Roman terror was key to its centuries-long dominance

Ancient Rome explained

Ancient Rome left a high water mark on ancient civilization with its pragmatism and administrative prowess, dominating through its efficient military, engineering, and administration. At least 50 million people—a quarter of the world population—inhabited the empire, covering 5 million square miles at its height.

Roman roads have lasted for millennia and were key to its military might

Known for their almost absurd straightness, Roman roads connected the empire's armies, messengers, and traders as imperial administrators sought to keep down rebellion and build up Roman wealth. Rome's highways were expertly engineered, well-patrolled, and easy to navigate.

Twelve centuries of Roman history in 20 minutes

The Roman Empire may have been the world's first example of globalization, covering thousands of miles and crossing language barriers armed with Latin and short swords. Its legacy is nearly unparalleled in contemporary Europe, with nearly 50 Romance languages deriving from Latin.

Measuring the chance a Roman emperor would die violently

The odds of survival for a Roman emperor were like playing Russian roulette with a six-chambered revolver and four bullets, according to this scientific journal article. Of the 69 rulers of the unified Roman Empire between 14 CE and 395 CE, 43 suffered a violent death. This journal article examines Roman emperors' time-to-violent death using statistical tools of survival data analysis.

Ancient Romans were registered in lists of citizens to confirm their identity

Falsely claiming to be a Roman citizen was a capital offense, but taking up another identity was one way people could change their lot. Several accounts report how escaped enslaved people sought freedom by pretending to be citizens, and multiple "Neros" appeared after the real emperor died in 68 CE.

What do you mean ancient Rome had 'Five Good Emperors?'

Between the first and second centuries CE, Rome was ruled by five emperors who reversed the civilization's sprint toward civil war. By the end of the fifth emperor's reign, the Roman Empire had achieved a level of stability and power it would never hold again. This article details the reign of the Five Good Emperors—Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius—who were chosen based on their abilities instead of their bloodlines.

Trade and tariffs in the Roman world

Trade between nations and empires date back thousands of years, including the use of tariffs to raise government revenue.

Some Colosseum fighters battled wild animals instead of other humans

Not everyone who entered the Colosseum was a gladiator. Learn about the bestiarii—who ranged from trained animal fighters to condemned prisoners—and how their encounters with wild beasts became one of Rome’s most lethal spectacles.

The 12 tables: Rome's attempt to fairly enforce the law

It's unclear exactly why ancient Romans drafted the Laws of the Twelve Tables in the mid-400s BCE, but the result was a collection of precisely worded, written laws that could be made known to everyone. This article explores the history and importance of these 12 bronze tables, which were an attempt to make the law equally applicable to all and were destroyed when Rome was attacked in 390 BCE.

Spartacus led a 70,000-strong slave army that defeated Roman forces

After escaping a gladiator school in Capua, Spartacus led the largest slave revolt in Roman history, routing Roman armies before being crushed by forces under the command of Crassus and Pompey. Later generations recast him as a symbol of resistance.

How powerful was the volcanic blast that destroyed parts of ancient Rome?

This article details how strong Mt. Vesuvius' powerful 79 CE blast may have been. Pompeii lay a bit further from the volcano's slopes than Herculaneum, a smaller seaside city. While Pompeii was mainly destroyed by ash and lapilli—glassy fragments of lava ejected during volcanic eruptions—Herculaneum was first hit by a scorching pyroclastic cloud of volcanic gas and other matter.

Human sacrifice reinforced Aztec political control and religious belief

The Aztecs controlled a vast territory through military might and intimidation. One very key tactic of control was the ritual of human sacrifice. While an effective scare tactic, the ritual was also grounded in deeply held beliefs that the world was sustained by blood.

A look at what was on the menu for ancient Romans

"Delicious Italy" is a website exploring the food culture of various Italian cities and regions, and in this article, the editors explore what is known about the diet of ancient Romans. Olives (and their oil) were a key daily essential, alongside grains like barley, millet, and spelt flour. Where meat was found it was most often ox, pork, deer, lamb, and even pigeons. Middle Eastern fruits like cherries and peaches could last long enough to travel to Roman cities around the Mediterranean, and candy-friendly dates were sourced from Africa. Explore this and much more at Delicious Italy.

