National Geographic - When Rome Ruled (2010)

National Geographic's groundbreaking 8-part series reveals ancient Rome's hidden treasures and untold stories as never before. From iconic figures including Caligula, Caesar and Constantine, to epic events such as the eruption of Vesuvius, the invasion of Britain, and fall of Rome, When Rome Ruled reveals a startling up-to-date vision of the ancient empire and challenges our perception of what we know about the Romans and their lives. New discoveries about the Roman gladiators, Pompeii doomsday, and Caesar's assassination provide fresh insights into the empire that not only influenced Western civilization, but created it.

Part 1: Secrets of the Gladiators
A stadium for 50,000. An architectural marvel 2000 years old. Here, stars were made. Lives were ended. Rome's glory was revealed but so was its ugly heart. From the archaeological evidence, and an eyewitness account we reconstruct when the Colosseum first opened its doors through beast fights, executions, and a legendary duel. It was glorious, brutal, ingenious, spectacular, terrifying. The Colosseum was Rome.

Part 2: The Real Caligula
He was demonized by ancient sources and portrayed throughout history as a cruel madman, but was Emperor Caligula really insane or just the product of a mad world? He inherited a vast empire, unimaginable wealth and the love of his people, but Caligulas reign descended into paranoia, depravity and full-blown insanity. Dramatic re-enactments and expert testimony from a forensic psychologist ask whether there could be a medical explanation behind this terrifying mind.

Part 3: Doomsday Pompeii
This is the story of a disaster like no other. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, it rained 8 million tons of debris onto Pompeii. It sealed the fate of more than a thousand people. But it also sealed the city from the world: preserved it, protected it. Like nowhere else on earth, the rediscovered Pompeii gives us access to the ancient world. And now, with new findings and new insights, we can tell the story of the ordinary people caught up in this disaster. These are the forgotten men and women who lived when Rome ruled…and were buried when the volcano blew.

Part 4: Killing Caesar
Follow Julius Caesars meteoric rise to power and his historic murder. His life was marked by tyranny and treachery, grand public gestures and secret double dealings. But his genius, ego and ambitions changed the course of the history of the Greco-Roman world.

Part 5: Birth of Rome
Rome was the largest empire, the mightiest military force, the most advanced civilization on earth. But most of all, it was a place: a city. Though only traces remain, and most of its ruins lie buried beneath modern streets. Written here, in stone, is the story of the ancient Romans. Using new finds and new thinking the fragments are being pieced back together. These people took a swamp, and drained it. They perfected concrete, the most versatile construction material on earth. They quarried thousands of tons marble. They used it all to build the imperial capital. Centuries of innovation, endurance, and ambition. This is the story of the greatest city on earth.

Part 6: Ancient Superpower
This is the story of how a city ruled the world. For 500 years, across 2 million square miles, Rome fought, and reigned and got rich. Today, experts are still trying to understand how. In the ruins of its port, in the mountain of evidence its people left behind and on the furthest borders of its empire. They find the secrets of the Romans success. They see ambition, innovation, and a genius for organisation. Diplomacy, brutality, and insatiable greed, while many remember its decadence and decline, this is the roman miracle: 5 centuries, as the greatest power on earth.

Part 7: War Machine
Mighty. Brutal. Feared. It was the most disciplined and deadly force in the ancient world. Though history remembers the names of emperors and generals, it was the ordinary men of the Roman military machine that carved out and kept an empire. They trained, fought and marched thousands of miles on roads that they built. Using ancient records and scientific research and recent archaeological finds, we'll trace their journey as invaders, peacekeepers and colonists from the furthest frontiers back.

Part 8: Rise of Christianity
Christianity conquered the Roman Empire. It catapulted from a persecuted mystery cult, viewed as a threat to the pagan ritualistic pantheon, to a turning point of victories over Rome's traditional religion. NGC unravels how the Christians infiltrated, endured and overran Rome. From the earliest martyrs to the first Christian empire, we'll see how they spread their message.