But how can we explain the Roman’s lust for such bloody shows? ibid.
They also show that the games acquired a paramount position in the Roman social life. ibid.
This is a far cry from a civilised image of Roman society. Such bloody brawls mirror a waning world while the Empire is at its peak. A social crisis is brewing. The egalitarian ideal of the Republic is over. The gap between social classes is widening. ibid.
2,000 years ago one civilisation dominated the entire western world: from northern Europe to Africa and the Middle East it imposed laws, culture, and a single language ... Rome: the power and the glory. Rome: Power and Glory s1e1: The Rise, Discovery 2010
At the heart of the empire was Rome and at the heart of Rome the Colosseum. ibid.
The Romans developed the science of urban planning. They invented cement, built gigantic public storehouses, and installed city-wide sewage systems. But their greatest achievement was the water supply. ibid.
Napoleon was obsessed with the Roman empire. ibid.
Rome was found by Romulus and Remus, twins who were cast into the wilderness to die. The boys were said to have been saved by a she-wolf. ibid.
They were the most successful warriors in history. They conquered vast territories across three continents. It was the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Rome: Power and Glory s1e2: Legions of Conquest s1e2
The Roman army is preparing to face the first true threat to its survival – the ancient empire called Carthage. ibid.
The Roman empire was vast. It stretched from Scotland to the Sahara. Her army controlled three continents. And fifty million people lived under Roman law. Rome: Power and Glory s1e3: Seduction of Power
Insecurity plagued Augustus’ successors. Their paranoid delusions would be the undoing of his dynasty. ibid.
Once new lands had been conquered, Rome’s next challenge was to win its subjects’ allegiance and loyalty. Rome: Power and Glory s1e4: The Grasp of Empire
Over a million people lived in Rome itself. ibid.
Romans enjoyed a technology boom unprecedented in Roman times. ibid.
Every master feared his slaves. ibid.
The slave army soon grew into a 70,000 strong force. ibid.
Romans were methodical and organised. They planned their cities like they planned their lives in a meticulous and orderly fashion. Rome: Power and Glory s1e5: The Cult of Order
There were as many cults in Rome as there were provinces in the Empire. ibid.
Many began questioning the benefits of Roman rule. ibid.
Rome’s glory shone for over a thousand years. But the empire wasn’t eternal. In the third century A.D. it was engulfed by civil war. Chaos and corruption undermined it from within, and from every direction its enemies amassed. Terrified Romans prophesied the Apocalypse. Rome: Power and Glory s1e6: The Fall
The Roman empire reached its zenith under Emperor Trajan in the early second century A.D. Through conquest and assimilation it now controlled western Europe and the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. ibid.
There had been many eccentric emperors. ibid.
Constantine abandoned the traditional trappings of a Roman emperor ... His vanity knew no bounds. ibid.
That dark side of Rome was ruthlessly exploited by the fascist dictator Mussolini who openly styled his regime as a new Roman empire and himself as a new Emperor Augustus. ibid.
Rome: the eternal city. Today it is a place dominated by Christianity. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City I, BBC 2012
Its origin as a sacred site owes everything to its pre-Christian past. ibid.
Every sacred city needs a creation story, and Rome is no different. ibid.
The Temple of Jupiter was a declaration of the astonishing religious and political confidence of Rome. ibid.
A multinational pantheon of deities. ibid.
With Caesar’s successors Rome would no longer be ruled by the Senate as a republic but by a single ruler as an autocracy. ibid.
Augustus subtly adopted new powers. ibid.
Augustus set the tone for emperors who came after him. ibid.
A new generation of foreign sects was starting to gain popularity in the city. ibid.
In the earliest Christian art the cross doesn’t appear at all. ibid.
This was a holy city blessed by the gods to rule the world. ibid.
Rome: Holy City blessed by pagan gods. Earthly capital of a glorious empire with a divine mission to conquer and rule. But Rome was to cast aside its pantheon of idols to embrace a revolutionary new faith from the east. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Rome: A History of the Eternal City II: Divine Gamble
The centre of Rome had been devastated by fire. ibid.
Constantine built seven churches in Rome. ibid.
Justinian ousted the old pope and installed Virgilius. ibid.
At Christmas 597, 10,000 angels were baptised as Christians. ibid.
Popes became power-hungry players in the savage scheming of Italian politics. ibid.
The popes played a vicious game of power and pleasure. ibid.
The papacy and Rome sank to ever greater depths of moral depravity. ibid.
All had leading roles to play as ruling a vast empire became a family drama. Catharine Edwards, Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses of Ancient Rome I: Livia, BBC 2013
Augustus, Rome’s first emperor ... A woman as compelling and formidable as himself: Livia Drusilla. ibid.
Livia’s involvement in Judea gives a lie to her carefully cultivated public image. ibid.
Julia: extremely popular and extremely wayward. ibid.
Agrippina would make an explosive appearance on the Roman imperial stage ... Agrippina and Germanicus were the golden couple of their age. ibid.
Livia’s power over the Senate was headline news. ibid.
Livia was the supreme operator in the treacherous world of first century Roman politics. ibid.
Women were wielding real power: the trailblazer was Augustus’s wife Livia. Catharine Edwards, Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses of Ancient Rome II: Empresses of Ancient Rome
Messalina: the most notorious woman of ancient Rome ... Agrippina and Messalina were also vicious rivals who would collide in a fatal clash of ambition. ibid.
Agrippina gave birth to a son who we know as Nero. ibid.
Agrippina was lucky to escape execution for her part in the attempted coup against Caligula. ibid.
Her descent from Augustus was always the trump card in Agrippina’s political hand. ibid.
Claudius’s wife Messalina ... for the poet Juvenal she was the whore empress. ibid.
Agrippina ... was now the wife of Rome’s emperor [Claudius]. ibid.
Agrippina’s ambitions for Nero were fierce and calculated. ibid.
Nero was on the defensive against Agrippina. ibid.
Another wave of exceptional woman came on the scene ... Berenice born far from home [the Jewish Queen]. Catharine Edwards, Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses of Ancient Rome III: Empresses of Ancient Rome
The provincials were on the march with women in the vanguard. ibid.
He ruled the world’s mightiest empire with sadistic brutality. His reign of terror lasted just 1,400 days ... Most say he was evil, but was he? Caligula: 1400 Days of Terror, H2 2013
On Capri, Caligula received an education in violence, pleasure, and the intoxicating effects of absolute power. ibid.
Exotic and erotic parties, and his unnatural relationship with his youngest sister. ibid.
The only thing Caligula seems to enjoy more than sex is violence. ibid.
Caligula’s absolute favourite hobby is horseracing. ibid.