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Roman

This 2nd-century AD Roman mosaic from Mérida’s Casa del Anfiteatro depicts workers treading grapes to make wine. Scenes like this captured the rhythms of daily life across the Roman world, celebrating both agricultural labour and the pleasures of wine culture.

The ingenious Roman invention that sparked the ancient empire’s obsession with luxury

How Julius Caesar's funeral drama fuelled the mob.

This 1st-century BC mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii depicts a tragic dramatic mask, a powerful symbol of Roman theatrical culture. Masks like this were central to performances, allowing actors to embody gods, heroes, and emotions on stage.

Ancient Roman theatre was a powerful weapon of empire, so why were actors' lives so tragic?

Four small terracotta masks in a line. The two in the middle have black hair and beards, one with a white face and the other with an orange face. The ones on either end are plain beige faces.

The making of Rome's monster.

Roman homes: everything you wanted to know.

This bust represents Hannibal, the famed general who led Carthaginian forces against Rome during the Second Punic War. As a descendant of Phoenician settlers, Hannibal embodied the military might and maritime legacy of Carthage.

General ancient history

The overshadowed ancient empire that rivalled Rome with maritime might and an iron fist

Ancient Roman theatre: everything you wanted to know.

A woman with blonde hair and wearing a navy T shirt stands looking up towards the top left of the image. She has a large white earring and stands in front of some Roman ruins

Alice Roberts: “Christianity didn’t invent itself as an empire from nothing: it adapted existing Roman structures”.

This bas-relief fragment from the Ptolemaic period portrays Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of ancient Egypt. As both a Greek-speaking monarch and a pharaoh, Cleopatra embodied the cultural fusion of Hellenistic Egypt

General ancient history

On the steps of a sacred temple, Cleopatra's feud with her sister came to a blood-soaked end

How Christianity came to dominate the Roman world.

On a green background, there is a sketch of a human pyramid of people in togas, all balancing fruit on their heads, arms and feet

Be neighbourly like a Pompeian.

This floor mosaic from a Roman villa in Carthage depicts a boy hunting leopards

Could today’s kids survive in ancient Rome? Here’s the harsh reality of life as a Roman child

Paint your own pot, like an ancient Etruscan.

Fun, fear and flatbread: childhood in ancient Rome.

In this early 20th-century illustration, Roman Emperor Nero watches the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 from the Tower of Maecenas, said to be singing of Troy’s destruction. Though likely apocryphal, such stories helped shape Nero’s enduring reputation for cruelty and excess.

One of ancient Rome’s most notorious emperors murdered his own mother, and there's a dark reason why

Caesar's funeral drama: anger and revenge after death.

How to wage war like a Roman.

Roman warfare: everything you wanted to know.

Archaeologist Buzz Busby alongside two Roman swords.

A hidden Roman villa? A pair of "remarkable" swords might have just unlocked its ancient secrets

This mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily depicts women exercising — a rare glimpse of female leisure in the Roman Empire. (Photo by Getty Images)

Are you healthier than a Roman? These ancient secrets for longevity are still shockingly relevant

A mosaic of servants or enslaved people making preparations for a Roman feast.

You probably eat these foods every day, so why did the ancient Romans think they were disgusting poison?

Ancient tips for health and happiness.

A white marble sculpture of a man holding his arms across his chest, holding his shoulders

Rome's worst nightmare: the story of Spartacus.

A replica of a Roman mosaic of the Baths of Ocriculum. It shows Triton and Nereid speaking. (Photo by Getty Images)

“She returned smelling of smoke and sex:” why powerful Roman women were branded nymphomaniacs

A battle between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, detailed on pottery. (Photo by Getty Images)

Meet the people the ancient Romans and Greeks desperately tried to hide

Were Roman women done dirty by modern translations?.

An aerial shot of a large expanse of green land with layered edges; the site of Maiden Castle hillfort

The Romans were blamed for massacring these Iron Age warriors. But did they actually murder themselves?

A mosaic panel depicting Roman wrestlers.

How the Romans "reversed circumcision" and 5 other shocking medical realities from the ancient empire

Fulvia: life of the week.

Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony: how the last pharaoh's love affairs shaped Ancient Egypt's fate