Sex Work in Ancient Rome

Poor Catherine Howard. She was smart, intelligent and undeniably beautiful, but ultimately no match for the vicious Henry VIII.She was certainly a victim but was she totally blameless?Joining Kate today is the always-fabulous historian Gareth Russell, author of Young and Damned a ...  Show more

Pablo Picasso's impact on the art world was sensational, but what impact did he have on the people around him?His relationship history contains some problematic moments, to say the least, so we are asking if you can - or even if you should - separate the art from the artist.Joini ...  Show more

This episode contains some strong language references to sexual content.

Pompeii is shrouded in myths and legends about it's vibrant, after hours, night life. With theories of carved stone penis' pointing towards brothels, frescoes of graphic images, and baw ...

We’ve covered bloody battles, we’ve covered stunning cities, we’ve covered civilisations far away from the ancient Mediterranean. But in some 120 episodes of The Ancients we hadn’t covered one of the most popular topics in the world: sex. That is, until now. In today’s episode, s ...  Show more

Prostitutes were everywhere in the streets and neighbourhoods of medieval cities. In one and the same building, there might be a school upstairs, while downstairs prostitutes plied their nefarious trade. But how did such a situation come to pass? And how could such a world exi ...

In this episode of The Ancients, host Tristan Hughes speaks with historian Honor Cargill-Martin about the notorious Empress Messalina, third wife of Emperor Claudius. A lot has been said about Messalina over two millennia: that she was a nymphomaniac who organised orgies and e ...