Ep 47: Introducing History Daily

00:00Hey everybody, I'm Dan McClellan and I'm Dan Beecher and are you listening to the Data Over Dogma

00:07podcast? There is some question this week. There is some question. We are actually going to introduce

00:14you to our friends over at History Daily, which is a totally other podcast from us. It is hosted by

00:23a gentleman named Lindsey Graham. I had the opportunity to chat with him for a bit last year

00:27when we were at a podcasting convention in Denver. He is a great guy and a wonderful podcast host

00:35and I am hoping that you enjoy two episodes from History Daily. Yeah, what they do is

00:43awesome. They literally every weekday, they put out a different show. I mean, you're going to hear

00:50it's going to be sort of a 20 minute thing about something that happened that day in history.

00:56So you could start each day with a different fun little history story from that day. So

01:05enjoy these things. We'll be back with a regular us show next week. But yeah, sit back, relax and

01:13enjoy History Daily. Bye everybody. This always fashionable episode of History Daily

01:22originally aired on January 10, 2022.

01:27It's March 17, 45 B.C. In the Roman province of Hispania and what is now southern Spain,

01:42two armies are locked in a fierce battle. On one side are 70,000 Roman soldiers loyal to the

01:48late General Pompey. These men want Rome to remain a Republic, a representative democracy

01:54with power resting in an elected Senate. On the opposing side is an army of a Maverick General

02:00named Julius Caesar. Many consider a threat to the Republic. Four years ago, Caesar launched

02:06an attempt to bypass the democratic process and establish himself as dictator of the Roman Empire.

02:12Pompey stepped forward as the defender of the Republic, the man who would protect Roman

02:17democracy from the power-hungry Caesar. But a year after his armies marched on Rome, Caesar

02:23defeated Pompey on the field of battle. With his great rival dead, Caesar considered the Civil War

02:29one and the path to uncontested power clear. But more resistance soon emerged in the shape of Pompey's

02:36two sons. Intent on avenging their father's death, they assembled an army in Hispania to

02:42overthrow Caesar. Determined not to be outmaneuvered, Caesar sailed west with his legionnaires,

02:48sweeping across Hispania and pushing the republican forces back until eventually the two sides met

02:54here outside the town of Moona. Now amid the clashing of swords in the constant reign of deadly arrows,

03:01Julius Caesar is struck by a rare moment of self-doubt. If he loses this battle, every victory so far

03:08will count for nothing. The future of the Roman Empire is at stake and Caesar can feel it slipping

03:13through his fingers. His army is outnumbered by 30,000 men. Positioned at the foot of a hill,

03:20Caesar and his soldiers are in a strategically weaker position. They have no choice but to

03:25grit their teeth and fight for their lives. The Battle of Mundo will be the final conflict in

03:30Julius Caesar's campaign to become the undisputed ruler of the Roman Empire. But Caesar's fate and

03:36the fate of Rome was decided long before these two armies collided. That moment came four years

03:42earlier on January 10th 49 BC when Julius Caesar breached Roman law by marching his army across

03:50the Rubicon River, setting in motion a series of events that would change the course of Western

03:56civilization. From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History Daily.

04:23History is made every day. On this podcast every day we tell the true stories of the people and

04:29events that shaped our world. Today is January 10th 49 BCE Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon.

04:36It's April 59 BC 14 years before the Battle of Mundo. In Rome a wedding is underway.

04:47A bride and groom stand before an altar of Jupiter and a priest makes an offering.

04:53Once their union has been sealed the guests rush forward to congratulate the newlyweds.

04:58Standing slightly apart from the crowd is 40 year old Julius Caesar. Dressed in a crimson

05:04toga the renowned general looks on as the attendees shower the bride and groom with gifts.

