443 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: think it established before, he had greater numbers in terms 444 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: of just individuals fighting for him. However, the Parthians had 445 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: superior strategy. They had a shoot and run cavalry and 446 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: arrow attack. This was their combo move. They were very 447 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: good at it. 448 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 3: They would get. 449 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: Within shooting range, they would rain arrows down on the troops, 450 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: then they would fall back, and then they would charge 451 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 1: fourth and do it again. But here's the problem. They 452 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: were able to shoot as well backwards as they could forwards. 453 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: So if you just have waves of this going back 454 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: and forth, what's a Crassis to do? 455 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 3: This actually reminds me of going back to Game of Thrones. 456 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 3: That is sort of like a situation where the doth 457 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 3: Raki were mounted and they were archers, and they were 458 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 3: masters of their terrain, which was sort of they called 459 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,720 Speaker 3: it the grass Sea. It's this big, very flat area 460 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 3: and the folks that they were fighting against would often 461 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 3: not be prepared to meet them in open combat. Again, 462 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 3: taking historical context, I think mister Martin is pretty pretty 463 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 3: good at weaving that stuff into his work. 464 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: So the forces that Crass's controls. 465 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 3: Don't like them. 466 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: They're near mutiny, and so they demand that he hold 467 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: parley with the Parthians, in other words, that he negotiate 468 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: a peaceful end to this, because obviously he's kind of 469 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: a jerk. 470 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 3: For a boss, and they're getting shredded, right. 471 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: And his son dies in the same battle, so he agrees. 472 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: He finally says, all right, I'll meet them, and everything 473 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 1: goes pear shape. He is riding a horse to negotiate 474 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: for peace, and he's got, you know, his entourage, He's 475 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: got his sidekick, Octavius. Octavius suspects that there's a trap. 476 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: He grabs Crasus his horse. This instigates again. There's a 477 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: very tense climate, a sudden fight with the Parthians, and 478 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: later you will hear from a historian named Cassius Dio 479 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: that he was killed made a mockery of by pouring 480 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: metal molten gold again down his throat, and that this 481 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: was poetic come uppance due to his lifelong greed thirst 482 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: for riches and powers. 483 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 3: Seems like editorializing to me, doesn't it. 484 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: It is because it can be traced to that one historian, 485 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: but now currently that's the source. There's no nobody found 486 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: a body filled with molten gold. 487 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 3: It was also thought that perhaps he was killed and 488 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 3: then had the molten gold pour down his throat, sort 489 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 3: of adding insult to injury as some sort of symbolic gesture. 490 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: Right like that pope who dug the other pope up 491 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: and held a trial for him, which we should totally 492 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: do an episode on. 493 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 3: But you know, at the end of the day, it's 494 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 3: a good story. Not one hundred percent sure it happened 495 00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 3: that way, but it is an example of somebody meeting 496 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 3: their own demise because they just couldn't have enough and 497 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 3: they felt overshadowed by somebody and they needed to you know, 498 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 3: ambiggen themselves. Right. 499 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: Yes, to literally a fatal degree. However, we can say, 500 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: thankfully that death by ingestion and molten metal is not 501 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: a leading cause of fatalities nowadays, in twenty eighteen, as 502 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: we record it, at least the years so far. 503 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 3: However, I'd like to. 504 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: Hear from you, friends and neighbors, what are some of 505 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: the strangest or maybe most apropos deaths that you've read about. 506 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 3: Yew whether in fiction, whether in literature, whatever you've got, 507 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 3: send it to us at ridiculous at HowStuffWorks dot com, 508 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 3: or you can shoot it to us on Facebook or Twitter, 509 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 3: where we are Ridiculous History. We also have a pretty 510 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 3: cool Facebook group where we're kind of mining it for 511 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,239 Speaker 3: topic ideas and pretty active and fun group over at 512 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 3: the Ridiculous Historians. You can join up there and if 513 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 3: you like a note, if you want to be a moderator. 514 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: Yes, And while you're there, go ahead and find some 515 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 1: of the threads that are still active. One that we 516 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: both enjoyed was the one about hot people from. 517 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 3: History, and I chose the original. 518 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: Michelin, man I think you went with Abraham Lincoln. 519 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 3: I did, but man I had no idea. That's yours 520 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 3: where I thought there were some sort of weird sausage 521 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 3: monsters from like a Twilight Zone episode, very crazy looking, 522 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 3: you guys to check it out. 523 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: Michelin has a crazy history too. We should probably cover 524 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: the story of how a tire company fostered one of 525 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: the most prestigious rating systems in the world of restaurants, 526 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: but that is a tale for another day. Do check 527 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: us out online and stay tuned. For our next episode, 528 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 1: when we examined the disappearance of a waterfall, and. 529 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 3: In the meantime, we'd like to thank our composer Alex Williams, 530 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 3: super producer Casey Pegram, and you for joining us for 531 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 3: another episode of Ridiculous History. We will see you next. 532 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: Time, assuming we don't. 533 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 3: I have malten Go, I want to talk about him. 534 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 535 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.