Life in ancient Rome

Three marble busts of Roman emperors are displayed against a warm reddish‑brown architectural backdrop. In the centre background, a larger, golden‑toned bust of Constantine the Great faces forward, its smooth, idealised features contrasting with the two smaller foreground busts. The bust on the left shows an older emperor with deep facial lines and closely cropped hair; the bust on the right depicts a younger man with softer features. To the far right, a fragment of a colossal marble hand appears, its index finger extended

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25 wild facts about Roman emperors – from fish semen to lethal parties. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An older person with long grey hair sits smiling in a chair, surrounded by vases of colourful flowers.

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"The ancient past is utterly weird": Mary Beard on 50 years of studying the Romans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A four‑panel collage of scenes and artworks from Pompeii. The top left shows a stone‑paved street lined with ruined Roman buildings under a bright sky. The top right shows a fragment of a building interior with surviving frescoes beneath a wooden roof. The bottom left shows a still‑life fresco of food, vessels, and folded cloth. The bottom right shows a detailed mythological fresco with multiple human figures in classical style.

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On the edge of catastrophe: life in Pompeii as Vesuvius was about to erupt. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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David Attenborough and the evolution of nature documentaries. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A worker's eye-view of ancient Rome. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A detailed marble relief shows several robed figures standing in a tight group around a cylindrical structure. Each figure has carefully carved drapery and expressive faces, with some holding scrolls or objects that suggest scholarly or religious roles.

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Friends, Romans, citizens: why Rome opened its doors to people across the empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Why Rome fell. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two marble busts, a man with curly hair and a short beard behind a woman with wavy hair, against a fiery orange-red background.

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Nero’s doomed love affair: did a failed romance trigger his descent into madness?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An image of Roman ruins, including tall structures with 6 columns in the background. There is a large curved wall in the foreground

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Think you know everything about ancient Rome? These 25 facts will prove otherwise. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gladiators do battle in a c320 AD mosaic, housed in the Borghese Gallery in Rome

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Blood, guts and spectacle: 6 shocking events from the history of ancient Roman gladiators. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A section of the Via Flaminia – the ancient route linking Rome with Rimini – in Fossombrone (Photo by karayuschij/Getty Images)

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“Roman roads turn up so often” | Catherine Fletcher on what the Romans did for European transport networks. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The Roman army: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Life of the week: Spartacus. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A fight between two Gladiators, in mosaic

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What were the lives of gladiators like in ancient Rome?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Beard

Roman

“The Roman empire cannot have been governed by a series of psychopaths. It would not have survived”Mary Beard on Roman Emperors

Image of an atrium from ancient Rome. There are people milling around and a fountain.

Roman

What were houses like in ancient Rome?

An 18th-century artwork depicting the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius from across the Bay of Naples (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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PompeiiA timeline of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

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What can the streets of Pompeii reveal about daily life in ancient Rome?

A 19th-century depiction of the market of Pompeii

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PompeiiWhat was life like before the eruption of Vesuvius?

A 17th-century engraving of the Mount Vesuvius eruption of AD 79, by Athanasius Kircher (Photo by Shawshots/Alamy Stock Photo)

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Your ultimate guide to Pompeii, plus 8 fascinating facts about the ancient Roman city

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Pompeii: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A mosaic that shows two Roman women exercising, one holds a flower and another holds a leaf

Roman

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Roman women

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Pompeii: a remarkable window into ancient Roman life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A guide to the Roman army, plus 10 facts about life in the legions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Roman

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman 'Christmas'

The tomb of Pharaoh Djoser, built at Saqqara

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Timeline: the evolution of ancient empires. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman republic

Roman

Your guide to the Roman Republic

Mosaic showing gladiators, Roman Civilization, 4th century

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Bread and circuses: what happened in the amphitheatres of the Roman empire?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pompeii,Italy

Roman

What was life like in ancient Pompeii? Mary Beard shares an A-Z guide

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