05:09His stern expression is hard to read but in Caesar's steel gray eyes there gleams an unmistakable look

05:15of triumph. Across the marble atrium the groom glances up from the smiling crowd of well-wishers

05:22and catches Caesar's eye. It's a fleeting moment unnoticed by the other guests

05:27but the look the two men exchange seemed to contain a greater weight of significance

05:31than any of the wedding vows. The groom is the Roman general and statesman Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

05:38better known as Pompey. His military exploits have expanded Rome's empire and helped Pompey

05:44establish himself as an influential senator. By contrast Caesar is a more divisive figure.

05:50Following military conquests in Spain Caesar returned to Rome where he wishes to run for

05:55consul the highest political office in the land. With powerful enemies standing in his way many

06:02senators suspect Caesar is being overly ambitious and regard his populist agenda as a potential danger

06:08to the political establishment. So Caesar decided to form an alliance. By marrying off his daughter

06:14Julia to the influential Pompey he has secured a key ally in the Senate and Pompey the shrewd

06:21tactician recognizes Caesar's popularity among the common people. Both men will benefit from this

06:27arranged marriage but there's another man that stands out within the crowd of wedding guests

06:32an older politician named Marcus Licinius Crassus. Caesar brought Crassus the richest man in Rome

06:39into his confidence for obvious reasons. With Crassus financial backing Caesar's election to

06:44consul is all but guaranteed. Caesar Pompey and Crassus form what will become known as the first

06:52triumvirate. Their alliance pays off. Caesar is elected consul in 59 BC and from this position

06:59he passes reforms through the Senate that directly benefit his allies Pompey and Crassus.

07:05The triumvirate's growing strength highlights cracks emerging in the foundations of Roman

07:10democracy. For centuries the republic has operated as a system of checks and balances

07:15preventing individuals from gaining excessive power. But as Rome's empire continues to expand

07:21the men leading its expansion acquire greater territory and wealth overseas

07:26and the system designed to contain their power begins to look increasingly fragile.

07:31When Caesar's consul ship ends in 58 BC he assumes the governorship of Sisalpine Gaul

07:37an area just south of the French Alps. Caesar leaves Rome with four legions and travels north

07:43to take up his new post. The aristocratic establishment in the Senate men who resent the rise of powerful

07:49generals like Caesar are relieved to see him go. They hope his departure will mark the beginning

07:54of the end for Julius Caesar. The Caesar has no intention of quietly fading into the background.

08:00With his legions in tow he marches north into modern day France and begins subjugating its

08:05inhabitants the Gauls. What follows is a series of bloody conflicts known as the Gaelic Wars.

08:11By 52 BC over one million Gauls have been slaughtered. Caesar has extended Rome's empire as far

08:19north as Britain and he's accumulated even more wealth and prestige. Back in Rome a sense of

08:25foreboding darkens the mood in the Senate. Eorissa Cratch there a group known as the Optimatas fear

08:31that once Caesar has conquered Gaul he will return to Rome with his army and seize power.

08:37By now the triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey has collapsed. Crassus died in combat in 54 BC.

08:44Later that same year Julia Pompey's wife and Caesar's daughter also passed away.

08:51So with the family bond shattered so too is Pompey and Caesar's alliance. With Caesar away in Gaul

08:57Pompey realigns himself with the Optimatas and joins their efforts to curtail Caesar's growing

09:03power. They present Caesar with an ultimatum step down as governor of Gaul and disband his army

09:09or be removed by force. What Caesar stands his ground he wishes to remain governor for one more

09:15year before running again for consul. Rather than bending to Caesar's wishes the Optimatas rally

09:22around Pompey entrusting the defense of the Roman Republic to him. Caesar decides to mobilize

09:28his troops. In January 49 BC he begins marching his army through Gaul towards Italy. It's a power

09:36play, a show of strength aimed at convincing the Senate to accept his terms. But the Senate does

09:41not acquiesce. No diplomatic solution can be found and by January 10 Caesar and his army

09:49reach the Rubicon River which separates Italy from Gaul. Here Caesar orders his men to halt.

09:56By crossing the Rubicon Caesar will be invading Italy and declaring war on the Republic.

