On 1 November 82 BC, a battle took place virtually within the city of Rome itself. It was a climactic end to a civil war that began the previous between the supporters of the Roman general, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and an alliance of Marians. The Marians were supporters of the recently deceased military commander, Gaius […]
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A visitor today to the ruins of the town of Pompeii, which was buried under volcanic ash and rock following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, will be confronted by many frescoes, mosaics, and wall paintings showing people and mythological figures playing musical instruments. These scenes in places such as the Villa of
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The toys that children play with can tell a person a lot about the society involved. In Victorian Britain, the doll house became one of the most ubiquitous forms of play as the manufacture of detailed objects such as these was made possible on a large scale by the Industrial Revolution and the advent of
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When Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th of March in 44 BC, his adoptive heir and eventual political successor, Octavian, was just eighteen. Within weeks the young man was striving to gather military force to his cause as other allies of Caesar’s, such as Marc Anthony, scrambled for positions of power in the vacuum
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History is littered with traitors who sold their countries or families for personal gain. But unfortunately, for some people, greed and power overrule loyalty. Every country has fallen prey to someone who has switched sides for their gain. It doesn’t matter if it’s money or political power promised to them. People have seen fit to
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One of the significant advantages any historian of ancient Rome has is a wealth of written material that has survived from 2,000 years ago to help explain to us what the remains of the Roman Empire mean. For instance, we know how the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum ended up buried under volcanic ash because
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The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which followed it controlled most of the Mediterranean world for over half a millennium. That’s twice the length of the time that the United States has existed. At its height in the second century AD, Rome’s power extended from southern Scotland in the north-south to the Sahara Desert
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Rome lasted for over 1,000 years, from around 753 BC to approximately 476 AD. At its height, the Roman Empire spanned most of Europe, from England to the eastern corners of Babylonia (modern-day Iraq). Ancient Rome has had many contributions to modern life, and we still feel the influences of their culture and methods even
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All cities have their histories, and these often blend elements of myth and reality, particularly when it comes to their earliest history and foundation. None is more elaborate than the founding of Rome. The myth says that the city was first established on a specific day, the 21st of April in 753 BC. The story
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In the 60s BC, the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius, later known as Pompeius Magnus or Pompey the Great, undertook a series of wars in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of the Roman Republic. These were famous conflicts, as Pompey won successive victories, bringing the remainder of the Seleucid Empire in Syria under Roman occupation and
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