5. Battling Bureaucrats

5. Battling Bureaucrats

What does it take to run an Empire? Armies and slaves, of course, but also bureaucrats. At its height the Roman Empire employed thousands of men charged with keeping Rome and its provinces fed, watered and content. This was no easy job. A remarkable set of papyrus scrolls reveals the life of Roman Egypt's very own David Brent, preparing for a a visit from the fearsome Emperor Diocletian.

Infuriated by hopeless staff and venal local politicians and continuously harassed by his superiors, Apolinarius of Panopolis becomes increasingly desperate as Diocletian approaches and the tension cranks up. Mary Beard follows Apolinarius's story to reveal the messy realities of Roman administration.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Expert Contributors: Colin Adams, Liverpool University and Margaret Mountford

Cast: Apolinarius played by Josh Bryant-Jones

Special thanks to Jill Unkell and the Chester Beatty collection, Dublin

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Episoder(13)

12. The Wolf of Via Vesuvio

12. The Wolf of Via Vesuvio

Lucius Caecilius Iucundus kept the economic wheels of Pompeii well greased. He was a middle man doing very nicely- part money-lender, part auctioneer, part banker, all hustler. Thanks to the eruption...

11 Jun 202428min

11. Three Lovers and a Funeral

11. Three Lovers and a Funeral

Allia Potestas is a woman remembered in one of the most intriguing and affecting funeral orations of the ancient world. Her lover remembers her diligent application to housework before praising to th...

4 Jun 202427min

10. A Bag of Snails and a Glass of Wine

10. A Bag of Snails and a Glass of Wine

An obscure carved stone dug up from a vineyard in southern Italy tells the story of a pair of publicans- the delightfully named Calidius Eroticus and Fannia Voluptas- and their bawdy adventures in the...

28 Mai 202428min

9. Soldiering for Softies

9. Soldiering for Softies

The image of the battle-hardened, well regimented Roman soldier has been set in stone by movies, novels and video games. The letters of Claudius Terentianus reveal something very different. A terrib...

21 Mai 202428min

7. The Whistleblower

7. The Whistleblower

Beneath starched Shakespearean togas and the pungent fug of gladiator sweat there are real Romans waiting to be discovered. To know what it was to be Roman you need to gather the scattered clues until...

7 Mai 202428min

8. Death on the Nile

8. Death on the Nile

Julia Balbilla is an accomplished poet and close friend of the wife of one of Rome’s mightiest emperors. Hadrian loves to travel and takes Julia and an entourage of thousands on the ultimate elite tou...

7 Mai 202428min

6. Love in the Borderlands

6. Love in the Borderlands

At the very edge of Empire, inscribed on a beautifully carved tombstone, there’s a story of love across the tracks. On Hadrian’s Wall a slave girl from Hertfordshire and a lonely traveller from Syria...

8 Nov 202328min

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