Imperial Rome is remembered for its temples, aqueducts, roads, and monuments. Most Romans lived in a very different environment. At its height, Rome may have contained hundreds of thousands of …
Silbannacus is one of the most obscure figures associated with the Roman Empire. No surviving ancient historian mentions him. No inscription records his name, and no statue preserves his image. …
In 89 BC, a young man entered Rome in chains. He was a captive from Picenum, one of the Italian regions that had rebelled against Rome during the Social War. …
Few monuments demonstrate the scale, engineering ability, and political ambition of Imperial Rome as dramatically as the Baths of Caracalla. Known in antiquity as the Thermae Antoninianae, the complex was …
For more than 1,700 years, one of the most important gatherings in the history of the Roman world has had a missing address. In AD 325, bishops from across the …
Imagine a wedding day in ancient Rome. The house is busy from early morning. Relatives and friends have gathered, preparations are underway, and the bride is dressed in clothing that …
On 24 August AD 410, something happened that had seemed almost impossible for centuries. The gates of Rome opened to a Gothic army. For centuries, Rome had not been captured …
The Roman army was far more than a fighting force. It was one of the principal instruments through which Rome imposed order, projected imperial authority, built infrastructure, collected revenue, and …
Poena cullei, or the “penalty of the sack,” was one of the most severe punishments in Roman law. It was associated primarily with parricidium, especially the murder of a parent …
The Roman army of the late Republic produced commanders whose names became inseparable from its greatest campaigns, but its battlefield success depended just as heavily on men whose careers rarely …
The Circus Maximus was ancient Rome’s principal venue for chariot racing and one of the largest entertainment complexes of the ancient world. Located in the valley between the Palatine and …
Chariot racing was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in ancient Rome, combining sport, religion, commerce, politics, and extreme physical danger. Its principal venue was the Circus Maximus, …
Rome conquered much of the Mediterranean world, but it never permanently conquered Persia. For more than six centuries, the Roman and Iranian empires competed for control and influence across Mesopotamia, …
One of the most famous traditions concerning an evocatio is associated with the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. The evidence, however, is much later than the event itself, and scholars continue …
