Images of the head of Medusa, the mythical gorgon beheaded by Perseus, were used throughout the Classical world as a symbol of power and protection. In this article, Adam Parker explores her presence in Roman Britain, at the edge of the Roman Empire.

The Empress Messalina has received more than her fair share of attention in popular culture, mostly likely due to her scandalous reputation in the ancient sources. What is often overlooked is that she was also a political force in Rome’s first imperial dynasty.

One of the most impressive structures of ancient Rome, the Pantheon was a temple dedicated to all the gods. The main room consisted of a large cylindrical drum topped by a dome, with a central hole or oculus allowing for light and air – and rain! – to pass through.

Military disasters were fairly rare in the Roman world – at least, according to the historical record. But when they happened, they happened with a vengeance – and could permanently destroy the reputation of those involved, even if their actions were not actually to blame.

How should readers of Virgil’s Aeneid interpret the relationship between the Trojan soldiers Nisus and Euryalus? Harrison Voss argues that the pair is best understood as a depiction of the “ideal” pederastic relationship described in Plato’s Symposium.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins is a game developed and published by Ubisoft that is set in Ptolemaic Egypt around the time of Cleopatra’s accession to the throne, with the player controlling Bayek of Siwa.

Aaron Beek reviews Michael Taylor’s Soldiers and Silver (2020), a revision of his 2015 PhD dissertation, Finance, Manpower, and the Rise of Rome. Despite some quibbles, Taylor has succeeded at clarifying an often-unclear topic with some fine scholarship.

Want to win a copy of Kathryn Lomas’ The Rise of Rome? Are you a student? Check out this contest sponsored by Ancient World Magazine.

Many people may be surprised by the role the fascist leader Benito Mussolini played in conserving Roman monuments in the twentieth century CE. Alannah Campbell investigates how his regime used these monuments, which portrayed the ideals of ancient Rome, to recreate Italian supremacy in the Mediterranean two thousand years later.

The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla is a fascinating read that enjoyed wide popularity for centuries. It presented Thecla as a powerful figure who overshadows Paul. Thecla made an unexpected decision which meant that through Christianity she was actually liberated from the concerns of the body and from the dominion of a future marriage.