10:02But if he backs down he will be hounded by the Senate and stripped of political office.

10:07The gravity of the decision weighs heavily on Caesar's shoulders and as the moon rises over

10:12the Rubicon there's still no knowing which course of action he will ultimately take.

10:24It's January 10th 49 BC, a cold clear night on the bank of the Rubicon.

10:34Julius Caesar stares out into the silvery moonlight and watches as it glimmers on the

10:38surface of the narrow river. Behind him four thousand soldiers anxiously await orders

10:44their breath rising from their helmets and clouds of freezing mist.

10:47Caesar understands the severity of the act he is considering. If he crosses this river the future

10:54of Rome will not be decided on the Senate floor but on the battlefield. It's not clear what ultimately

11:00tips Caesar's deliberations in favor of war. Some claim he was visited by a supernatural

11:06apparition who urged him to cross the river. Others claim Caesar was simply consumed with ambition.

11:12Whatever the case, at some point before midnight Caesar marches his army across the Rubicon

11:19turning to an aid as he does so and uttering the now famous phrase the die is cast.

11:26Caesar and his army capture every city they pass on their way to Rome. When news reaches

11:31Pompey of the invasion he declares a state of civil war and orders all senators to follow

11:36him in evacuating the city. Pompey has not yet been able to muster a force to match Caesar's

11:42so he retreats to Greece to assemble an army there. Before long Caesar has taken Rome itself.

11:49Leaving one of his generals in command of the city Caesar sets out for the western province

11:54of Spain. There he lays siege to towns and cities and by the end of the year Spain too has been

12:00conquered. With Spain and Italy now under Caesar's control the road general sets his sights on Greece

12:07and Pompey. Caesar's fleet sails across the Adriatic Sea where they engage in naval skirmishes

12:13with Pompey's ships. Eventually Caesar is able to land his army on the coast of Greece.

12:19There they march inland. The decisive battle comes in August to 48 BC. On a blazingly hot day

12:27the two sides clash on the dusty plain of farcellus in central Greece. The odds are stacked against

12:33Caesar. Pompey's 36,000 legionnaires far outnumber Caesar's force of 22,000 but Caesar has a key

12:41advantage. His soldiers are hardened by years of combat. Gaul, Spain and Italy have all fallen

12:48beneath the blade of Caesar's legions. His men possess something that manpower alone cannot provide

12:53confidence. During the battle Pompey attempts a flanking maneuver but it fails exposing his army

13:01to a counter-offensive. Caesar capitalizes on the opportunity and his men quickly overpower

13:07Pompey's infantry. By nightfall the battle is over and once again Caesar has emerged victorious.

13:16A defeated Pompey flees with his remaining ships to Egypt. Weeks later Pompey lands at the Port

13:22of Polosium on the banks of the Nile River. There he hopes to throw himself on the mercy of King

13:27Ptolemy of Egypt. But Ptolemy can see which way the wind is blowing. Wishing to remain in Caesar's

13:34favor Ptolemy sends officers to Ptolemy's ship. A climb aboard and in front of the general's weeping

13:39wife and child murder Pompey. When Caesar lands in Egypt three days later Ptolemy sends him Pompey's

13:47head as a gesture of respect. The site does not please Caesar who weeps for his great rival and

13:53former ally. In the end Caesar will not leave Egypt until the middle of 47 BC. During that time

14:00he becomes embroiled in a struggle between King Ptolemy and Ptolemy's sister Cleopatra who believes

14:06herself to be the rightful queen of Egypt. But it's not politics that keeps Caesar in Egypt.

14:12It's love. He and the beautiful Cleopatra begin a romantic relationship in which Caesar helps her

14:18depose her brother and establish herself as Egypt's ruler. But while Caesar is plotting in the royal

14:24courts of Egypt Pompey's army is steadily regrouping. Now under the command of Caesar's

14:30long standing enemies the senator Cato and the general Scipio. Both of these men were part of

14:36the original group of optimatas who opposed Caesar. In 46 BC Caesar's legions meet Cato

14:43and Scipio's massive army at Thapsus in modern day Tunisia. But despite facing an army comprising

14:4912 legions, 15,000 cavalrymen and 60 mounted war elephants Caesar again is the victor.

