Dame Mary Beard is back with new BBC Two documentary Meet the Roman Emperor

Dame Mary Beard is back on BBC Two with a brand new documentary that will be looking to explore the trials and tribulations faced by Roman Emperors. The renowned classicist will lift up the curtain on some of ancient Rome’s most powerful people, exploring their ruthlessness and greatest fear - that their power could be taken away at any moment. Dame Mary has previously presented BBC documentaries including Caligula With Mary Beard in 2013 and Meet The Romans With Mary Beard in 2012. This new one-hour episode, based on her non-fiction book Emperor Of Rome: Ruling The Ancient Roman World, received rave reviews last year.

The one-hour documentary will follow classicist Dame Mary as she lifts the curtain on the emperors of Rome, exploring their ruthless use of power and how it was matched only by their greatest fear that their power could be snatched away at any moment. Speaking about the documentary, Dame Mary explains: “We’ve got a pretty kind of clear idea about the lurid excesses of, and cruelty of, Roman imperial power.”

She continues: “Part of what the programme tries to do is to say, ‘it was terrifying for the emperor too’ and in the middle of this great sort of panoply of power, there was an ordinary guy who was trying to rule the Roman world, and was in some ways, a prisoner of his own palace.

Adding: “You know, he was the victim. He was surrounded by people who would never tell him the truth, they’d only really tell him what he wanted to hear. I’m trying to create a world in which the emperor is sort of a victim of all this as well. It’s hard to feel sorry for them, but I do a little bit.”

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When can I watch Meet the Roman Emperor with Mary Beard?

Meet The Roman Emperor With Mary Beard will air on BBC Two and iPlayer at 9pm on Monday April 8. Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld who specialises in stories around TV, Film and Health. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also share your thoughts in the comment section below.