The Roman Empire

Pedro Pascal as General Acacius in Gladiator II

Gladiator III: what could happen in a new sequel, according to Roman history

Gladiators do battle in a c320 AD mosaic, housed in the Borghese Gallery in Rome

Blood, guts and spectacle: 6 shocking events from the history of ancient Roman gladiators. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gladiator tales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman slavery: a brutal life in the ancient empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bust of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus.

The Antonine Plague: the killer disease that devastated the Roman empire

The plague that brought the Roman empire to its knees. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A section of the Via Flaminia – the ancient route linking Rome with Rimini – in Fossombrone (Photo by karayuschij/Getty Images)

“Roman roads turn up so often” | Catherine Fletcher on what the Romans did for European transport networks. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Club AD 130: a Roman holiday. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bust of Roman emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian Dynasty.

‘I’m becoming a god!’ How unlikely emperor Vespasian restored Rome – and gave it its gladiatorial heart

A portrait of Roman emperor Titus.

Emperor Titus: the underrated Roman emperor that history forgot

A statue of Domitian.

Emperor Domitian: was he really the cruel tyrant of his reputation?

Justinian: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

HistoryExtra Academy video lecture: Joining the Roman empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman slaves: the hidden lives of the empire's invisible labour force. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Votive altar with relief decoration showing procession of servants

The Invisible Romans: how the brutal lives of the enslaved shaped an empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 19th-century depiction of the retreat of the Vandals from Rome

The Vandals: a victim of Roman cancel culture?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman pizza, the Black Room, and renovation: 4 incredible things we learned from Pompeii: The New Dig

Mary Beard, writer and feminist, at the Oxford Literary Festival 2019 on April 3, 2019 in Oxford, England

Video podcastMary Beard on how to live like a Roman emperor. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastLife of the week: Nero. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Trajan statue

Tom Holland on Trajan"He is vastly overrated"

A relief on Trajan's Column shows Roman troops crossing the Danube during the war against the Dacians. Victory was the framework upon which Pax Romana was built (Photo by akg-images/Erich Lessing)

The Pax Romana: how the Romans maintained peace at the point of a sword. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sex, scandal and slander: who was Messalina?

Goths: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Heliogabalus: Rome’s scandalous emperor. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor.

Everything you wanted to know about the Roman emperors

Crassus: Rome’s richest man. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Roman soldier stands on guard during a re-enaction at Birdoswald Roman fort in Carlisle

Roman legions: the backbone of the Roman military

In partnership with Expeditions Rome

Q&ACould Roman slaves buy their own freedom?

An allegorical depiction of the plague in ancient Rome, an angel batters down a door while people lie sick on the ground

The reign of Roman disease: why did disease hit a flourishing empire?

Illustration representing various empires across history

General ancient history

Have empires ever been a force for good?