History Revealed

1 min read

1996 The year that the secret activities of the WWII Ghost Army were finally declassified 200m The number of lives estimated to have been saved by penicillin 60 The number of senators who played a role in the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC

History Revealed

7 min read

Q: How and when did the Roman Republic first come about? A: The Roman Republic actually goes through a series of phases, which historians usually refer to as the early, mid and late Republic. The early Republic can be seen to begin in 509 BC, when

History Revealed

1 min read

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, is overthrown in an uprising led by his own nephew, Lucius Junius Brutus. The king goes into exile and a republic is established, with Brutus as one of its first consuls. A struggle betwe

All About History

8 min read

It’s sometimes said that being remembered is a form of immortality. By this measure the peoples of ancient Rome, Athens and Egypt to name just a few will never really die. Their memory, culture, rulers and achievements have been passed down through t

BBC History Magazine

1 min read

Who could fail to be fascinated by the ancient world? From the pyramids of Egypt to the great emperors of Rome, it is filled with astonishing stories, momentous achievements and people who can be both surprisingly similar and utterly different to tho

Science Illustrated

1 min read

In 293 BC, a severe epidemic swept through Rome. The citizens died in great numbers. The Roman gods seemed powerless, so Rome sent a delegation to the city of Epidavros in Greece, home of the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius. As the delegation discus

New Philosopher

4 min read

“The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things: bread and circuses!” Juvenal For nearly 500 years, the citizens of Rome elected their leaders. Structurally, Ro

History of War

2 min read

“THESE CAMPAIGNS PROVED HIM ONE OF THE GREATEST COMMANDERS IN HISTORY” Author: Patricia Southern Price: £20.00 Publisher: Amberley Publishing Released: Out now Julius Caesar was one of the long-vanished breed of statesman and general. The suave Roman

History Revealed

6 min read

The Roman Empire was by no means the largest in history: in fact 25 others have occupied a larger land mass either before or since. Yet very few can boast as wide-reaching an influence and impact. At its height, in the second century AD, the Roman Em

MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History

8 min read

As the summer of 107 bce drew to a close, Gaius Marius drove his legions deeper into the North African interior, determined to accomplish something great. A newly elected consul of the Roman Republic, he had recently taken command of Rome’s war again

History of War

2 min read

“THESE CAMPAIGNS PROVED HIM ONE OF THE GREATEST COMMANDERS IN HISTORY” Author: Patricia Southern Price: £20.00 Publisher: Amberley Publishing Released: Out now Julius Caesar was one of the long-vanished breed of statesman and general. The suave Roman

BBC History Magazine

1 min read

As Emma Southon points out, we all love a good murder story – and this book is full of poisonings, bludgeonings and beheadings from ancient Rome. Murder, as she says in her conclusion, allows us not only to see the “underbelly” of Rome, away from its

BBC History Magazine

6 min read

At the end of the first century BC, the poet Virgil, in his great poem The Aeneid, proclaimed in ringing, self confident tones the Romans’ god-given mission and their unique contribution to history: “Remember, Roman, that your task is to rule peoples

BBC History Magazine

1 min read

The Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War (218–202 BC) was a far better military strategist than any Roman. Despite inflicting a series of defeats on the Romans, culminating in the battle of Cannae (216 BC), he was ultimately defeated by R

All About History

1 min read

As one of the most influential figures in ancient history, Julius Caesar’s story is well known and well trodden, but we wanted to focus a little closer on a particular period in the Roman leader’s life; the last few years before he met his bloody end

BBC History Magazine

2 min read

(100 44BC) Caesar, Augustus’s great-uncle, joined in an informal alliance with Pompey and Crassus, the two most important men in the state. In 49 BC Pompey and Caesar became rivals when the latter crossed the Rubicon and began a new civil war. Caesar

History Revealed

1 min read

Under Emperor Trajan, Rome’s territory is at its largest – spanning from Iberia to Mesopotamia and from Britain to Egypt A plague is brought to Rome by soldiers returning from the Near East that kills an estimated five million people. Historians beli

History Revealed

3 min read

The Roman Empire was hugely dependent on forced labour. It was a key foundation on which Rome’s power, wealth and influence was built. A great many slaves were set to work in menial and manual jobs – including agriculture, mining and construction. As

The Christian Science Monitor

3 min read

“Romans, let these be your arts,” the hero Aeneas is sternly told in the underworld by the shade of his father, “to teach the ways of peace to those you conquer; to spare the meek, and to war down the proud.” It was an anthem fit for the Pax Romana o

Literary Hub

8 min read

When the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center’s South Tower, I was running late to Latin at Texas A&M. I never made it to class that day. The school, with its famous ROTC program and patriotic reputation, all but shut down. Students gathe

History of War

2 min read

Carthage is defeated in the First Punic War (264-241 BCE) and loses Sardinia and Corsica to Rome. However, the Carthaginians gain control in Iberia and tensions rise over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized coastal city with Roman connections. Ha

History Revealed

1 min read

The chairman of Whitechapel’s Vigilance Committee, George Lusk (far right), receives an alcohol-preserved lump and accompanying letter. The letter purports to be from notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper, with the strange lump being half a human k

BBC History Magazine

2 min read

In early January 49 BC, Rome’s fate hung in the balance. Caesar’s long war with Gaul was over. The pressing question now was what would happen next? For his part, Caesar wanted to lead his army in triumph through the city, and from there to embark im

All About History

9 min read

When Julius Caesar entered the Senate House on 15 March 44 BCE, he is said to have done so in good spirits. He had heard the prophecy of the threat against him, but surrounded and supported by his friends, he felt he had nothing to fear. As it happen

All About History

2 min read

The relationship of the Roman Empire with Britain is long and detailed: from 55 BCE, when Julius Caesar first saw a land rich for conquest, to 410 when Emperor Honorius left the islands to fend for themselves against invaders. The centuries of Roman

History Revealed

1 min read

It’s hard to imagine Rome as it began – a small town on the banks of the Tiber, at a best guess founded in 753 BC – such is the lasting shadow it has cast across the world. At its height, the empire that bloomed from the Eternal City boasted some 50

All About History

12 min read

We have all had our Rubicons to cross; we have all rolled the dice of fate, metaphorically if not actually. Important as these dilemmas are to us, they are nothing to what Julius Caesar agonised with: he was struggling with one of the most pivotal an

History Revealed

1 min read

By 44 BC, Julius Caesar ruled as dictator of the Roman republic. The previous decade had seen the powerful statesman command his own army with indomitable success – conquering Gaul, repelling Germanic tribes, and launching invasions of Britain – whic

BBC History Magazine

1 min read

Rome is, according to legend, founded by the mythical Romulus, also reputedly the first Roman to have a triumph – a sign that the Romans saw themselves as militaristic from the start. The first of three wars against Carthage, the leading power in the

History Revealed

1 min read

Augustus, the great-nephew and heir of Julius Caesar, takes power, becoming Rome’s first emperor and ending the Roman Republic – which had existed for nearly five centuries The conquest of Britain begins. The province of Britannia would be part of t