In 2009 Germany commemorated the bimillennial anniversary of a momentous event from its ancient history, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. This terrible Roman defeat saw the complete annihilation of the XVII, XVIII and XIX legions, ranking amongst Rome’s worst…
“Wherever they go they leave destruction, and call it peace”. So says Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) towards the beginning of Gladiator 2, calling his Numidian comrades to arms against the approaching Roman fleet of Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). An educated…
Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, used to boast that he had inherited a city of brick and left a city of marble. Modesty was never one of his strong points. This was, after all, the emperor who wrote an autobiography called…
Ridley Scott’s sword-and-sandals epic is rightfully regarded as the movie that rekindled Hollywood’s love for the classics. Gladiator has all the ingredients for the perfect historical drama: a stellar cast, groundbreaking special effects and a Hans Zimmer soundtrack. The film…
Of their many feats of ingenious engineering, it was Rome’s ancient aqueducts in which the Romans took most pride. As the encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder reflected in the first century CE: If we only take into consideration the abundant supply…
Rome Tour Guide Explore Rome with Alex Private Tours. Tailored to Your Interests. Hi! I’m Alex — a British-born historian with an MPhil in Roman History from the University of Oxford. I’ve been in Italy for nearly 10 years, working…
Weaving through Venice’s side streets. Promenading its Grand Canal. Losing yourself — often rather literally — as you try to navigate its historical centre. Everyone visiting Venice should set aside time to explore La Serenissima at their leisure, but if…
From the early days of the Roman Republic, if not from the time of the Roman Kingdom, the House of the Vestals served as the residence of Rome’s most important priesthood. It was here that the city’s six vestal virgins…
You often hear that ancient sites like Pompeii and Herculaneum offer valuable windows into the past. More than windows, I think of them as glass-bottom boats. Constantly moving, constantly changing, and, for those who want to dive in and explore…
The reign of the emperor Domitian (81 – 91 CE) is one characterised by infamy. Immortalized for posterity on account of his brutal and unforgiving nature, Domitian comes down to us as the runt of the Flavian family. A tyrannical…
