Caesar!

Last updated

Caesar! is a set of British radio plays set in ancient Rome and written by Mike Walker for the Classic Serial strand. The first series (premiered in 2003) was based on Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars - later series covered later emperors.

Contents

Series

Series 1

  1. Meeting at Formiae - 13 July 2003 - On Julius Caesar (David Troughton) and his dealings with Cicero (Anton Lesser) and Cato the Younger (Stephen Critchlow)
  2. The Arena - 20 July 2003 - On the early career of Octavian (Adam Levy), also featuring Jasmine Hyde as Livia and with Richard Johnson as the remembering adult Augustus
  3. Peeling Figs for Julius - 27 July 2003 - On Caligula (David Tennant), also featuring George Baker as Tiberius, whom he had previously played in I, Claudius .

Series 2

  1. The Best of Mothers - 17 July 2005 - On Nero (Jonathan Forbes) and his mother Agrippina the Younger (Frances Barber)
  2. The Glass Ball Game - 24 July 2005 - On Hadrian (Jonathan Hyde) and his relationship with his lover Antinous (Andrew Garfield), his wife Sabina (Amanda Root) and the historian Suetonius (Jonathan Coy)
  3. Citizens in a Great City - 31 July 2005 - On the reigns of Marcus Aurelius (Ronald Pickup), Commodus (Jim Sturgess) and Septimius Severus (Ray Fearon), also featuring Severus' wife Julia Domna (Helen McCrory).

Series 3

  1. Empress in the West - 25 February 2007 - On the life of Victoria (Barbara Flynn) and the Gallic Empire under the rule of Postumus (Danny Webb) and her son Victorinus (Sam Troughton)
  2. The Maker of All Things - 4 March 2007 - On Constantine the Great (Sam Dale) and his son Crispus (Joseph Kloska), also featuring Constantine's second wife Fausta (Christine Kavanaugh)
  3. An Empire Without End - 11 March 2007 - On Romulus Augustulus (Tom Hiddleston)

Sources

Related Research Articles

Caligula Roman emperor from AD 37 to 41

Caligula, formally known as Gaius, was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 to 41. The son of the popular Roman general Germanicus and Augustus's granddaughter Agrippina the Elder, Caligula was born into the first ruling family of the Roman Empire, conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Julius Caesar Roman general and dictator (100–44 BC)

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator of Rome from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Julio-Claudian dynasty Roman imperial dynasty consisting of the first five emperors

The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Nero Roman emperor from AD 54 to 68

Nero was the fifth Roman emperor and the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his suicide in 68. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded him to the throne. Nero seems to have been popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard, and with lower-class commoners in Rome and the provinces, but was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent and debauched. After being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate, he committed suicide aged 30.

Patrick Troughton English actor, known for his role as the Second Doctor in Doctor Who

Patrick George Troughton was an English actor. He was classically trained for the stage but became most widely known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction and horror films, and playing the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who from 1966 to 1969; he reprised the role in 1972–1973, 1983 and 1985.

Julia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Julia was one of the most ancient patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. The nomen Julius became very common in imperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.

Julia Domna Roman empress consort from 193 to 211

Julia Domna was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was born in Emesa in Roman Syria to an Arab family of priests of the deity Elagabalus. In 187, she married Severus, who at the time was governor of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. They had two sons, Caracalla and Geta. A civil war over the Roman throne broke out in 193, and shortly afterwards Severus declared himself emperor. The war ended in 197 with the defeat of the last of Severus's opponents.

Livilla Daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus (13 BC-AD 31)

Claudia Livia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus, and thus the paternal aunt of the emperor Caligula and maternal great-aunt of emperor Nero, as well as the niece and daughter-in-law of Tiberius. She was named after her grandmother, Augustus' wife Livia Drusilla, and commonly known by her family nickname Livilla. She was born after Germanicus and before Claudius.

Drusus Caesar Adopted grandson and heir of Roman emperor Tiberius

Drusus Julius Caesar was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Nero. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Drusus was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. After the deaths of his father and of Tiberius' son, Drusus the Younger, Drusus and his brother Nero Caesar were adopted together by Tiberius in September AD 23. As a result of being heirs of the emperor, he and his brother enjoyed accelerated political careers.

Atia (mother of Augustus) Mother of Roman emperor Augustus

Atia was the niece of Gaius Julius Caesar, mother of Gaius Octavius, who became the Emperor Augustus, step-grandmother of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, great-great grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, and great-great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Flavia gens Roman families

The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; however, no Flavius attained the consulship until Gaius Flavius Fimbria in 104 BC. The gens became illustrious during the first century AD, when the family of the Flavii Sabini claimed the imperial dignity.

Jonathan Hyde Australian-born English actor

Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King, known professionally as Jonathan "Nash" Hyde, is an Australian-English actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the 1994 film Richie Rich, Samuel Parrish and Van Pelt in the 1995 film Jumanji, J. Bruce Ismay in the 1997 film Titanic, Culverton Smith in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Warren Westridge in Anaconda, and Eldritch Palmer in the FX TV series The Strain. Although an Australian citizen, he has mostly lived in the United Kingdom since 1969, after his family left Australia.

Sam John Troughton is an English actor who has made appearances in Robin Hood, Alien vs. Predator (2004), as Aleksandr Akimov in Chernobyl (2019), and as Mr. Wilder in the BBC comedy series The Outlaws (2021).

Octavia the Younger Roman noblewoman, full-sister of Augustus

Octavia the Younger was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Julia (daughter of Caesar)

Julia was the daughter of Roman dictator Julius Caesar by his first or second wife Cornelia, and his only child from his marriages. Julia became the fourth wife of Pompey the Great and was renowned for her beauty and virtue.

Julia (grandmother of Augustus) Sister of Julius Caesar and grandmother of Augustus

Julia was the second of two daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia. She was an elder sister of the dictator Julius Caesar, and the maternal grandmother of Rome's first emperor Augustus.

<i>The Twelve Caesars</i> Biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman emperors by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus

De vita Caesarum, commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.

The early career of Julius Caesar was characterized by military adventurism and political persecution. Julius Caesar was born on July 12 or 13, 100 BC, Subura in Rome into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. His father died when he was just 16, leaving Caesar as the head of the household. His family status put him at odds with the Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who almost had him executed.