14:57Scipio and Cato take their own lives in the wake of their defeat. Other optimatas like Cicero

15:03surrender to Caesar and pledge their support. By 45 BC Caesar is back in Rome. With the entirety

15:11of the empire now under his command and with all his greatest rivals vanquished Caesar is

15:16declared dictator. A position in ancient Rome reserved for time to crisis which invests its

15:23holder with supreme authority. But soon word reaches Caesar that Pompey's sons have mounted

15:29a rebellion in Spain. So the newly appointed dictator assembles a fleet in sales west.

15:34After the death of Pompey and the defeat of Cato and Scipio Caesar thought the last of his enemies

15:40were dead. He has discovered that he was mistaken. But as he stands at the prow of his west

15:45battleship Caesar is determined that by the time he returned from Spain all his enemies,

15:51every one of them will be vanquished.

15:55It's March 17th 45 BC. The Battle of Munda is underway in southern Spain.

16:09Julius Caesar and his legions are heavily outnumbered, but after hours of a stalemate

16:15a tactical error gives Caesar the upper hand. By reinforcing their left flank the Pompeian

16:20forces severely weaken their right flank. Caesar spots this, sends more legions to attack on the

16:26right and they soon overwhelm the enemy. Victorious yet again Caesar will soon return to Rome,

16:33now secure in the knowledge that the last of his opponents are destroyed. He will be named Rome's

16:39first dictator for life and will begin introducing a series reforms designed to entrench his authority.

16:46But he will not succeed. On March 15th 44 BC a group of senators who have grown wary

16:53or perhaps jealous of his power will find Caesar in a small moment of weakness and assassinate him.

16:59The Roman Republic had stood as one of the world's earliest prominent and vital democracies,

17:05but with Caesar's appointment as dictator the Roman Republic was replaced with the Roman Empire,

17:11a system of hereditary rulers and not elected officials, one that would grow increasingly

17:16autocratic and corrupt. And it all started with a fateful decision to cross the Rubicon on January

17:2210th 49 BC. Next on History Daily January 11th 1794 a Georgia man becomes the first United States

17:37Marshal killed in the line of duty. From Noiser in Airship this is History Daily,

17:52hosted, edited and executive produced by me Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bond. Music and

17:59Sound Design by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner. Executive

18:04producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.

18:14It's July 14th 1789 in France. A young man rushes through the back streets of Paris.

18:29It's early morning but it feels as if the city has barely slept. There's an edge to the summer

18:34air, a quiver of anger and violence in the breeze. So much so that the young man can almost taste it

18:40and it's exhilarating. As he emerges onto a wider avenue, a crowd of protesters surges past

18:46down the street. Their ordinary people just like him, tradesmen and shopkeepers, cooks and butchers,

18:52some are armed, carrying swords or clubs, others with muskets. Drummers thump out the beat of a

18:59song as the marchers call on the people of Paris to join them, to rise up, to fight for liberty.

19:04Eagerly the young man falls in with the marchers and their song. He's joined by throngs of people

19:10who pour out of every side street and building. There is no commander, no explicit orders are given,

19:16but everyone in the crowd knows where they are going. Ahead of them, looming over the district

19:22is the best deal. This medieval prison has stood in Paris for centuries, a symbol of the authority

19:28of the all-powerful French king. But the young man and the other revolutionaries in the crowd

19:32have come to tear that symbol down. To send a message to the king and the rest of the country,

19:38change is coming in France. By the end of the day, this crowd will break down the gates,

19:43seize control of the Bastille and parade the decapitated head of the prison governor through

19:48the streets. This event, known as the storming of the Bastille, signals the beginning of the French

19:54Revolution. But what starts on the streets of Paris will end three and a half years later on

19:59January 21, 1793, with the fall of the French monarchy and the execution of King Louis the 16th.

