The Roman Empire

Messalina

Sex, scandal and slander: who was Messalina?

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Pod Peter Heather WL

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

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Pod Harry Sidebottom WL

Heliogabalus: Rome’s scandalous emperor . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor.

Everything you wanted to know about the Roman emperors

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Pod Peter Stothard WL

Crassus: Rome’s richest man . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&A Could Roman slaves buy their own freedom?

An allegorical depiction of the plague in ancient Rome, an angel batters down a door while people lie sick on the ground

The reign of Roman disease: why did disease hit a flourishing empire?

Illustration representing various empires across history

General ancient history

Have empires ever been a force for good?

A bust of Marcus Aurelius and a detail on Marcus Aurelius’s column in Rome

Marcus Aurelius: Rome’s reluctant killer

Bust of Germanicus, Roman General

In the footsteps of Germanicus – a Roman General’s journey to Egypt

This second-century AD column shows Romans beheading German nobles. Armed with the lethal gladius (short sword), Roman soldiers were feared throughout the empire. (Image by Bridgeman)

A guide to the Roman army, plus 10 facts about life in the legions

Appia Antica (The Appian Way), Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe. (Getty)

Invention or adaptation: what did the Romans really do for us?

Marble bust of Nero

Rethinking Nero: was the Roman emperor really so bad?

Marble bust of Caligula

Caligula: murderous and depraved, or a victim of history?

Image depicting Roman general Germanicus oversing the burial of the bones of Romans killed in the battle of Teutoburg Forest

What was the Roman Empire’s greatest defeat? It might be Teutoburg Forest in AD 9