Benito Mussolini

Italy

A mosaic depicting the poet Virgil writing the Aeneid. (Photo By DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

How to succeed in Ancient Rome. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Benito Mussolini makes a speech. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The LibraryThe spies who hunted Mussolini. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Picture of the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus

Q&AWhat happened to the last emperor of Rome?

Q&AWhat does it mean to 'cross the Rubicon'?

Ye olde travel guide: Turin, 1887. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Books interview: Margaret MacMillan on the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Languishing languages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

When did Italian replace Latin as the language of Italy?

A depiction of Hannibal at the battle of Trasimene, which is "today remembered as one of the most stunning victories in military history". (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Hannibal smashes his foes "at the very gates of Rome". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

German soldiers with a horse-drawn cart during the retreat from Ukraine in 1943. The idea of Teutonic efficiency was a triumph of Nazi spin, says James Holland. (Keystone/Getty Images)

The great misconceptions of the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Pompeian fresco from the first century showing a woman tuning a musical instrument. Excavations at the partially buried Roman city reveal that women played a prominent role in the home, and that they took personal grooming very seriously indeed. (Photo by: Werner Forman/UIG via Getty Images)

At home with the Romans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ye olde travel guide: Florence 1380. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

George Frederick Handel married opera's passion with the respectability of biblical texts, says Tim Blanning. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

10 milestones in the history of western music. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration depicting medieval pilgrims. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The LibraryMedieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Industrial might: Blenheim bombers in production in England, late 1939. The Allies’ combined industrial strength proved too much for the Axis. (Getty Images)

Second World War

The LibraryThe world in flames

The Fire of Rome, by Hubert Robert (1733-1808). "It was the worst possible place for a fire to break out, and fear turned into outright panic," says Dominic Sandbrook. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The LibraryA big day in history: the Great Fire of Rome

Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in the centre of Florence (Getty)

A big day in history: Florence's bonfire of the vanities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: Pompeii 79 Ad. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: Venice 1500. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&A: Why didn’t Britain attempt to hinder Italy’s 1935 invasion of Abyssinia by preventing the Italian fleet from using the Suez Canal?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Holy Face by Andrei Rublev. Tempera on wood, 14th century. Moscow, Russia. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

The mutation of Christianity. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Inside Pompeii and a date with Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The columns of the Temple of Saturn and overview of the ruined Roman Forum, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rome. (Getty Images)

Regency AcademyJustice, Roman style. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.