listworldabout

← back

1st century

15 episodes

1. Agrippina the Younger

   Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman empress Agrippina the Younger, one of the most notorious and influential of the Roman empresses in the 1st century AD.

   31 March 2016

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Catharine Edwards, Alice König, Matthew Nicholls

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   HistoryAugustaeJulio-Claudian dynastyJulii Caesares1st-century executions1st century

2. Josephus

   Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Flavius Josephus, author of The Jewish War.

   21 May 2015

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Tessa Rajak, Philip Alexander, Martin Goodman

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   HistoryAncient Roman antiquariansJewish historians1st-century Romans1st-century historiansMilitary personnel from Jerusalem1st-century writersGreek-language historians from the Roman Empire18th century1st centuryLanguageRomeWar

3. Just War

   Melvyn Bragg examines where the idea of a just war originated and whether after over 100 years of almost unimaginably violent conflict, the term has any meaning at all.

   3 June 1999

   listen ↗

   Featuring: John Keane, Niall Ferguson

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   PhilosophyMilitary ethicsCatholic theology and doctrineThomas Aquinas1st centuryTheology

4. London

   Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of London from its beginnings in the late Neolithic period, to the international, digitalised capital city of today, examining its past glories and darker times.

   28 September 2000

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Peter Ackroyd, Claire Tomalin, Iain Sinclair poet

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   1st-century establishments in Roman Britain1st century

5. Mary Magdalene

   Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Magdalene, one of the best-known figures in the Bible.

   25 February 2016

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Joanne Anderson, Eamon Duffy, Joan Taylor

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   ReligionAnglican saintsChristian saints from the New TestamentPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar1st-century deathsAngelic visionaries1st century20th century

6. Nero

   Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the reputation of Nero, popular with his subjects but vilified in his lifetime and after and associated with the Beast in the Book of Revelation.

   25 April 2019

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Maria Wyke, Matthew Nicholls, Shushma Malik

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   HistoryAncient Roman philhellenesAncient Roman adopteesHeads of state who died by suicideClaudii Nerones, Roman-era Olympic competitorsDamnatio memoriaeSuicides in Ancient RomeRoman pharaohs1st-century Roman emperorsJulio-Claudian dynasty1st centuryRome

7. Pliny the Younger

   Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Roman lawyer and statesman Pliny the Younger, whose letters offer a fascinating insight into his life and the ancient world.

   12 December 2013

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Catharine Edwards, Roy Gibson, Alice König

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   HistoryAncient Roman adopteesAncient Roman scientists, People from Como, Plinii1st-century RomansCritics of ChristianityLetter writers in LatinSuffect consuls of Imperial RomeAugurs of the Roman EmpireSilver Age Latin writers2nd-century Romans1st century2nd centuryRome

8. Pliny's Natural History

   Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Pliny the Elder's Natural History, a comprehensive and influential encyclopedia of the natural sciences written in the first century AD.

   8 July 2010

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Serafina Cuomo, Aude Doody, Liba Taub

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   ScienceAncient Roman geographersAncient Roman antiquarians1st-century geographersAncient Roman scientists, People from Como, Plinii1st-century RomansAncient Roman encyclopedistsSilver Age Latin writersPhilosophers of Roman Italy1st centuryRome

9. Ptolemy and Ancient Astronomy

   Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the last of the great Greek astronomers of antiquity, Ptolemy, and his influence on ancient and medieval astronomy.

   17 November 2011

   listen ↗

   Featuring: Liba Taub, Jim Bennett, Charles Burnett

   

   wikipedia article ↗

    
   PhilosophyAncient Roman geographersAncient occultists2nd-century Greek philosophersClaudii1st-century RomansAncient Greek geographersAncient Greek music theoristsEpigrammatists of the Greek Anthology2nd-century Romans1st century2nd centuryGreeceRome

10. Roman Britain

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the Romans in Britain, a history of 400 years of occupation. Do those four centuries still colour our national life and character today?

    1 May 2003

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Greg Woolf, Mary Beard, Catharine Edwards

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    CultureHistory of England by periodRoman Britain1st-century establishments in Roman BritainStates and territories disestablished in the 5th century1st century4th century5th century

11. Romulus and Remus

    Melvyn Bragg and guests Mary Beard, Peter Wiseman and Tim Cornell discuss Romulus and Remus, the foundation myth of Rome.

    24 January 2013

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Mary Beard, Peter Wiseman, Tim Cornell

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    CulturePeople whose existence is disputed1st century

12. Seneca the Younger

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Seneca: philosopher, playwright, tutor to Nero, one of the first great writers born in the new Roman empire after the fall of the Republic.

    23 February 2017

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Mary Beard, Catharine Edwards, Alessandro Schiesaro

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    CultureRoman-era Stoic philosophersAncient Roman satiristsPeople from Córdoba, Spain1st-century RomansForced suicidesLetter writers in LatinMale essayistsAncient Roman encyclopedistsSuffect consuls of Imperial RomeSuicides in Ancient RomeExecuted writersExecuted philosophersSilver Age Latin writers1st-century writers1st-century executionsPeople executed by the Roman Empire1st centuryRome

13. St Paul

    Melvyn Bragg and guests Helen Bond, John Haldane and John Barclay discuss the influence of St Paul on the early Christian church and on Christian theology generally.

    28 May 2009

    listen ↗

    Featuring: John Haldane, John Barclay, Helen Bond

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    ReligionChristian saints from the New TestamentShipwreck survivorsConverts to Christianity from Judaism1st-century writersMiracle workersPeople executed by the Roman Empire1st centuryRome

14. Tacitus and the Decadence of Rome

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman historian Tacitus, whose portrayal of Roman decadence influences the way we see Rome today.

    10 July 2008

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Catharine Edwards, Ellen O'Gorman, Maria Wyke

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    CultureSilver Age Latin writers1st-century historiansSuffect consuls of Imperial RomeAncient Roman jurists, Ancient Roman rhetoricians1st centuryLawRome

15. The Artist

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the rise of the idea of the artist and the claims made for it, and examines the role that aristocratic patronage of the arts has played in changing the status of the artist.

    28 March 2002

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Emma Barker, Thomas Healy, Tim Blanning

    

    wikipedia article ↗

     
    Aesthetics1st century