Told in Stone Introduction PDF Welcome to Told in Stone, a podcast that explores the histories of some of the world’s most fascinating cities through their buildings and monuments. This introductory episode was designed to accompany the opening page of … Continued
Hut of Romulus PDF This first episode of my History of Rome in Fifteen Buildings discusses the origins of Rome in relation to the enigmatic and frequently-rebuilt structure known as the Hut of Romulus. Along the way, we’ll encounter a … Continued
Rostra PDF This second episode of our History of Rome presents the Rostra, the speaking platform in the Roman Forum, as a key to understanding the turbulent world of the Late Republic. It focuses on the career of Cicero, Rome’s … Continued
Forum of Caesar PDF In this third episode of our History of Rome, focused on the Forum of Caesar, we discuss (as might be expected) Julius Caesar, the last and greatest of the generals who reshaped the Roman Republic in … Continued
Ara Pacis PDF Augustus dominates this fourth episode of our History of Rome, which uses the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of the Augustan Peace) to discuss the first emperor’s reign, reforms, and propaganda. I also threw in a gripping description … Continued
Colosseum PDF Six lions fighting eight tigers! A troupe of performing elephants! Executions, accompanied by a full orchestra! Twelve gladiatorial combats, guaranteed to the death! So might a day of games at the Colosseum, the subject of our fifth episode, … Continued
Pantheon PDF The sixth building in our History of Rome, the Pantheon, epitomizes the most stable Roman building material and the most restless Roman emperor – concrete and Hadrian, respectively. This episode discusses the peculiarities of both in some detail. … Continued
Column of Marcus Aurelius PDF Roman troops file in neat lines over raging rivers and trackless mountains. They crush barbarian forces in battle after battle, leaving fields of corpses in their wake. Villages burn, captives weep – and the lonely … Continued
Baths of Caracalla PDF Every day, ten thousand bathers and over a million gallons of water were funneled through the Baths of Caracalla, the subject of this eighth episode in our History of Rome. The astonishing scale of the Baths … Continued
Arch of Constantine PDF The many statues and reliefs from older monuments integrated into the Arch of Constantine – the focus of this ninth episode of our History of Rome – advertise the continuity of traditional Roman values into the … Continued
Santa Sabina PDF Through some combination of military disasters, barbarian migrations, social change, and dynastic bad luck, the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century. In this tenth episode of our History of Rome, focused on the church of … Continued
Santa Prassede PDF After Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor in 800, Europe had two notional leaders: the pope and the emperor. In theory, they were the twin pillars of a well-ordered Christian society. In practice, they were usually … Continued
Santa Maria in Trastevere PDF Wanted: candidate for Pope. Must be a good fundraiser, effective administrator, and shrewd politician. Deep pockets a must. Sanctity negotiable. The medieval papacy lies at the heart of this twelfth episode of our History of … Continued
San Pietro in Vincoli PDF Speech stands at the threshold of the compressed lips. Righteous indignation is written in the lines of the set jaw. The presence of God blazes forth from the eyes. As a work of art, Michelangelo’s … Continued
Sant’Andrea al Quirinale PDF Coke vs. Pepsi. Kramer vs. Kramer. Alien vs. Predator. Everyone loves a rivalry – and so, discussions of art and architecture in Baroque Rome never fail to mention the antagonism between the ebullient Gianlorenzo Bernini and … Continued
Keats-Shelley House PDF For well over a century, the Odes of John Keats have been boring high school students, enchanting lovers of poetry, and giving scholars of English literature interesting things to overinterpret. When he died in 1821, however, Keats … Continued
The Walls of Herakleia PDF In 301 BCE, four kings – all former generals of Alexander the Great – met at the Battle of Ipsos. After a charge led by three hundred war elephants decided the issue, the prince Pleistarchus, … Continued
Mren Cathedral PDF A relief over the door of a ruined church in the steppes of northeastern Turkey offers a glimpse into one of the most dramatic episodes in ancient history, in which an ageing emperor led Rome’s last army … Continued
Obelisk of Theodosius PDF Already eighteen centuries old when it was set up in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the Obelisk of Theodosius loomed over the greatest arena of Byzantium’s two bloodiest pastimes: chariot racing and politics. To return to … Continued
In this inaugural episode of the Toldinstone Podcast, Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins outlines the archaeological evidence for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and explains why the fall of Rome was so catastrophic.