Articles (People)

In Roman forums, monuments once stood, immortalizing her likeness: a beautiful face, a proud profile, hair carefully braided into an intricate hairstyle. Faustina the Younger, the wife of Marcus Aurelius, was a figure who went down in history not only as an empress, but as a woman who managed to find harmony between duty and passion in difficult times. Some adored her, others whispered, attributing numerous scandals to her. Who was she really?

In the Roman Empire in the 3rd century CE there were many times when the throne was usurped and several emperors ruled at the same time. One day in 238, however, an extraordinary event occurred in Rome. The Senate elected two emperors at once and ordered them to rule together. Who were these two distinguished people?

Pompeia Plotina was the only wife of emperor Trajan. Faithful and loyal. History has produced a beautiful portrait of this Roman empress. But is it real?

Over the dying Julius Caesar did not stand his longtime enemies or sworn defenders of the rights of the crumbling Republic. The consuls appointed by him, governors, commanders fighting at his side from Gaul to Africa, as well as close friends, reached for daggers. Among them stood Brutus, or rather two Brutus – Marcus and Decimius. The history of both politicians shows how different paths led to the conspiracy against Caesar.

Caligula is a particularly important ruler for the study of the descriptions of the appearance of emperors in the works of Suetonius because his body was supposed to clearly reflect the nature of the emperor. The features of the ruler’s disposition (e.g. lust and madness) were not only to be shown through specific events in his life but also manifested in his appearance (Suet. Cal. 50.1 -3).

Callicrates, a politician of the Achaean League, postulated faithful cooperation with the Romans after the defeat of Carthage in the Second Punic War. He is described by historians with unrefined epithets: “collaborator” or “ancient Quisling”, and sources say that the Achaeans avoided him and did not even want to bathe with him.

Demetrius I Soter was the ruler of the Seleucid state from 162 to 150 BCE. Demetrius proved to be an ambitious and talented leader, who, however, in the face of the progressive disintegration of the state, numerous enemies and the power of Rome, was not able to succeed in rebuilding the former glory of the Seleucid Empire.