Imperial cult: The Roman general Pompey Worshipping rulers as gods The Roman general Pompey conquered West Asia around 50 BC. He was embarrassed to find that people there were worshipping him as a god. Who [...]
Cicero's philosophy: a bust of Cicero (Capitoline Museum, Rome) Who was Cicero? In the last years of the Roman Republic, great men like Julius Caesar and Pompey fought over which of [...]
Not really Sulpicia: A woman from Roman Egypt, holding a notebook and a pen Who was Sulpicia? Sulpicia is one of very few Roman women whose poetry managed to last through the [...]
Part of a page from a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses (South Italy, 1000s AD, just as the Normans were conquering it) When did Ovid live? With the end of the Roman [...]
The Roman emperor Augustus As the Romans were conquering the whole Mediterranean, the rich men who were running the government got richer and richer - very very rich. They began fighting each [...]
The Roman emperor Augustus, first of the Julio-Claudians How did Augustus get power? Everybody was tired of all this fighting and killing. And everyone was afraid of Octavian. So when Octavian [...]
The Ara Pacis - the Altar of Peace. Originally it was outside, but today a roof protects it. Who built the Ara Pacis? When the Roman emperor Augustus took over Rome after [...]
Basilica Julia, Rome - in the Roman forum What was a Roman forum? At the center of most Roman cities was a big open space called the Forum. People met [...]
