052- Caesar Augustus

After attaining power, Augustus set about reforming the Empire. 

Augustus promoted his steps sons Tiberius and Drusus to high office long before they were technically eligible. He hoped they would share power with him until Gaius and Lucius Caesar came of age, but Drusus died young and Tiberius went into self-imposed exile. 

The Julio-Claudian family was rife with conflict, but nothing compared to the battle fought against the Germans in the Teutoburg Forest. 

Julius Caesar lies dead on the floor of the Senate. What will happen now? The answer lies with a man called Octavian, who will surprise and astonish the ancient world by reinventing the Roman state and ensuring two hundred years of peace - he is better known by his honorary title ... Show More

<p>During the next few weeks, the 15-History Podcast team is taking a break and bringing you some of their favorite previous episodes. This episode originally aired on November 1, 2021.</p><p>_______</p><p>The old man lay in his bed surrounded by courtiers and family members. He ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life, work and reputation of Julius Caesar. Famously assassinated as he entered the Roman senate on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar was an inspirational general who conquered much of Europe. He was a ruthless and canny politician who becam ... Show More

Synopsis:  Severus’ close friendship with Plautianus estranges him from his family.  In his final years, a rebellion in Britannia provides one last opportunity to shape his legacy. “The contemporaries of Severus, in this enjoyment of the peace and glory of his reign, forgave the ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life, work and reputation of Julius Caesar. Famously assassinated as he entered the Roman senate on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar was an inspirational general who conquered much of Europe. He was a ruthless and canny politician who becam ... Show More

The Roman caesars were the rulers of the Roman Empire, beginning in 27 BC with Julius Caesar’s heir Augustus, from whom subsequent caesars took their name, and lasting until around the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD. The caesars transitioned the Roman Republic to autocratic ... Show More

July 13, 44 BCE. Julius Caesar is dead, stabbed by a trusted friend. With Rome shaken, the Senate meets to decide next steps. They're confronting the brutal power struggle already breaking out among three men: Brutus, the deadly friend; Marc Antony, Caesar's gifted military comma ... Show More

<p>We’re finishing off 2021 with what is perhaps Julius Caesar’s greatest legacy. It’s not a military victory or battle, but one of the many political reforms that truly has stood the test of time: the Julian calendar. Before, calendars were largely based on the lunar calendar, a ... Show More

<p>16 January 27 BC is a date sometimes associated with the beginning of the Roman Empire. It was on that day that Octavian received the name Augustus, effectively becoming the first emperor of Rome. Augustus ordered the gates of Janus to be closed, marking an end to the period o ... Show More