1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,320 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, it's Eaves. Just wanted to let you know 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: that you'll be hearing an episode from me and an 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: episode from Tracy V. Wilson today. I hope you enjoyed 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: the show. Welcome to this Day in History class from 5 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com and from the desk of 6 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the show where 7 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: we explore the past one day at a time with 8 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and 10 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: it's January tenth. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon on this 11 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: day in the year forty nine BC. Today, crossing the 12 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: Rubicon has become an idiom in the English language, used 13 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: to describe making a really difficult decision or taking a 14 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: really important step, something that you just can't turn back from. 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: And so this might conjure up images that the Rubicon 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: was a really dangerous mountain range or some kind of 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: treacherous chasm. But really it was a river, and not 18 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: even a particularly large river. Sometimes it's described as not 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: much more than a stream. It was the context that 20 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: made it such a critical point of no return. The 21 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: Rubicon marked the border between Italy and Gaul. Gaul included 22 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: a lot of what is France and northern Italy today, 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: and after a long and complicated political history, Julius Caesar 24 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: had been given authority over part of Gaul, and then 25 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: he had conquered the rest of it. And through this 26 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: expanding military conquest he had started amassing enough power to 27 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: turn back home towards Rome. He had an eye toward 28 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: remaking the Roman government to suit his own purposes. This 29 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: was because of both his activities in Gaul and the 30 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: way he had handled his affairs back in Rome. He 31 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: basically earned enough money in all this conquest to hire 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: agents to see to his interest there. Of course, this 33 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: growing power Julius Caesar was a threat to other powerful 34 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: people back in Rome. Back in the year sixty BC, Caesar, Pompey, 35 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: and Crassus had all formed an alliance together known as 36 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: the First Triumvirate, and as Caesar had become more and 37 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: more powerful, that alliance had really started to crumble. Caesar 38 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: had really been the negotiator between Pompey and Crassus, but 39 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: as Pompey became more distrustful of Caesar, he couldn't really 40 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: fill that role anymore, and then Crassis was killed in 41 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: battle in the year fifty three, leaving just Pompey and 42 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: Caesar and various factions within the Senate, all trying to 43 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: amass the most power, all with their different goals and 44 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: different ideas about how Rome should be run. This led 45 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,519 Speaker 1: to a series of very complicated negotiations and tensions until 46 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: the Senate resolved that both Pompey and Caesar needed to 47 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: lay down their military commands simultaneously. They voted on this 48 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: matter in December one, the year fifty BC, but the 49 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: next day Roman consul Guius Claudius Marcellas defied the Senate 50 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: offered Pompey command of all of Italy's armies. This was 51 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: basically him taking sides between Caesar and Pompey. Caesar once 52 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: again said that he and Pompey should give up their 53 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: commands at the same time simultaneously get both of them 54 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: on the equal footing disarmed together, but the Senate had 55 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: changed their perspective. They had basically taken Pompey's side and 56 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: resolved that if Caesar did not disarm himself, he would 57 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: be an enemy of the state. A new governor had 58 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: been elected for Gaul. Caesar was under direct orders to 59 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: lay down his arms, and that brings us to the Rubicon. 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: If Caesar crossed the Rubicon with the thirteenth legion crossing 61 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: from Gaul into Italy at this point, this would be 62 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: considered an act of war. It was an irreversible decision 63 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: and a point of no return. In the account of Suetonius, quote, 64 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: he snatched a trumpet from one of them and ran 65 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: to the river with it, then sounding the advance with 66 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: a piercing blast, he crossed to the other side. At 67 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: this Caesar cried out, let us go, where the omens 68 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: of the gods and the crimes of our enemies summon us. 69 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: The die is now cast. This action on Caesar's part 70 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: led to a civil war, which Caesar won at the 71 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: end of it all, declaring I came, I saw I conquered. 