Roman Empire Anecdotes
Pertinax: Eighty-Seven Days Before Rome’s Imperial Auction
An experienced commander took over after Commodus’s murder. His programme for Rome soon brought him into conflict with the men guarding the throne.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
10 Roman Baby Girl Names and the Women Who Carried Them
Family ties, imperial daughters and influential mothers give these ten Roman names their ancient histories, from Augustus’s household to the Antonine court.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Aurelius Victor: The Roman Historian Whose Greatest Work Was Lost
Born into a modest family in Roman Africa, Sextus Aurelius Victor rose to high imperial office and wrote a history of Rome's emperors. His career, sharp observations and the mystery of his lost historical work offer a fascinating glimpse into the fourth-century Roman world.
Roman Empire News
Roman Camp in Slovakia Reveals Human Remains and Military Gear
A 7.4-hectare camp near Šurany has yielded human remains, armour and weapons. Five entrances and an unusual gate add to its second-century story.
Roman Empire News
Lost Roman Town with 8,000-Seat Amphitheater Mapped in Austria
Surveys at Stein in Lower Austria reveal a planned Roman settlement and an amphitheater estimated for 8,000 people. Its identification as Claudivium remains uncertain.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
The Roman Rudis: The Award That Ended a Gladiator’s Service
The rudis marked a gladiator’s release from compulsory service in the arena, but it did not always mean legal freedom. From training weapon to retirement award and referee’s staff, its meaning reveals much about gladiatorial careers, status and life after combat.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Did Romans Actually Feed Christians to the Lions?
What is the truth behind the phrase: “Christians to the lions?”
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Appian of Alexandria: The Greek Historian Who Explained Rome’s Empire
In the second century CE, Appian of Alexandria set out to explain how Rome conquered the world — and how it turned against itself. His Roman History remains the most sustained ancient account of the civil wars that transformed republic into empire.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Aelian: The Roman Who Wrote in Greek
Aelian, the Roman who wrote in Greek, turned away from the noise of empire to preserve its memory in prose. His Varia Historia and On the Nature of Animals gather fragments of wisdom and wonder, binding moral reflection to the art of remembrance.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Not Evil by Default: How Romans (and Stoics) Judged Suicide
Romans spoke of voluntaria mors—“a voluntary death”—long before Europe coined the word “suicide.” From Cato at Utica to Seneca in a warm bath, and from battlefield honor to comic threat, the Roman world weighed self-killing through philosophy, law, and performance.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
The Amazons in Roman Thought: From Fierce Foes to Fascinating Myths
The Amazons, at once feared and admired, stood at the edges of Rome’s imagination. In poetry, art, and history, they became shifting symbols of conquest, gender, and empire—figures through whom Romans defined themselves against the “other.”
Roman Empire Anecdotes
Frontinus: Rome’s Master of Strategy and Water
Sextus Julius Frontinus embodied Rome’s genius for both war and order. From battlefield stratagems to aqueducts, his works reveal the mind of a senator who mastered strategy and sustained the Eternal City.
Roman Empire Anecdotes
Galen of Pergamon: Rome’s Most Famous Physician
From the sands of Pergamon’s arena to the palaces of Rome, Galen became the empire’s most famous physician, serving gladiators, emperors, and shaping medicine for over a millennium.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Valerian: The Only Roman Emperor Who Was Captured Alive by an Enemy
Valerian’s capture by Shapur I in 260 CE was Rome’s most humiliating defeat—its emperor turned into a Persian trophy. His fate, ambiguous and unforgettable, inspired centuries of reinterpretation, from Christian polemic to Byzantine invective and Persian pride.
Roman Empire News
How Roman Pandemics and Plagues Allowed Ecosystems to Recover from Pollution
The Roman Empire’s great plagues reshaped not only society but also nature. New science shows that during times of crisis, pollution levels dropped and the Mediterranean briefly healed.
Roman Empire Historical Facts
Gaius Marius: The Rise and Fall of Rome’s Saviour
From humble Arpinum to seven consulships, Gaius Marius saved Rome from Jugurtha and the northern tribes. Yet his ambition, violence, and rivalry with Sulla turned triumph into terror, leaving a legacy both heroic and destructive.