Matthew Nicholls
Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John's College, Oxford.
6 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Shushma Malik
Covers topics in categories such as:
The Roman Arena
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the origins of the gladiatorial and beast fights, from the funeral games of the early Roman Republic to the Colosseum under the emperors.
29 January 2026
Also featuring: Kathleen Coleman, John Pearce
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: Shushma Malik, Catherine Steel
History1st-century BC RomansPeople in the canonical gospelsAncient Roman adopteesJulii CaesaresRoman quaestorsAncient Roman triumphatorsClaudii Nerones, Roman-era Olympic competitorsAncient Roman military personnel, Burials at the Mausoleum of AugustusRoman pharaohs1st-century Roman emperorsJulio-Claudian dynasty1st century BCRomeWarBattle of the Teutoburg Forest
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Germanic tribes' destruction of three legions of the Roman general Varus in 9 AD, so limiting the expansion of the Roman Empire across the Rhine
13 February 2020
Also featuring: Ellen O'Gorman, Peter Heather
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
Also featuring: Maria Wyke, Shushma Malik
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
Also featuring: Catharine Edwards, Alice König
The Library of Alexandria
Melvyn Bragg and guests Simon Goldhill, Serafina Cuomo and Matthew Nichols discuss the Library of Alexandria, one of the greatest libraries in history.
12 March 2009
Also featuring: Simon Goldhill, Serafina Cuomo