Irene of Athens, Byzantine Empress

Genghis Khan is famous for launching the conquest of the largest contiguous empire the world has ever seen. And for fathering enough children that today nearly every person of Asian decent carries his DNA. But he might not have done any of it if not for the love he bore one incre ...  Show more

If you want to be a monarch, you need three things: ultimate power over your domain, a brilliant gold crown to impress the peasantry, and the best seat in the palace. The idea of giving the most important person in a given space a special place to sit is near-universal. Many anci ...  Show more

“And from that moment on, he was addressed as emperor and Augustus!” The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, is one of the landmark moments in all world history. More than three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the emperors had returned on ...  Show more

In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysteriou ...  Show more

Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal of worlds. It was a Constantinople riven with division, whether due to theology or circus factions it was always ready to boil over. As befitting a Christian saint, Theodora mana ...  Show more

How did Constantine the Great conquer his rivals and shape the Roman Empire?

Tristan Hughes discusses the dramatic rise of Roman Emperor Constantine I with Professor David Potter. They discuss the scandalous tales and strategic manoeuvres that defined Constantine's a ...