The Romans

Overview

The spectacular rise and fall of the Roman Empire fascinates us to this day (as evidenced by the success of films like Gladiator , and the HBO series Rome). The Romans took their gods from the Etruscans, on the ruins of whose civilization they built their own. In this episode, host Christy Kenneally visits the Forum, the epicenter of Roman religion, and the Pantheon, sanctuary of the Roman gods. In Caerleon in Wales, he reveals how the Romans carried their religion to the farthest reaches of the empire. And at Ephesus in Turkey, he traces the rise of the Christian deity that would ultimately overthrow the Roman gods.