Horoscopes and horror – the reign of Septimius Severus
Notoriously brutal and superstitious, Rome’s first African emperor was responsible for killing of his rivals on an unprecedented scale as well as genocide against the Scots
The crude tirades of Cicero the demagogue
Far from being a crusader for virtue, the Roman statesman is seen as a violent firebrand, disregarding the law when it suited him and laying the groundwork for Julius Caesar’s assassination
‘The Romans always win’
The emperors of Rome’s golden age avoided civil war at all costs. But wars against other peoples were a different matter, says Peter Stothard
The ancient Greeks would have loved Alexa
Among the myths of Ancient Greece the Cyclops has become forever famous, the Talos not so much. While both were…
What is written down
Marcus Tullius Cicero was the ancient master of the ‘save’ key. He composed more letters, speeches and philosophy books than…
A neglected corner of Roman history
When Ovid was seeking ‘cures for love’, the most efficient remedy, he wrote, was for a young man to watch…
