Suetonius’s unforgettable tales of sex, scandal, and debauchery have ensured that his writing has played a significant role in shaping our perceptions of imperial Rome.
Today the phrase ‘all roads leads to Rome’ means that there’s more than one way to reach the same goal. But in Ancient Rome, all roads really did lead to the eternal city, which was at the centre of a vast road network.
The emperor Caligula lavished attention on his favourite horse Incitatus, holding parties for friends in the steed’s grand stables. But did he make his horse a consul?
The image of a crazed and capricious Emperor Nero is immortalised in popular culture: from fiddling while Rome burns to having a sexual relationship with his mother. The historical evidence, however, is rather different.
Hollywood loves a Roman action film. And recent archaeological evidence offers fresh insight into the world of the hippodrome: from sprinklers to cool horses to a mosaic displaying the four phases of a chariot race.
Cicero asked: ‘how to become famous?’ Nero sought to know the timing of his death. The Oracle at Delphi offered pronouncements on all manner of topics - yet as with Google today, the question posed was as important as the answer.
Archaeological and textual detective work is filling in some information about how ancient Romans used and thought about their sewers thousands of years ago.
It can be difficult to imagine that the antiquities in our museums were once a part of vibrant and cosmopolitan cities. Let our expert take you on a tour of three cities to rival today’s global hubs.