Cassius Dio

was to end his father’s wars and return to Rome. Cassius Dio writes, “…and after making a truce with the barbarians he rushed to Rome; for he hated all exertion and craved the comfortable life of the city”. Cassius Dio (150-235) became a Roman senator in 180 A.D. after his father died, notably this is also when Marcus Aurelius died and Commodus rose to sole power. In his depictions of Commodus, Dio is rather forgiving compared to other sources. Dio gives his opinion that Commodus was led…

formulate his own narrative include Caesar's self-serving accounts, which he claims presents a 'flattering picture of himself', however still form the depiction of the Roman leader. He also used ancient sources, using the historians, Appian, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, and Suetonius, to retell how the triumvirate came into power. Mackay also uses other modern historians to formulate his evaluation of the triumvirate, such as 'Aspects of Roman history' by Alston, and 'The Roman Empire' by Wells, which…

and generals of the late Roman republic - Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Roman Historian Cassius Dio (164-c.235) depicts Cleopatra as strikingly beautiful and charismatic, with an aptitude for speaking…. “being brilliant to look upon and listen to, with the power to subjugate everyone, even a love- sated man” He speaks admirably of her here, stating the mix of both traits makes her irresistible to men. Dio suggests that her presentation was not only a very conscious decision, but a…

Queen of the British Celtic tribe the Iceni, Boudicca led a revolt against the Roman Empire. After the death of her husband and betrayal of his final will and testament which left his kingdom to both his daughters and the Roman Emperor Nero to hopefully stop attacks on their tribe and form an alliance. The kingdom was invaded and once Boudicca objected to this both Boudicca and her children were beaten and raped. As well as this the other chiefs of the tribe were robbed of their family estates.…

skins of beasts...torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt”. However, Cassius Dio states that “Nero secretly sent out men who pretended to be drunk or engaged in other kinds of mischief, and caused them at first to set fire to one or two or even several buildings in different parts of the city”. Both Tacitus and Cassius Dio claim that Nero watched Rome burn down and that instead sang and played his lyre. Despite Nero’s bad reputation, Tacitus…

Dio informs us that Augustus appointed senators to govern the provinces whilst equestrian prefects governed Egypt. In addition to this, Tacitus in his Histories states that the equestrian order governed Egypt with what was effectively “sovereign power…

This essay will discuss the question of whether equestrians were more important than senators in the running of the empire. In doing so, I shall evaluate the role of both the Senate and individual equestrians under the Julio-Claudian emperors. I will investigate Augustus’ actions towards the Senate and his raising of the Equestrian Order, Tiberius’ relationship with the Senate and the role of Sejanus, Gaius’ relationship with the Senate, Claudius’ actions towards the Senate and his promotion of…

examples of female leaders, including Onomaris who led her people to new land during a time of famine and Cartimanduã who ruled the Brigantes as a Roman client queen . A female leader would be seen as odd by the Classical writers and their audience and Dio had to qualify her leadership with a remark on her intelligence as a woman, he also attributes a bigger build and lower voice to Boudica, almost giving her a masculine…

The Great Fire of Rome was a devastating urban blaze that began on the 19th of July in 64AD, consuming over half the city and was not contained until six days later. The controversy surrounding this infamous event stems from historical claims that the fire was initiated at the command of Emperor Nero, who “fiddled” while his great city burned. Some contradictory sources such as Tacitus, however, have reasoned that Nero did not torch Rome, a judgement which is shared by several significant modern…

no attention to either religion, these religions were beginning to voice their opinions, and as a result, people within the Empire started to notice and listen to their preaching’s. According to Suetonius the Jews caused many disturbances, while Dio Cassius said they came to the Empire in great numbers and were starting to convert many of the Roman people. Whereas, the Christians according to Celsus and Porphyry, expressed their distrust and suspicion about the Christians so called saviour Jesus…