72 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: Quite famously, Pompey was killed during this process. In the 73 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: year forty eight BC, Caesar returned to Rome as a dictator, 74 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,239 Speaker 1: although that conquest had not ended until the year forty 75 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: five BC, and on the IDEs of March forty four BC, 76 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: less than a year later, Caesar was assassinated thanks to 77 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: Casey Pegraham and Chandler Mayze for their audio work missed show. 78 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to The Day in History Class on 79 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, Google Podcasts, I Heart Radio app and wherever 80 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: else you get your podcast, and you can tune in 81 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: tomorrow for a landmark court argument. Greetings, I'm Eves and 82 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: welcome to this Day in History Class, a show that 83 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: believes no day in history is a slow day. The 84 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: day was January n The silent science fiction film Metropolis 85 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 1: premiered at the UFA paulas m Zoo in Berlin. The 86 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: futuristic dystopian film is regarded as a pioneering work in 87 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:55,600 Speaker 1: the history of film. Fritz Long was born in Vienna, Austria, Hungary. 88 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: He served in the Austrian Army in World War One, 89 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: but after the war he dove into the entertainment world. 90 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: He acted, wrote screenplays, and directed films, and his career 91 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: took him to Germany. In nineteen twenty he met novelist 92 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: and screenwriter Tea von Harbo. They married two years later, 93 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: and over the course of their relationship, Von Harbo wrote 94 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: the script or story for many of Long's films. In 95 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: nineteen four Long traveled to the US to observe filmmaking 96 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: techniques in New York in Hollywood. When he returned to Germany, 97 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: he began working on the film Metropolis. The film was 98 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: based on von Harbo's novel of the same name, released 99 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: in n She and Lane collaborated on the screenplay, which 100 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: is set in the future in a city called Metropolis. 101 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: In the city, there's a class of wealthy industrialists and 102 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: a class of exploited workers who live underground. There's a 103 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: robot of forbidden love and a revolution. Filming began at 104 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: the UFA Film Studios outside Berlin in May of n 105 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: and finished in October of nine. The production was over 106 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: the top and expensive. There were tens of thousands of 107 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: extras and huge models of skyscrapers. It cost u f 108 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: A about five million Reichs Marks, which was the currency 109 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: of the third Reich. That would have been somewhere around 110 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: one million dollars at the time. The studio was banking 111 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: on Metropolis to be a success, but the film was 112 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: a flop. It premiered in Berlin on January nine and 113 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: was criticized heavily. U f A let the film run 114 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: in Berlin, but it had also entered into a code 115 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: distribution deal with Paramount. Paramount deemed its original length of 116 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: one and fifty three minutes too long for a US release, 117 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: and playwright Channing Pollock was hired to write a shorter 118 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: version of the film. The new cut of the film 119 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: came in at under two hours. It premiered in the 120 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: US in March of nineteen me seven, but the high 121 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: cost of the film, plus all the other economic issues 122 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: in Germany at the time, drove UFA towards bankruptcy, and 123 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: German businessman and politician Alfred Huggenberg bought the company in 124 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: ninete Hugenberg also had the original film cut down, and 125 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: that version was released in German theaters in August. This 126 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: shortened version went on general release around the world. These 127 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: versions have been edited further over the decades, and different 128 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: versions of the film exist in different countries. Metropolis got 129 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: mixed reviews. H. G. Wells, author of sci fi classics 130 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, wrote 131 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: in The New York Times in nine that it was 132 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: the quote silliest film, but Nazi politician Joseph Gebel's praised 133 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: the film. A note here that von Harbo, who long 134 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: divorced in nineteen thirty three, later joined the Nazi Party 135 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: and was loyal to the regime, but over the decades, 136 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: the visual style and story told in Metropolis became recognized 137 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: as important work in film history. Long ended up leaving 138 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: Nazi Germany and moving to France, then to the US 139 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: to work in Hollywood. A large part of the original 140 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: cut of the film was recently restored in screen in theaters. 141 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: I'm Jefcote and hopefully you know a little more about 142 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. Have a hard time 143 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: staying present as you mindlessly scrolled through social media. Lucky 144 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: for you, we're stuck in the past at t d 145 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: I h C podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or 146 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: if you would prefer to email us, you can send 147 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: us a message at this day at i heart media 148 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: dot com. I hope you liked this show. We'll be 149 00:09:48,880 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 1: back tomorrow with another episode. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, 150 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 151 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.