20:08From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is History Daily.

20:24History is Made Every Day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people

20:40and events that shaped our world. Today is January 21, the execution of Louis the 16th.

20:49It's May 5, 1789, four years before Louis the 16th execution. At the spectacular royal palace in

20:56Versailles, just outside Paris, the king has called a general assembly of various leaders in France,

21:02clergymen, nobility, even commoners. Hundreds of delegates from all over the country have journey

21:07to Versailles for this extremely rare meeting. The last time a French king called an assembly like

21:12this was 175 years ago, but these are desperate times for Louis the 16th. As a young boy,

21:19Louis had little expectation of becoming king. His grandfather was the king of France. His father

21:25was the heir to the crown, but Louis had an older brother who was next in line after that,

21:30but a series of tragedies changed Louis' fortunes. After his older brother and father both died of

21:36tuberculosis, Louis suddenly found himself next in line to the throne. And when Louis' grandfather

21:42died in 1774, the shy and quiet 19-year-old became king of France. At the time, the country was an

21:50absolute monarchy with the king wielding supreme power, but Louis the 16th came to the throne at

21:55a perilous moment. France was deeply in debt and resentment towards the monarchy was on the rise.

22:01The precarious situation would have challenged even the most brilliant of leaders, and Louis is

22:06intelligent but indecisive, eager to be loved by the people but lacking the ability to charm or

22:12persuade. By 1789, the king has alienated most of the country. Armed protests are rampant,

22:18and the financial woes that have gripped the French government have grown unsustainable.

22:22In a bid to pass desperately needed financial reforms and bring the country together,

22:27Louis called this rare meeting of delegates from the cross-section of French society,

22:31the clergy, nobility, and commoners. In an elaborate, barrel-vaulted hall built specially

22:37for the occasion, the General Assembly watches as Louis the 16th and his family enter the chamber,

22:42dressed in magnificent robes studded with diamonds and gold. From beneath a majestic canopy,

22:48Louis addresses the delegates. He calls himself a peaceful king, and the people's greatest friend.

22:53But he doesn't act like it. Without hearing their input, he urges the assembly to

22:58acquiesce to his demand for new taxes. But the delegates, especially those representing the

23:04common people of France, want nothing of it. The assembly soon descends into bickering and shouting.

23:10The clergy and nobility will block any concessions to the commoners, and the king makes no progress.

23:15So on June 17th, 1789, the delegates elected to represent the commoners abandoned the assembly.

23:22Sick of being sidelined, and tired of paying taxes without any say in government,

23:26these commoners announced that they are forming a new assembly, a national assembly,

23:31and claiming supreme power in France for themselves.

23:34One month later, on July 14th, 1789, there's chaos in the streets of Paris.

23:40The protests began two days ago. In the immediate aftermath of the failed General Assembly,

23:45Louis the 16th submitted to the commoners' demands, and recognized the new national assembly.

23:50But then he changed his tune. Under the influence of his wife, Marie Antoinette,

23:55and his more conservative advisors, he removed his finance minister, who was seen as sympathetic

24:00to the people's demands. Soon, rumors began to swirl that the king was mobilizing foreign mercenaries

24:06to crush the commoner's rebellion against his rule. In response, the people of Paris

24:12formed malicious and scrambled to arm themselves. They found plenty of guns, but little of the

24:17gunpowder they need to fire them. Soon, work gets around that there are 250 barrels of gunpowder

24:22being held at the Bastille. So on the morning of July 14th, a mob of revolutionaries gather outside

24:28the ancient prison. The 100 troops guarding the Bastille are severely outnumbered. The mob sends

24:34in representatives who demand the prisoners' governor release the barrels of gunpowder

24:38and any other weapons they might have. But as negotiations continue, the mob grows impatient.

24:44They break into an outer courtyard of the prison, and in the confusion that follows,

24:48gunshots ring out. A chaotic battle ensues. The walls of the Bastille are high and thick,

24:55but the prison governor knows he doesn't have the men or supplies to hold out long.

