Did Nero start the Great Fire of Rome?
What Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio actually say about AD 64, and why the fiddle story is impossible.
Read more → PompeiiAre the Pompeii bodies real?
Not petrified people: plaster poured around real skeletons. And a 2024 DNA study rewrote the famous stories.
Read more → Fact-checkDid Romans fight sharks in the Colosseum?
Gladiator II checked claim by claim: the sharks, the flooded arena, the rhinos, and the feuding emperors.
Read more → ReferenceHow to write a date in Roman numerals
Birthdays, weddings and anniversaries in numerals, plus the date-order and tattoo mistakes that end up permanent.
Read more → LanguageLatin tattoo phrases: check before you ink
Genuine Latin phrases with their real Roman sources, and how machine-translated Latin goes wrong.
Read more → Quiz nightAncient Rome quiz: 30 questions with answers
Three rounds and a tiebreaker for pub trivia or class, plus the popular quiz answers that are actually wrong.
Read more → Straight answersDid the Romans have…?
Soap, police, insurance, clocks, forks, socks. Thirty straight yes / no / sort-of answers, with the evidence.
Read more → Daily lifeWhat life was actually like for Roman women
They could own property, run businesses and divorce their husbands. They couldn't vote. The real picture, class by class.
Read more → ComparisonThe best Roman Empire apps, honestly compared
Which Roman app is actually worth your home screen? A straight comparison, including where a rival beats ours.
Read more → Gift guideGifts for someone obsessed with the Roman Empire
They won't stop bringing up Rome. Books, films, days out, and small things that land, sorted by how deep they are.
Read more → The big list100 Roman Empire facts (that are actually true)
One hundred source-checked, myth-free facts about Rome, grouped by theme, with the most-repeated myths debunked at the end.
Read more → HistoryRoman Empire timeline: from founding to fall
Every key date from the founding of Rome in 753 BC to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD, in one clear timeline.
Read more → ReferenceRoman numerals, explained
The seven symbols, the two rules, a full chart from 1 to 1,000, and how to write any year. No zero required.
Read more → ReferenceEvery Roman emperor, in order
A complete list of Roman emperors by dynasty, from Augustus in 27 BC to the fall of the West in 476 AD, with reign dates.
Read more → EngineeringThe Colosseum, explained
When it was built, how big it was, the retractable awning, the underground level, and what really happened inside.
Read more → LanguageWhat language did the Romans speak?
Latin, Greek, and how spoken Latin became the Romance languages, plus 15 Latin phrases you still use every day.
Read more → HistoryHow big was the Roman Empire?
The size, population, and reach of Rome at its peak, about 5 million sq km and a fifth of humanity, and why the numbers vary.
Read more → CultureHow often do you think about the Roman Empire?
Where the meme came from, why it went viral, and why two thousand years later it refuses to die.
Read more → EngineeringRoman concrete: why it outlasts ours
Ancient harbors still stand in the sea while modern concrete crumbles in decades. Here's the chemistry.
Read more → Myth-busting5 myths about ancient Rome that aren't true
Vomitoriums, thumbs-down, salt for salary. Five "facts" everyone repeats, and the real story behind each.
Read more → HistoryWhat does SPQR mean?
Four letters stamped on standards, coins, and monuments for two thousand years. Here's what they stood for.
Read more → HistoryJulius Caesar: the man who remade Rome
From debt-ridden upstart to dictator perpetuo in a few decades. The condensed life of the most famous Roman of all.
Read more → HistoryHow did the Roman Empire fall?
476 AD is the date everyone learns. But the real answer involves 200 years, a currency crisis, and an empire that never really died.
Read more → Myth-bustingRoman gladiators: what really happened in the arena
Most were not slaves. Matches rarely ended in death. And thumbs-down probably did not mean what you think.
Read more → EmperorsThe Five Good Emperors: Rome at its best
For 84 years five emperors in a row ran Rome with unusual competence. Then Marcus Aurelius named his son Commodus.
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