On this day in AD 31 the Praetorian Prefect Sejanus was executed.
October 18, 2016
Sejanus rose to power and great influence as the prefect of the Praetorians, the imperial bodyguard, under the emperor Tiberius.
On this day in AD 54, the Roman emperor Claudius died at Rome
October 13, 2016
Tradition holds the Praetorian guard made him emperor when they found him quivering behind a curtain, reasoning that he wouldn’t be too ruthless in power.
On this day in AD 19 Germanicus died at Antioch.
October 10, 2016
Germanicus never became emperor himself, but his son Caligula, his brother Claudius, and his grandson Nero would all come to occupy the imperial throne.
On this day in AD79 Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum
August 24, 2016
On the day that an earthquake rocks central Italy, two thousand years ago Vesuvius shattered countless ancient lives.
On this day in AD 117, the Roman emperor Trajan died
August 8, 2016
Trajan was proverbially so well-liked that in the later empire, new emperors would be enjoined to “be more fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan”.
On this day in AD 363 the Roman emperor Jovian ascended the throne
June 27, 2016
Text by Rob Stone Jovian was born in AD 331 in Singidunum (modern day Belgrade, Serbia). His father, Varronianus, was the commander of the bodyguards (comes domesticorum) of Constantius II. Jovian himself would join this group and prior to his accession he had risen to the same position as his father, commanding the guard for …
On this day in AD 4 Augustus organised the imperial succession
June 26, 2016
Tiberius was very much Augustus’ reserve choice for the succession…
On this day in AD392 the Roman emperor Valentinian II was found dead in Vienna
May 15, 2016
Text by Juliet O’Brien Valentinian II was born to Valentinian I, the western Roman emperor (r. 364-375), and his second wife Justina in 371. His birth name was Flavius Valentinianus. The elder Valentinian died in late 375 during a campaign in Pannonia against the Quadi. Despite being the younger son (Valentinian I had an elder …
On this day 1778 Joseph Addison’s play Cato: A Tragedy was performed to the American Continental army encamped in Valley Forge
May 4, 2016
Text by Gary Fisher The long winter of 1777 – 1778 which George Washington’s Continental army spent encamped in Valley Forge has entered into American folklore as the lowest point of the revolution with over 2,500 of Washington’s 12,000 soldiers dying of exposure, disease, and starvation, prompting Gouverneur Morris to describe the struggling revolutionaries as …
On this day in 43 BC the battle of Mutina was fought between Mark Antony and Octavian.
April 21, 2016
Text by Harry Tanton Image by Sarah Jordan Following the assassination of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC, Antony had assumed the leadership of the Caesarean party due to his friendship with the dictator. But he was directly challenged for this position by Octavian, who had been adopted by Caesar in his will and became …
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