Pontifex Maximus: Did you mean...?

The Vandals were a Germanic tribe who are first mentioned in Roman history in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (77 CE). The Roman historian Tacitus also mentions them in his Germania (c. 98 CE), though he also refers to them as the...

Among the many gods of the Romans, Jupiter, the son of Saturn, was the supreme god, associated with thunder, lightning, and storms. The first citizens of what would become Rome believed they were watched over by the spirits of their ancestors...

Roman architecture continued the legacy left by Greek architects and the established architectural orders, especially the Corinthian. The Romans were also innovators and they combined new construction techniques and materials with creative...

Marcus Claudius Marcellus (c. 270-208 BCE) was a five-time consul and, earning the nickname the 'Sword of Rome', he was one of the city's greatest military commanders. Active in both the First and Second Punic Wars, he also won honours for...

Gaiseric (r. 428-478 CE, also known as Genseric and Geiseric) was the greatest king of the Vandals who remained undefeated from the time he took the throne until his death. He was probably born in 389 CE near Lake Balaton (present-day Hungary...

Decebalus (c. 87-106 CE) was the king of Dacia (roughly modern-day Romania and Moldova) who fought two wars with Rome under Trajan (in 101-102 CE and 105-106 CE) in defense of his kingdom. Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) was renewing a conflict between...

Fritigern (also Fritigernus, died c. 380 CE) was a Visigothic king best known as the victor of the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE, which decimated the Roman army and haunted Roman military commanders for decades afterwards. He was...

Viriathus (c. 180-140 BCE) was the leader of the Lusitani in their war with Rome. In 150 Viriathus escaped the Roman massacre and enslavement of Lusitani who had surrendered peacefully. Viriathus continued to fight in the resistance and rose...

Gallienus was Roman emperor from 253 to 268 CE. Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, the eldest son of Emperor Valerian, was named co-emperor by his father in 253 CE. He was one of many who would claim the throne over the next two decades...

In Theaters: 12 May 2000 (UK) Maximus is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus, and a power struggle...