Neil Faulkner - Vanessa Collingridge: Cleopatra: A Timewatch Guide TV - The Lost Legion - Alice Roberts & Neil Oliver TV - Alice Roberts TV - Jo Quinn - Joann Fletcher TV - Tony Robinson TV - Rome: RIse & Fall of an Empire TV -
The Roman empire is fundamentally a system of robbery with violence. Professor Neil Faulkner, Bristol University
The Roman invasion of Britain was an outbreak of unprovoked violence driven by the fear and weakness of a new regime. Neil Faulkner
In the history of the ancient world there’s one woman who eclipses all others. Her name has become a byword for beauty, luxury and excess. More than that, her story is entwined with some of the most powerful men in Western history. Vanessa Collingridge, Cleopatra: A Timewatch Guide, BBC 2015
A pharaoh queen who took on the might of the Roman empire. Along the way seducing two of Rome’s greatest generals. ibid.
1960s re-telling of the story: ‘Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra: Siren of the Nile.’ ibid.
The truth doesn’t seem to always match up to the legend. ibid.
Everything from Shakespeare to Hollywood blockbusters, one image has tended to hold sway. The archetypal femme fatale. ibid.
Just how remarkable a woman she really was. ibid.
Nearly two thousand years ago Rome’s elite 9th legion vanished somewhere in Britain’s remote frontier. The legend of the 9th legion is one of history’s most puzzling mysteries. The Lost Legion, 2014
Boudica almost destroyed the 9th legion. ibid.
Rome: warrior tribes that would fire the imaginations of Romans for centuries to come: the Celts. Alice Roberts & Neil Oliver, The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice, BBC 2015
The ordered structured world of Rome had a storm coming. ibid.
On the one hand centralised modern Rome, on the other, an Iron-Age culture that had its roots in deep history. Two vast armies and a brutal conflict fought between two of the age’s greatest generals. Alice Roberts & Neil Oliver, The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice II, BBC 2015
Caesar set about crushing those hostile to him ... The freedom fighter had finally been outwitted by the wily old strategist. The golden age of the Celts was over. ibid.
No other era has quite captured our imagination like Roman Britain ... Who were these Romans? How did they manage to rule here for nearly four hundred years? And why in the end did it all fall apart? Dr Alice Roberts, Roman Britain: A Timewatch Guide, BBC 2015
Why in the end did it all fall apart? ibid.
Was this a welcomed arrival or a hostile takeover? ibid.
The Vindolanda tablets have this extraordinary importance in ancient history. Dr Jo Quinn, Oxford University
Soon the expanding Roman empire bore down on a divided Egypt; only the famous Cleopatra stood in their way. Immortal Egypt with Joann Fletcher IV, BBC 2016
An empire that stretched all the way from Egypt to Hadrian’s Wall and brought people from Europe, Asia and Africa to live here. Tony Robinson’s History of Britain s2e1: Romans, Channel 5 2020
Glorious Rome. From a small republic it grew into the greatest empire of the ancient world and endured for over six hundred years. At its height it stretched from London to Baghdad. Rome: Rise & Fall of an Empire I: The First Barbarian War, History 2026
Beyond the frontiers of Roman civilised society soldiers encountered an unfamiliar breed of warrior. They called these people barbarians, a word meaning foreign, alien and crude. ibid.
It all started with the first barbarian war … A new breed of Roman soldier marched off to war. ibid.
As Rome began the long slow slide into dictatorship the Republic was launched into a maelstrom of political injustice and endless war from which there would be no way back. ibid.
But at the very heart of the Republic a revolt was brewing … slaves rose in rebellion against their masters. Their leader would be remembered throughout history as Spartacus. Rome: Rise & Fall of an Empire II: Spartacus
By the drawing of the short straw, gladiators learned who among them whould be the first to die. ibid.
Ingenuity and audacity gained Spartacus another victory. ibid.
Now they began to turn against each other … The slave army now divided. ibid.
In the middle of the first century B.C. democracy was breaking down throughout the Roman republic. It was a time of riot and violent political upheaval. This was the troubled world into which Julius Caesar was born. Rome: Rise & Fall of an Empire III: Julius Caesar
But some survivors did escape. An expert manipulator of propaganda, Caesar raised the spectre of a Germany invasion to gather popular support for the war. But in the Senate, conservatives suspected the real danger was Caesar himself. ibid.
He moved quickly to rebuild the city, change the tax laws and establish new colonies. ibid.
44 B.C. The democracy of republican Rome is no more. After a relentless campaign to take absolute power, Julius Caesar was assassinated. Rome: Rise & Fall of an Empire IV: The Forest of Death
The fledgeling empire embarked on a mission of rapid expansion, and set its sights on the barbarian land beyond the River Rhine. But the conquest collapsed into a bloodbath. ibid.
‘You have people who are willing to work with the Romans, and people who hate the Romans.’ ibid. Rutledge
Tiberius was a well-connected and effective soldier. He was also heir apparent to the imperial throne. ibid.
Arminius knew a lot about the Romans and he realised they underestimated Germanic resolve. ibid.
In the first century A.D. Rome’s forces found themselves on the shores of a legendary land that still lay beyond their grasp: Britannia. Rome: Rise & Fall of an Empire V: The Invasion of Britain
The more spectacular the conquest the better. ibid.
In one skirmish after another Cladius suffered defeat but he remained undaunted. ibid.
Claudius had been appointed governor of Britannia. He might have thought the celebration a little premature. ibid.
In 47 A.D. the Emperor [Caudius] led a campaign to conquer the mysterious islands of Britain. Rome’s first attempt since Julius Caesar tried to do so 100 years earlier. Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire VI: The Dacian Wars
In 83 A.D. he [Domitian] led the legions to the Germanic frontiers along the Rhine and the Danube in a showy display of Roman stregnth. Ibid.
Dacian wariors crossed the Danube and raided the Roman province of Moesia. ibid.
A disaffected Roman governer in Germania rebelled. ibid.
Domitian: An unpredictable and vindictive ruler presiding over a rule of terror. ibid.
Trajan’s reputation of a military commander preceded him. ibid.
Trajan led his forces to the political capital of the Dacian kingdom. ibid.