1) In 54 BC, Cicero helped oversee home improvements at the properties of his brother Quintus, who was off in Britain campaigning with Julius Caesar. Forget grand orations and treatises, in one splendid letter Cicero updates his brother on the slow progress of a cowboy builder...
2) "On your Manilian estate I found the builder Diphilus even more behind than usual! He has yet to construct the baths, promenade and aviary. Still, now that the paved colonnade is finished and its columns polished, I can see your villa will have an air of great dignity...
3) .."It all hinges on whether the stucco work is done properly, so this I will make certain of. As far as I could tell the mosaic pavements are being laid well but I didn't like some of the ceilings so I have ordered them to be changed..
4) "As for the place in which your instructions say a small entrance hall is to be built - I like it better as it is. I don't think there's space enough for an entrance hall; with its elegant curved ceiling I think it would make a better summer room. Let me know if you disagree..
5) "In the baths, I have moved the hot chamber to the other side of the dressing room because where it was, the steam pipe out of which flames sometimes pop, was right beneath the bedrooms...
6) "As well as this, Diphilus had installed columns which were neither vertical nor in line with each other - naturally I ordered he take them all down! Maybe one day Diphilus will learn how to use a plumb-line and measure? Let's just hope he completes the work in a few months!"
From Cicero's Letters (3.1), 'To his brother Quintus in Britain', dated 28th September 54 BC.
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1) When we think of a famous outlaw with a social conscience, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, a master of disguise outwitting those in power..the name that comes to mind is of course:
Bulla Felix
..The bandit hero who humiliated Rome around the years 205-207 AD..
2) Even at the height of Rome's power, the roads and countryside of the empire were regularly beset by bandit militias ('latrones'), an annoyance usually tolerated by the state until it began to impact commerce and cause large-scale complaints from the aristocracy..
3) The bandit who gave Rome the biggest headache gained his notoriety in the early 200s AD, under the rule of Septimius Severus. Bulla was an educated and charismatic Italian native; a brigand with a code, Bulla targeted the richest Romans, happily relieving them of their gold.
"She takes pleasure in reading my works, which are continually in her hands, and even learns some by heart. How full of encouragement she is when I am entering on some task, and how kindly she rejoices with me when it is completed..
2) "When I am pleading a case she stations messengers to inform her from time to time how I am doing and what applauses I receive. She asks to hear me recite my verses and afterwards sets them to music with her lyre. Her only master is Love, the best instructor..
3) "From this marriage I draw my most assured hopes, that the harmony between us will only increase with our days. She loves me for who I am, not for my youth or body which time will gradually decay. I hope to one day become all that my wife thinks I am."
A Tudor fairytale - Little Moreton Hall was built by William Moreton in stages through the 1500s. The moated, half-timbered house has been called a "feast of medieval carpentry", with a long gallery, 30,000 original leaded panes of glass and 200 tons of stone roofing tiles.
"Richard Dale, Carpenter, made these windows by the grace of God" (1559)
"God is all in all things: These windows were made by William Moreton in the year of our Lord MDLIX (1559)"
1) The enormous tomb monument of the procurator of Britannia, Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus. As procurator from 61 to 65 AD, Classicianus was responsible for the financial administration of the whole province, you could think of him as the Roman Chancellor of the Exchequer!..
2) Classicianus took office in 61 in the aftermath of the Boudican revolt. Alongside the new provincial governor Publius Petronius Turpilianus, he would have had quite a job rebuilding the finances of the shattered province; clearly he was a trusted figure in Nero's government..
3) Like most Roman statesmen the fate of Classicianus was unknown - until in 1852 when sections of his tomb were found built into London's 3rd century Roman wall on Tower Hill. This revealed that he had died while in office and though not British, had been buried in Londonium..
1) The brightly painted terracotta sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa, an Etruscan woman who was buried near Chiusi around 150 BC. Inside was found Seianti's skeleton, the most complete Etruscan skeleton in existence. Let's meet Seianti and learn a little about her life..
2) The sarcophagus was found alone in a tomb specially made for Seianti. On the lid she reclines in an almost lifesize depiction. Her fine clothing and jewellery speak of her wealth, she wears a diadem, gold snake bracelets, gold-garnet earrings and six rings on her left hand..
3) Seianti wears a traditional white tunic and heavier veil which she lifts to reveal her face. It is possible that Seianti is being shown in the wedding clothes she wore at a younger age, as she prepares to meet her husband again in the afterlife..
1) In today's episode of 'why hasn't this ancient story been made into a movie?'
Julius Alexander was a young Syrian nobleman from Emesa. Despite his aristocratic background, Julius was famed in his hometown as a beast fighter (venator) in the arena. Unfortunately for Julius...
2) ..his exploits in Syria soon gained the attention (and jealousy) of the emperor Commodus, who also fancied himself a venator. He had performed in the Roman Colosseum, even styling himself as 'Hercules Venator' (Hercules the Hunter) - and did not like being overshadowed!..
3) When news reached Rome of a spectacular bout in which Julius on horseback had fought a ferocious lion and eventually killed it with a shot of his spear, Commodus could take no more - Julius had to go. The emperor assembled a team of assassins, as just one would not be enough..