Peter Stothard

What ‘pax’ meant in Rome’s golden age of imperialism

1 July 2023 9:00 am

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

‘Pygmalion and Galatea’ by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). The statue of Galatea poses issues about dolls sold for sex, according to Adrienne Mayor

The ancient Greeks would have loved Alexa

10 November 2018 9:00 am

Among the myths of Ancient Greece the Cyclops has become forever famous, the Talos not so much. While both were…

Marcus Tullius Cicero: our guide to ‘the most tumultuous era in human history’

How the world's first great republic slipped into empire and one-man rule

3 October 2015 9:00 am

Marcus Tullius Cicero was the ancient master of the ‘save’ key. He composed more letters, speeches and philosophy books than…

Latrines dating from the second century at Ostia Antica, outside Rome

How the Romans went about their business

18 April 2015 9:00 am

When Ovid was seeking ‘cures for love’, the most efficient remedy, he wrote, was for a young man to watch…