Augustus

They weren’t all scheming poisoners: the maligned women of imperial Rome

2 November 2024 9:00 am

Joan Smith criticises the distortions of Robert Graves in particular, whose villainisation of the empress Livia had no historical basis whatever

The horrors of dining with a Roman emperor

16 December 2023 9:00 am

Elagabalus’s suffocating party tricks may have been exaggerated, but Domitian’s sinister, death-themed feasts could be seen as a dictator’s flamboyant threat

How did the ancients cope in a crisis?

11 April 2020 9:00 am

When a major crisis strikes in the modern world, the state and international bodies such as the IMF and World…

What Boris has in common with Roman emperor Augustus

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

The PM was filmed introducing his new cabinet by getting them to answer in unison how many hospitals, how many…

Pericles for PM: Boris should forget Augustus and stay focused on his hero

14 September 2019 9:00 am

Boris Johnson is a gung-ho classicist. He has supported the subject throughout his journalistic and political career, is a generous…

The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. Its transport from Luxor to Paris took seven years and involved the destruction of an entire village

Are Egypt’s obelisks more stunning even than the pyramids?

23 April 2016 9:00 am

On the banks of the River Thames in central London, an ancient Egyptian obelisk, known as Cleopatra’s Needle, reaches towards…

Oscars goodie bags should take a tip from the Roman emperors

20 February 2016 9:00 am

There was something admirable about the spirit of careful mockery behind the doggy bags on offer to the finalists in…

The fall of the Roman republic – and the rise of the EU

29 October 2015 9:00 am

As both sides of the great EU debate line up their forces, it is worth reflecting on the implications of…

Nero and Agrippina by Antonio Rizzi

Rid of their enemies, the Caesars set about murdering family and friends

12 September 2015 9:00 am

According to Francis Bacon, the House of York was ‘a race often dipped in its own blood’. That being so,…

Statue of Augustus in Orange, southern France

Augustus: here was a Caesar! Or at least his great-nephew

5 September 2015 9:00 am

It’s strange that tourists rarely visit the most famous site in Roman history. The spot in Pompey’s assembly hall where…

What MPs need is an oath with consequences

10 January 2015 9:00 am

Before taking their seats in Parliament, all MPs must swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Mark Durkan, MP…

Marble portrait of Augustus, c.40 BC

What Emperor Augustus left us

15 February 2014 9:00 am

Roderick Conway Morris on the influence and legacy of Augustus