003a- The Seven Kings of Rome

The episode, titled 'The Seven Kings of Rome,' covers the first three successors to Romulus—Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus Marcius—while reminding listeners that the canonical 'seven kings' sequence is probably a later, partly apocryphal construction. The host frames the narrative as an alternating pattern of war and religion: Numa (43 years, d. 673 BC) is portrayed as a pacifist legislator of religion who reoriented Rome with institutions such as the Vestal Virgins, the independent office of Pontifex Maximus, and the Temple of Janus (its gates closed during his entire reign).