
Catherine Steel
Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow
6 episodes
Covers topics in categories such as:
The Gracchi
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact on Roman politics of the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus and how the reaction to them helped destabilise the Republic.
03 April 2025
Also featuring: Federico Santangelo, Kathryn Tempest
Tiberius
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the means by which Tiberius became the first Roman to succeed an Emperor and his reputation for financial prudence, cruelty and breeding paranoia.
14 December 2023
Also featuring: Matthew Nicholls, Shushma Malik
HistoryRoman pharaohsClaudii Nerones, Roman-era Olympic competitors1st-century Roman emperorsPeople in the canonical gospelsAncient Roman military personnel, Burials at the Mausoleum of Augustus1st-century BC RomansAncient Roman adopteesJulii CaesaresRoman quaestorsAncient Roman triumphatorsJulio-Claudian dynastyIs Shakespeare History? The Romans
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's treatment of Roman history, where he had scope to explore ideas too threatening for English histories.
18 October 2018
Also featuring: Jonathan Bate, Patrick Gray
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
Also featuring: Melissa Lane, 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 humanistsJulius 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
Also featuring: Christopher Pelling, 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 writersMemoiristsThe Roman Republic
Melvyn Bragg discusses the rise and eventual downfall of the Roman Republic which survived for 500 years.
30 December 2004
Also featuring: Greg Woolf, Tom Holland