Roman Empire by Train

Starting in Naples in southern Italy Professor Alice Roberts will travel 1500 miles by train, to make six episodes analysing the life and death of the Roman Empire. After a couple of days exploring Pompeii and Herculaneum in the Bay of Naples, she heads north, through Rome, Parma and Turin to cross the Alps into France and then into Spain where the train hugs the coast southwards to her final destination, Cartagena.

In Alice’s fourth travelogue in search of ancient civilisations, she will discover how Rome transformed from a Republic to an Empire, how it wrestled control of established trading ports, took inspiration from the Greeks and the Etruscans, built major roads, stunning temples and crafted vital water supplies, to become the dominant force in Europe, north Africa and much of Asia, for centuries.

Alice also wants to learn of its legacy, and she crafts a theory that suggests the Roman Empire is still with us today. With brand new scientific research, Alice reveals that two hundred years of knowledge about the identity of the Carthaginians has just been undone, and she is given access to the very latest archaeological excavations with discoveries and knowledge that adds significantly to what we thought we knew about this epic empire.