24:58When the mob commandeers two artillery guns and threatens to blow the gates down,

25:05the governor surrenders. The mob floods into the Bastille. They secure the gunpowder,

25:10but more importantly, they achieve a symbolic victory. By taking this ancient fortification,

25:16they have shown all the France that the days of royal authority in Paris are over.

25:21The next morning, at his palace in Versailles, Louis XVI will learn of the violent storming

25:26of the Bastille. The king will ask an advisor, "Is it a revolt?" and his advisor will reply,

25:32"No sire, it's not a revolt. It's a revolution."

25:47It's nearly midnight on June 20, 1791, 18 months before the execution of Louis XVI.

25:53On the banks of the river Seine in Paris, a man hurries furtively through the corridors

25:58of a royal palace. Wearing a plain coat and hat, he looks out of place in such a grand residence.

26:04But this man is no stranger to the palace, and he knows exactly where he's going.

26:08Rushing down a flight of stairs, and through an unlocked doorway, he heads out into the warm

26:13summer night. In the courtyard, a carriage waits. The man clammers in and pulls off his hat.

26:19It's the king of France, Louis XVI, disguised as a humble servant. He's sneaking away under

26:25the cover of darkness to flee Paris. Since the storming of the Bastille two years earlier,

26:30the king's authority has slipped away. Louis and his family have been effectively held

26:34prisoner in a royal palace in the center of Paris. But the king believes the people outside the

26:39capital still support him. If he can get out of the city, he is sure he can rally them to his cause.

26:44Waiting in the carriage is the queen Marie Antoinette and their children, also in disguise.

26:50Soon they depart the palace, and as the carriage rattles through the deserted streets of Paris

26:55and heads out into the countryside, Louis prays his plane will succeed.

26:59Louis wants to join friendly forces loyal to him positioned over 200 miles away near the border

27:05with the Netherlands. And after driving through the night and all the following day, Louis' carriage

27:10finally approaches the town of Verin, just 30 miles from the safety of their rendezvous. Exhausted

27:15from the journey, Louis and his family are fast asleep when suddenly the carriage jolts.

27:20Louis' eyes dart open and a voice outside cries to stop. The king peers out to find a gun barrel

27:27thrust in his face. The carriage is surrounded. A postmaster from the last town where they stopped

27:33recognized the king and his family and rode ahead to Verin to raise the alarm. Soon,

27:38revolutionary guards arrive to take the despondent king and his family back to Paris.

27:42Louis' failed escape destroys what remains of his credibility and it hardens people's opinion

27:48against the monarchy. In the wake of his returned Paris, Louis realizes that he has only one hope

27:53left of crushing the rebellion and restoring his former glory and invasion by a foreign power.

28:02It's August 10th, 1792, more than a year since Louis XVI tried to flee Paris.

28:07In the royal residence in the heart of the city, Louis XVI is a prisoner in his own home.

28:12Suspicious revolutionary guards watch every move. Even if he could, the miserable king wouldn't dare

28:19venture beyond the palace gardens. From the windows of his apartment, Louis watches as Paris grows

28:24more hostile to him with each passing day. The king accepted a new French constitution last

28:30September. It left the monarchy in place, but it gave the power to govern to the elected National

28:35Assembly. The king, now little more than a figurehead, feigned support from the new government.

28:41But secretly, and with his wife's encouragement, he plotted to undermine it. He encouraged the

28:46assembly to declare war on Austria, hoping a disastrous defeat for France would topple the

28:51new government and return him to power. Louis had plenty of support for his plan,

28:56mainly from the other kings and queens of Europe, who feared popular dissent might spread to their

29:01own territories. Hoping to strengthen Louis' position in France, the commander of the Austrian

29:06forces declared to his new French enemies that if any harm befell the king or his family,

29:12he would raise Paris to the ground. But the threat backfired. It enraged the people of Paris.