See how migrating tribes reshaped Europe after the fall of Rome

During the early Middle Ages (c. 300–700 CE), groups such as the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, and Suebi migrated into former Roman territories. Their movements transformed European politics and culture while preserving many Roman traditions.

Wealthy patricians and poorer plebeians struggled for power for centuries

During the Roman Republic, the plebs sought political protection, more access to power, and freedom, while the patricians looked to protect their elite status and wealth. Plebeians regularly "seceded," or effectively went on strike and did not fight for the patricians.

Ancient Romans sometimes lobbed insults through graffiti

Graffiti was used to communicate ideas, offer advice, and, not unlike the internet, talk some trash. That was especially true with tourists, who sometimes scrawled messages on the pyramids, including one person who complained, "I can not read the hierogylphics." In response, someone replied, "Why do you care that you can not read the hieroglyphics? I do not understand your concern."

Early Christians viewed the Resurrection as a political claim about authority

Titles like "Son of God," "Lord," and "Savior" were in active circulation as official imperial titles at the time, stamped on Roman coins and carved into public inscriptions about Caesar. Early Christians applied those same words to Jesus, a crucified Jew, as a counter-claim about who actually held authority over the world. (Romans who refused to say "Caesar is Lord" were executed for it.)

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Tombaroli steal precious items from ancient people's tombs in central Italy

The tombaroli, or tomb-robbers, raid ancient Etruscan tombs in the dark hours of the night to recover vases, statuettes, mirrors, ornaments, jewellery, and other objects in gold, bronze, and terracotta. Read a firsthand account of a tombarolo who made a living handing stolen items to middlemen who sold them to wealthy buyers abroad. The lives and practices of tombaroli are also explored in the 2023 film "La Chimera."

The art of classical rhetoric

Ancient orators snapped human communication in two: the open palm of persuasive rhetoric versus the closed fist of evidence-heavy dialectic. The former seeks to convince the many via one's speech, while the latter seeks the truth in an argument. In ancient Rome, rhetoric had five "canons": invention, arrangement, style, memorization, and delivery. Loading the rhetorical canons in order was meant to help orators craft an effective and impactful speech.

More than 2,000 Black Americans were victims of racial terror lynchings from 1865 to 1876

The Equal Justice Initiative documented over 2,000 lynchings of Black people during Reconstruction—violence that attempted to restore white supremacy, suppress Black political power, and terrorize communities in the aftermath of emancipation.

Literary theorists distinguish between ‘terror’ and ‘horror’

In her essay “On the Supernatural in Poetry,” gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe defined “terror” as the lurking, unseen specter in a story—something that defined gothic literature. “Horror,” on the other hand, was the explicit portrayal of it. For her, the former was artistic, while the latter was cheap.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

The story of Hypatia, a leading Roman scholar murdered by monks

Hypatia of Alexandria was a secular philosopher in Egypt who headed a university, improved scientific instruments, penned textbooks, and advised the city's leaders. As a Neoplatonist, she approached numbers as a sacred language. Religious fervor and her visible advisory role led to her brutal dismemberment by rogue monks.

History shows what’s wrong with the idea that war is ‘normal’ in the Middle East

An old trope claims that war is ‘normal’, innate, and inevitable in the Middle East. However, the history of the region reveals complex and civilized systems of coexistence. Empires found economic and political strength in fostering diversity;...

Stalin transformed the USSR through rapid industrialization and brutal repression

Ruling from the mid-1920s to 1953, Joseph Stalin reshaped the Soviet Union with forced collectivization, crash industrial growth, and widespread terror. His policies modernized the economy but caused mass famine, purges, and the deaths of millions.

Critics of Alexander the Great see him as power-hungry and ruthless

Arguments against his greatness include that he likely murdered his father for the throne, poorly led his territories, and only conquered one empire despite touting greater feats. Proponents argue that he was a skilled military leader and helped usher in the Hellenistic Age, where Greek cultural influence spread across Europe and Asia.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.