BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine aims to shed new light on the past to help you make more sense of the world today. Fascinating stories from contributors are the leading experts in their fields, so whether they're exploring Ancient Egypt, Tudor England or the Second World War, you'll be reading the latest, most thought-provoking historical research. BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world's leading historians and journalists and is a captivating read for anyone who's interested in the past.

“It's impossible not to be beguiled in some way by the glamorous squalor of Rome”

POWER & POLITICS • Meet the despots, dictators and showmen who ruled one of the world's greatest civilisations for more than 1,000 years

THE GLORIOUS CAESARS • Rome's first emperors are often decried as tyrannical, sex-mad monsters – but the likes of Augustus, Caligula and Nero actually brought peace and stability to the Roman world

THE FIRST FIVE ROMAN EMPERORS • Whether they ruled by autocracy or cruelty, warfare or theatrics, this quintet ensured its legacy

THE BLOODY RISE OF AUGUSTUS • Julius Caesar's teenage heir slaughtered his way to power, yet in his 40-year reign managed to transform his reputation for violent unpredictability into one of peace and stability

AUGUSTUS'S LIFE AND TIMES

FIVE OTHER GREAT RULERS OF ROME • Augustus was by no means the first, nor the last, to make his mark on the empire

“The Roman empire cannot have been governed by a series of psychopaths. It would not have survived” • MARY BEARD tells Matt Elton what life would have been like for Rome's emperors – from the path to the top to the almost inevitable sticky end

JULIUS CAESAR • loved to roll the dice. And in 55–54 BC he took one of his greatest gambles yet, leading two invasions of Britain. These were meant to be glorious staging-posts on his journey to supreme power in Rome. But a combination of poor planning, enemy chariots and inclement British weather almost left his career in tatters

ROME IN CRISIS • After 250 years of stability, the third century AD saw the Roman empire descend into an era of chaos – and its rulers only had themselves to blame

SOLDIERS & SLAVES • Gallons of blood were spilled in the pursuit and preservation of imperial glory. This is the story of the men, women and children who laid down their lives for the empire

LIVING AND DYING BY THE SWORD • The beat of Roman soldiers’ boots echoed throughout every corner of the empire – but what was it like to serve in the legions? Luckily for us, these soldiers left behind a vast archive, allowing us to present 10 snapshots of life in the ancient world's most powerful military force

TALES FROM THE ARENA • How did gladiators supercharge the rise of Julius Caesar? And why were they seen as sex symbols? Here we retell the story of this brutal form of mass entertainment through six of its most significant (and surprising) moments

THE REAL LIFE OF A GLADIATOR • Hollywood likes to cast them as heroic freedom fighters, but how did Rome's arena-warriors really live and die? And were they as well respected as they were feted?

“We think of the Romans as being like us, but we'd be shocked at the level of daily brutality” • JERRY TONER talks to Matt Elton about his book How to Manage Your Slaves, which explores Roman slavery by synthesising ancient sources into a how-to guide written in the guise of nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx

THE INVISIBLE ROMANS • Rome's slaves were brutalised, mocked, exploited – or simply ignored. Yet the Roman empire could hardly have functioned without the labours of this captive population

SOCIETY & SCANDAL • Discover the people and the city at the...