A once-secret tunnel used by Roman emperors to slip in and out of the Colosseum away from public view will this month open to tourists for the first time. The passage, carved through the arena's ...

At Saint Romain-en-Gal, just outside Lyon, archaeologists uncovered a monumental mausoleum built by a wealthy Gallo-Roman family in the first century AD. Its plan echoed the celebrated Mausoleum of ...

What comes to mind when you think about the kind of Roman Emperor who managed to establish an indestructible empire?

This story is a collaboration with Biography.com. Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius: the long-hidden villa that may mark the final resting place of ...

Why was the first century so turbulent? The first answer is simple: hereditary rule. For most of this period, emperors were not chosen on the basis of their ability or honesty, but simply because they ...

Senators in the first century AD held much less power than their predecessors, although the Senate still had the right to confer the title of emperor. This alone ensured that the Senate and its ...