We’re back! First show of 2017! On his way back from Spain, Augustus falls deathly ill with man flu, which forces him to think about his future. It doesn’t stop him from becoming consul for the 10th time where his new colleague is a guy with an unfortunate name that leads us into some dark…

It’s in Spain where we first see the new cautious Augustus. Instead of taking crazy risks, like he sometimes did when he was younger, now that he’s 38, his favourite slogans are now: “festina lente” or “make haste slowly.” This doesn’t mean he isn’t fully aware of his own mortality.

Augustus needed to decide on the size and shape of the army. How many soldiers would he need to maintain the borders and to expand them when desired? And now that the civil war is over, what kind of new discipline is needed?

Before Augustus leaves Rome, the gates of the Temple of Janus were re-opened, which means the peace is officially over. He’s going to war, to restore Roman order to his regions. But these are good old fashioned wars against foreign tribes. They aren’t civil wars. And Rome loved a good old war against barbarians.

With great reluctance, Octavian allows the Senate to refuse his resignation. It’s a brilliant piece of political theatre. And to celebrate, he gets a new name. 

On the 1 January 27 BCE, Octavian started his seventh consulship.  On the 13th Jan, the Senate convened with Octavian as presiding consul.  And it was that day, that Octavian quit his job.

Apart from reviving the traditional institutions, Octavian also starts rebuilding the physical infrastructure of Rome. He ordered the restoration of 82 temples within Rome. So he’s working hard to bring back a sense of religious order and a return to traditional values. The Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill was opened and on the…

Octavian gives a speech to the Senate, inviting each senator to look at his own reputation, wealth and ancestry and decide whether he was truly fit to belong to Rome’s most prestigious body. He reduces the number of senators and he is made ‘princeps senatus’ – the principal senator, “first among equals”. It was also…

Octavian is trying to restore some kind of normality to Rome. He hands out large wads of cash, opens the Temple to the Divine Julius and on 1 January 28 BCE begins his sixth consulship – this time with Agrippa – which they hold for the entire year, taking turns, month on, month off, just…

Octavian is running around settling affairs in the Middle East before he returns to Rome. Herod in Judaea visited Octavian to win his support. Octavian then does a peace treaty with the Parthians. Finally, in 29 BCE, Octavian finally returns to Rome to celebrate his three triumphs.

It was a whole year after the suicides of Antony and Cleopatra before Octavian returned to Italy. Octavian captured the city of Alexandria on August 1, 30 BCE. Egypt now lost the independence it had enjoyed for thousands of years and would not regain for another 2000 years.

Rome had never seen anything like the three—day celebration of Octavian’s three-fold triumph — for his victories in Illyricum, Actium, and Alexandria — held in August of 29 BC.   He was granted a range of new powers, some he even refused as being too much.  But there was one that he apparently relished.  The…

The poets of Rome vilify Cleopatra and yet also are in awe of her. Antony’s name and memory is wiped from the official records. And a Cicero gets to rejoice in the news of Antony’s suicide. But of course the question on everyone’s lips is – what happens now?    

This is one of those episodes that feel like major turning points in the narrative. Ever since Julius Caesar was assassinated, way way back in 44 BCE, Mark Antony has been one of our main characters. He bestrode the Roman world like a colossus. And today we kill him off – along with the mother…

The Battle of Actium begins. Octavian (& Agrippa) versus Mark Antony (& Cleopatra) fight to see who will be the last man standing in Rome.  

After 13 years of being frenemies, shit finally comes to a head between Octavian and Antony (and Cleopatra) as they throw down gauntlets that will lead them to the Battle of Actium on 2 September, 31 BCE.  

We’re back! On this episode, Octavia and Livia are made sacrosanct and granted unprecedented honours. We talk about “pater familias”, something Ray is trying hard to bring back. Then Antony gets back on the horse and captures Slartibartfast aka King Artavasdes II of Armenia. He holds a fake triumph in Alexandria and grants huge tracks…

Agrippa rolls up his sleeves and gets shit done (literally) and we talk about the woman who ruled a country, wrote a book about make-up, and could talk 27 languages – including the language of love – Cleopatra.