Tom Holland (15:30 BST)

The Pax Romana has long been revered as a golden age. At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland to Arabia, and contained perhaps a quarter of humanity. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state the world had yet seen.

Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, and beginning in 69AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire - and ending some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian, Pax presents a dazzling history of Rome at the height of its power.

From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland portrays the Roman Empire in all its predatory glory: from the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii to the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian's Wall and the conquests of Trajan.

Holland co-hosts The Rest Is History, the world’s most popular history podcast.

In conversation with Rodge Glass

Click to buy book