Lucius Caecilius Iucundus kept the economic wheels of Pompeii well greased. He was a middle man doing very nicely- part money-lender, part auctioneer, part banker, all hustler. Thanks to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the preservation of the ruins of Pompeii, we can still visit his house, look at his bronze portrait, and read his account books. 150 tablets of receipts, carbonised in the destruction of Pompeii, lead us through the deals that keep the city’s economy moving. If you want to...

Allia Potestas is a woman remembered in one of the most intriguing and affecting funeral orations of the ancient world. Her lover remembers her diligent application to housework before praising to the skies her beauty and her erotic skills. But he didn’t have Allia to himself. She was shared in a ménage à trois with his male friend. It’s an unusual domestic arrangement and a surprising one to advertise on a tombstone. The lines themselves reveal an enormous amount about Roman morality...

An obscure carved stone dug up from a vineyard in southern Italy tells the story of a pair of publicans- the delightfully named Calidius Eroticus and Fannia Voluptas- and their bawdy adventures in the pub trade. Fans of Frankie Howard, the Carry On films and the sitcom Plebs will instantly feel at home with the Roman sense of humour, but these two characters have so much more to offer than lame jokes and a glass of rough wine- they’re our window into the fascinating bar culture of the...

The image of the battle-hardened, well regimented Roman soldier has been set in stone by movies, novels and video games. The letters of Claudius Terentianus reveal something very different. A terrible moaner, the young soldier has to beg his father to send the most basic of equipment, from sandals to swords. Stuck in the marines, the poorly paid squad tasked with guarding grain supplies, he bribes and wangles his way into a more illustrious legion, but still seems to spend more time...

Beneath starched Shakespearean togas and the pungent fug of gladiator sweat there are real Romans waiting to be discovered. To know what it was to be Roman you need to gather the scattered clues until they form a living, breathing human, witness to the highs and horrors of Europe’s greatest empire. Mary Beard, Britain’s best-selling historian of the ancient world, rebuilds the lives of six citizens of the Roman Empire, from a poet to a squaddie. Her investigations reveal death and deceit on...

Julia Balbilla is an accomplished poet and close friend of the wife of one of Rome’s mightiest emperors. Hadrian loves to travel and takes Julia and an entourage of thousands on the ultimate elite tourist trip- a leisurely Nile cruise to the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Colossus of Memnon, a statue that will sing for anyone blessed by the gods. Julia inscribes her poems on the giant foot of the statue, praising the power of Hadrian and the beauty of his wife, Sabina. It’s a charming scene,...

At the very edge of Empire, inscribed on a beautifully carved tombstone, there’s a story of love across the tracks. On Hadrian’s Wall a slave girl from Hertfordshire and a lonely traveller from Syria meet and marry. The story of Regina and Barates has inspired poets and writers eager for a simple love story to illuminate a dark and dangerous world. But how true might this be? What brought this couple together across cultures and thousands of miles? Was their alliance true love or forced...

What does it take to run an Empire? Armies and slaves, of course, but also bureaucrats. At its height the Roman Empire employed thousands of men charged with keeping Rome and its provinces fed, watered and content. This was no easy job. A remarkable set of papyrus scrolls reveals the life of Roman Egypt's very own David Brent, preparing for a a visit from the fearsome Emperor Diocletian. Infuriated by hopeless staff and venal local politicians and continuously harassed by his superiors,...

For an aspiring medic it was a dream assignment- official team doctor to the gladiators of Pergamon. The top names in the arena were worth a lot of money and it was up to young Galen to keep them alive. Slash and stab wounds had to be closed quickly and cleanly and diets devised to maintain the perfect balance of fat and muscle for the finest fighters. It gave Galen unrivalled insight into the workings of the human body, knowledge he would use as he went on to treat emperors and write the...

Imagine the feeling in the pit of your stomach as you take to the stage in front of 7000 people to recite a complex poem you’ve just made up on the spot. 11 year old Sulpicius Maximus knows that the Emperor is in the front row and his parents are counting on his success in Rome’s premier festival of the arts. Mary Beard tracks down the clues behind an extraordinary story of Roman life, revealing the reality of Roman childhood and the desperate attempts of the poet's parents to escape the...

Beneath starched Shakespearean togas and the pungent fug of gladiator sweat there are real Romans waiting to be discovered. To know what it was to be Roman you need to gather the scattered clues until they form a living, breathing human, witness to the highs and horrors of Europe’s greatest empire. Mary Beard, Britain’s best-selling historian of the ancient world, rebuilds the lives of six citizens of the Roman Empire, from a slave to an emperor. Her investigations reveal the stressful...

Beneath starched Shakespearean togas and the pungent fug of gladiator sweat there are real Romans waiting to be discovered. To know what it was to be Roman you need to gather the scattered clues until they form a living, breathing human, witness to the highs and horrors of Europe’s greatest empire. Mary Beard, Britain’s best-selling historian of the ancient world, rebuilds the lives of six citizens of the Roman Empire, from a slave to an emperor. Her investigations reveal the stressful...

Beneath starched Shakespearean togas and the pungent fug of gladiator sweat there are real Romans waiting to be discovered. To know what it was to be Roman you need to gather the scattered clues until they form a living, breathing human, witness to the highs and horrors of Europe’s greatest empire. Mary Beard introduces her six part series on the people of the Roman Empire, from a slave to an emperor.