Golden Age Latin writers
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin.
6 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Catullus
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poetry of Catullus - some of the greatest verse of his time, and some of the most scurrilous - and his influence on Roman and later poetry
11 January 2020
Featuring: Gail Trimble, Simon Smith, Maria Wyke
Cicero
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Cicero's political ideas on laws, duty, tyrants and the republic, which he developed as the Roman Republic was threatened by Caesar and civil wars.
25 January 2018
Featuring: Melissa Lane, Catherine Steel, Valentina Arena
Philosophy1st-century BC Roman augurs, 1st-century BC Roman consulsPhilosophers of Roman ItalyRoman-era students in AthensDeaths by blade weaponsNatural law ethicistsTrope theoristsAncient Roman equites, Ancient Roman exilesAncient Roman jurists, Ancient Roman rhetoriciansExecuted writers1st-century BC writers in LatinExecuted philosophersRoman Republican praetorsLetter writers in LatinGolden Age Latin writersRoman quaestors2nd-century BC RomansPeople of the War of MutinaClassical humanistsHorace
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Horace, one of the greatest poets of his age, the origin of phrases such as carpe diem, nil desperandum and dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
15 November 2018
Featuring: Emily Gowers, William Fitzgerald, Ellen O'Gorman
Julius Caesar
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and reputation of Julius Caesar, one of the most intriguing figures of Roman history.
2 October 2014
Featuring: Christopher Pelling, Catherine Steel, Maria Wyke
HistoryCharacters in Book VI of the Aeneid1st-century BC Roman augurs, 1st-century BC Roman consuls1st-century BC historiansAncient Roman military writers, Roman people of the Gallic WarsJulii CaesaresRoman Republican praetorsCleopatraGolden Age Latin writersAncient Roman triumphatorsGenocide perpetratorsPopulares1st-century BC writersMemoiristsOvid
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman poet whose influence is arguably greater than any poet of the classical age, besides Homer, even though his writing led to his exile.
29 April 2021
Featuring: Maria Wyke, Gail Trimble, Dunstan Lowe
Vitruvius and De Architectura
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Vitruvius's De Architectura, the first major treatise on architecture.
15 March 2012
Featuring: Serafina Cuomo, Robert Tavernor, Alice König