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We still live in the shadow of Ancient Rome – a city at the heart of a vast Empire that stretched from Scotland to Afghanistan, dominating the West for over 700 years. In this series, Prof Mary Beard puts aside the stories of Emperors and armies, guts and gore to meet the real Romans living at the heart of it all.

Mary explores the stories of barmen, children, sailors, slaves and even gladiators. This is Rome from the bottom up. Here she tells us what we can learn from an object such as a preserved gladiator's helmet. What was life like for a Roman gladiator?