Roman Empire

The emperor Hadrian presided over the Roman empire at its height, defined its borders and was one of the most cultured rulers of the ancient world.

Anthea Gerrie explores a remarkable excavation, a Roman surgeon’s house in Rimini.

China and Rome were the two great economic superpowers of the Ancient World. Yet their empires were separated by thousands of miles of inhospitable terrain, dramatically reducing the opportunities for direct communication. Raoul McLaughlin investigates.

David Mattingly says it’s time to rethink the current orthodoxy and question whether Roman rule was good for Britain.

Richard Cavendish recalls May 17th, 1257.

In 44 BC, the greatest of dictators was slain. The question of how Julius Caesar meant to use his supreme power has ever since been disputed.

Charles Freeman visits the Eternal City, and finds the Castel Sant’Angelo, home to emperors and popes, to be the clue to unravelling its fabulously rich and complex history.

Marius Ostrowski explains why the Church was so dominant in the Middle ages, but also sees traces of a growing secularism.

Anthony Grafton remembers Theodor Mommsen, the great German historian of the Roman republic and literary giant of his day.

Christopher Kelly introduces the Emperor Constantine.