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Roman

Emperor Nero and the fire in Rome

Q&ADid Emperor Nero really play the fiddle while Rome burned?

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winchester Cathedral

From King Alfred to Jane Austen: a historical tour of Winchester. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides

General ancient history

Happy plants and laughing weeds: how people of the ancient world used – and abused – drugs

Making history funny: is any historical topic off-limits?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Historian Greg Jenner

Making jokes about Romans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dornier 217 bombers of the Luftwaffe bomb London during the Battle of Britain. "The crucial role of the RAF in denying the Germans control of the air in 1940 and therefore persuading Hitler to abandon his invasion plans is so well known that it might seem almost sacrilegious to question it, " says Sean Lang. "But was it solely responsible for saving Britain from invasion? Not quite." (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of the battle of Agincourt. By attacking over unsuitable ground, Charles d’Albret “doomed his army”, says Rupert Matthews. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The top 10 military blunders in history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

9 eccentric monarchs through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Books interview with AC Grayling: “A great philosophical mind is one that belongs to a childish heart – always curious, always open”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charlton Hetson races a chariot in Ben-Hur

Wacky races: 10 weird and wonderful contests through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In his native Como, Pliny the Younger's fame is reflected in his statue on the city cathedral's imposing west front, which was built in the 15th century. (Image by AKG Images)

Pliny's Rome: Vesuvius, vice and vestal virgins. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A c1850 bronze statue by Thomas Thornycroft commemorating Boudica and her daughters. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Boudica: scourge of the Roman empire

The photogenic Trevi Fountain is a highlight of most visits to Rome. (Image by Getty Images)

My favourite place: Rome, Italy

Hardian's Wall, a world heritage site. (Photo by Getty Images)

A tale of two walls: how Hadrian's Wall inspired Game of Thrones. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The food served at the wedding of Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell may be inspired by accounts of ancient Roman excess, says Ayelet Haimson Lushkov. (© Home Box Office, Inc/Sky Atlantic)

Power plays and scheming queens: the ancient history behind Game of Thrones. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An ancient Roman relief shows a midwife delivering a baby. Many midwives had other occupations, and undertook the task as a contribution to their community. (Wellcome Images)

Call the (Roman) midwife

(Photo by Alamy)

Brexit lessons from history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marble bust of Agrippina the Younger

Agrippina the Younger: the first true empress of Ancient Rome

The regions of Britain in 1635, before the 1707 Acts of Union that united England and Scotland. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

“The anglocentric view we have of British history is unsustainable,” says Misha Glenny. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman mosaic of a dog, bearing the legend 'Cave Canem' underneath, from Pompeii, from Naples National Museum's collection, 1st century. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

6 things you (probably) didn’t know about animals in ancient Rome

Agrippina the Younger. (Photo by Alamy)

Agrippina the Younger: a Roman woman of great power. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Heck cows, the result of Nazi breeding experiments. Seven Heck cows had to be put down in January 2015 after they tried, on multiple occasions, to attack Devon farmer Derek Gow. (Photo by Jim Wileman/Alamy Stock Photo)

Nazi super-cows and defamed Gods: 7 strange and forgotten moments in history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Max Adams. (Photo by Kona Macphee/Royal Literary Fund)

Remarkable women through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c60 AD, Queen Boudica of the Iceni holding a spear. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

8 things you may not know about British history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Foundations of a bath house at the Roman fort on Bar Hill in central Scotland. (Photo by Alamy)

History explorerRoman Britain’s final frontier. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 17th-century church of Santi Luca e Martina overlooks the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum

ExploreRome, Italy: the 'eternal city'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Gallo-Roman image shows wine being transported. According to Barry Cunliffe, there was a long period when the Romans traded extensively with the Celts of Gaul, tribes with whom the Romans co-existed in relative peace. (Photo by BeBa/Iberfoto/Mary Evans)

The Celts: were they friends or foes of the Romans?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A fourth to fifth-century AD Roman mosaic shows a woman spinning. The household was considered a woman's natural environment; the political arena certainly was not. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

6 women who changed the course of Roman history

Top ( l-r) Agrippina the Elder, Julia, and Livia. Bottom (l-r) Messalina and Agrippina the Younger

The women who built the Roman Empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.