Ask HISTORY

Category: Ancient Rome

ah-rubicon
May 29, 2013

What does it mean to cross the Rubicon?

Did gladiators always fight to the death
January 2, 2013

Did gladiators always fight to the death?

Hollywood portrays Roman gladiatorial contests as brutal, unruly duels that ended when one of the combatants killed the other. But in reality, gladiators ...
Nero Fiddle
November 20, 2012

Did Nero really fiddle while Rome burned?

In July of 64 A.D., a great fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. According to a ...
Caligula
October 10, 2012

Did Caligula really make his horse a consul?

According to the ancient historian Suetonius, the Roman emperor known as Caligula loved one of his horses, Incitatus, so much that he gave the steed a ...