Leslie Livingston 
Rome had seven kings. The last one was so awful that Romans spent the next 500 years treating monarchy like a contagious disease. Tradition blamed one man above all: Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Tarquin the Proud. He was Rome’s seventh and final king. According to ancient sources, he was reviled. He usurped the throne in Rome … Read more
Rome was a beacon of power, law, and civilization. It was also a place where people happily watched gladiators butcher each other, packed public executions, and generally had a fairly high tolerance for bloodshed. Need to get rid of a rival heir? An inconvenient spouse? A dangerously popular general? No problem. There was always poison, … Read more
Mommy knows best. Julia Domna thought a private meeting might finally force her sons to make peace. Instead, Geta died in her arms. Roman emperors killed plenty of relatives. Sons, cousins, nephews, rivals, inconvenient heirs. But Caracalla did something unusually brutal. He murdered his own brother, paying Romulus to his Remus. Why did he do … Read more
Roman history is packed with important figures. The men usually get all the glory. But the women? Just as interesting, and often for very different reasons. Some operated behind the scenes as power brokers. Others schemed, plotted, manipulated, or murdered. A few were simply ferocious. In this article, I’m looking at the most powerful women … Read more
Caligula was dead. The Senate was scrambling to decide Rome’s future. Meanwhile, the Praetorian Guard found Claudius hiding in the palace, acclaimed him emperor, and marched him off to their camp. Was this a legitimate succession? Or had Rome just witnessed a military coup? And, even more, was Claudius really an accidental emperor dragged unwillingly … Read more
Germanicus was the most dashing young man in Rome. He was enormously popular, heir to Tiberius, and destined to become the next emperor. He and his wife Agrippina the Elder were one of Rome’s true celebrity couples. He was the fearless conquering general. She was the beautiful granddaughter of the divine Augustus, fiercely devoted to … Read more
How much of the woman we think we know is actually Livia, and how much is I, Claudius? Was she the great spider at the center of the Julio-Claudian web, quietly removing anyone who stood between her son Tiberius and the throne? Was she a powerful woman later turned into a convenient villain? Or, more likely, … Read more
Otho looked like exactly the wrong man to save Rome from chaos. He was a pampered court dandy, Nero’s drinking buddy, and a man who seized the throne through murder. Otho looked frivolous, venal, and morally unserious. Yet, when the crisis came, he behaved better than expected. He somehow ended his life with one of … Read more
Falling rose petals. Extravagant banquets. An oversexed teenage emperor who was determined to shock Rome at every turn. Almost overnight, Elagabalus upended religious convention. Temples were stripped of sacred relics. Purges and executions became the norm. Meanwhile, he cultivated an image that confounded Romans. He openly challenged expectations surrounding gender and masculinity in a society … Read more
“I am a god incarnate” said young Nero. Did that mean he thought he could do anything? Even commit murder? Nero came to the throne at 16. He was an exceedingly popular teenager who reveled in the applause of the crowds. But there was a darkness there too, and absolute power would make it considerably … Read more