29:17Many of them came to believe the king was conspiring with the Austrians against France,

29:22and so they took to the streets and protest. And today, on August 10th, 1792, from the windows

29:29of the palace, Louis watches as a mob gathers outside his gates. His residence is defended by

29:34more than 3,000 mercenaries and government troops. But at the sight of the angry crowd,

29:40the king's nerves fray. Before the first shot is fired, Louis and his family abandon the palace

29:46and seek refuge elsewhere in the city. When the troops guarding the king realize he's run away,

29:51their discipline crumbles. The mob presses forward and overpowers them. Hundreds will die in the

29:57melee. Louis the 16th survives, but his reign as a figurehead is now over. Backed by the Paris mob,

30:05a new, even more extreme revolutionary government will seize power in France,

30:10and soon they will declare the country a republic and put Louis the 16th on trial for treason.

30:21It's January 21st, 1793. Thousands of armed men line the pavement as a military procession

30:34makes its way through the streets of Paris. At the front, drummers march and wrap their

30:39instruments in time, and behind them, a troop of cavalrymen flank a carriage as it rattles

30:44over the cobblestone streets. Inside sits a priest, several armed guards, and Louis the 16th,

30:51the deposed king. Louis recites psalms from a prayer book, but his thoughts are consumed by

30:56the faith that awaits him at the end of this carriage ride. Four days ago, the country's new

31:02parliament convicted Louis of treason and sentenced him to death. Today, the king's carriage makes

31:07the long journey from the fortress where he was held prisoner to the grand square where he will

31:12die. At Place de la Revolucion, or Revolution Square, three guards usher Louis out of the carriage.

31:19They start to undress him, but Louis resists. He insists on removing his coat and necktie himself.

31:25Once he's finished, the guards lead Louis through the crowd of soldiers to the center of the square,

31:30where a wooden scaffold awaits. Louis climbs the steps to the top. He looks over the square at

31:37the masked ranks of soldiers. Their guns and bayonets glint in the morning light,

31:42transforming the square into a shimmering field of metal. Louis appeals to the crowd,

31:47saying loudly, "I die innocent of all crimes laid to my charge. I pardon those who have occasioned

31:53my death, and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France."

31:58But few beyond those nearest to the king hear the words. The crowd is impatient and jeering,

32:04as the executioners grab hold of Louis and manhandle him onto the guillotine's bench.

32:08They thrust him headfirst into position and lock his neck into place.

32:13Louis hears a scaffold creak as the men move away. He stares down and sees a basket below,

32:19waiting for his head. The king closes his eyes and tries to control the surge of

32:24panic that grips him, then the crowd falls silent. There's a flash of dropping metal

32:29and a spur to blood, as the king's head drops heavily into the basket.

32:33Louis the 16th is dead. But the king won't be the last to die on the guillotine in the French

32:40Revolution. Nine months later, his wife, Marie Antoinette, will also be publicly executed,

32:46and soon the revolution will turn on itself, descending into factional chaotic violence.

32:51By the end of the discord a decade later, thousands of people will have shared Louis the 16th's fate.

32:56In the century that follows, the country will be ruled again by kings and then by presidents

33:04and emperors. Eventually however, it will re-emerge once more as a republic. The ideals of the

33:10revolution are stained with blood, but they endure. And the age of the absolute monarch,

33:16which came to an end on January 21, 1793, with the execution of King Louis the 16th, will never return.

33:29Next on History Daily, January 24, 1536, King Henry VIII is badly injured in a jousting accident,

33:37turning the once-athletic and wise king into a paranoid, overweight tyrant.

33:41From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by

33:47me, Lindsey Graham, audio editing by Molly Bogg, music and sound design by Lindsey Graham.

33:52This episode is written and researched by William Simpson, executive producers,

33:56or Stephen Walters for Airship, Pascal Hughes for Noiser.

33:59Data Over Dogma is a member of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. It is a production of Data

34:10Over Dogma Media LLC, copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved.