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On this day in AD 192, the Roman emperor Commodus was murdered.

The emperor was strangled in his bath by Narcissus, a wrestler who was tasked with the deed by a small group of conspirators.

On this day in AD 37, the Roman emperor Nero was born at Antium, in Italy

The emperor who supposedly fiddle while Rome burned…

On this day in 48 BC was the Battle of Pharsalus

The battle was fought between the forces of Julius Caesar – who only nineteen months earlier had marched on Rome and installed himself as master of the city – and the Republican armies under Pompey the Great.

Happy Birthday Julius Caesar! Part I

The date is not absolutely certain, and the year is subject to slight question but… happy birthday from us, nonetheless!

On this day in AD138 the Emperor Hadrian died and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius.

Coming to the throne in 117, Hadrian was the third of the so-called ‘Five Good Emperors’, who were known for their peaceful and prosperous reigns. Hadrian was also well known for his love of learning and his extensive building works; he was especially loved by the Greeks, who named him as the second founder of the city of Athens because of his many building projects there.

On this day in AD175 Commodus took the toga virilis, the sign he had entered adulthood

The denarius shows Apollo leaning on a column, a type known only under this emperor.

On this day in AD221 the emperor Elagabalus adopted Severus Alexander

What prompted the notorious emperor to adopt his young cousin as his heir?

On this day in AD79 the emperor Vespasian died, aged 69.

Vespasian had achieved the position of emperor by virtue of being the last man standing in the short civil war that erupted following Nero’s suicide in June of 68 (the so-called Year of the Four Emperors).

On this day in AD362 Julian banned Christians from teaching using pagan literature

How do you change the world? How can any individual gain sufficient momentum to overthrow the status quo? Should they rely on violent revolution or peaceful evolution, is it more important to gain support from those at the top of society or to appeal to the majority of those found at the bottom?

On this day in AD 121, the emperor Marcus Aurelius was born

Born on the 26th of April 121, he was born Marcus Annius Verus to a relatively inconspicuous father of the same name who died as praetor-designate in 124, when his son was only three years old.