ROME—Four temples from ancient Rome, dating back as far as the 3rd century B.C. stand smack in the middle of one of the modern city’s busiest crossroads. But until Monday, practically the only ones getting a close-up view of the temples were the cats that prowl the so-called “Sacred Area,” on the edge of the…

NR | 1 h 46 min | Drama | 1950 David Bradley is probably better known for having directed former First Lady Nancy Reagan in “Talk About a Stranger.” But he’s also the one who helped Hollywood discover Charlton Heston as a natural in the sword-and-sandal world of epics. Bradley doesn’t deviate from the overly…

In August 1755, George Washington had been made commander in chief of Virginia’s colonial forces. A year later, however, the 25-year-old commander became incensed at being passed over for a royal commission. He was also bitter over the manner in which his fellow Virginians, those who had “behaved like men and died like soldiers,” had…

Josiah Osgood, one of the leading scholars on the subject of ancient Rome, is a professor of classics at Georgetown University and has written extensively on the subject of the fall of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. While on “The Sons of History” podcast, he discussed his latest book, “Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar…

For those interested in the history of statecraft, there are few topics more compelling than the Roman Republic, and in particular the reasons for its fall. Josiah Osgood, professor of classics at Georgetown University, has written an insightful and important work on this topic. His book “Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato’s Deadly Rivalry Destroyed…

Julius Caesar is often blamed for bringing about the end of the Roman Republic. I think he merely happened to be there when the Republic imploded. In 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a shallow river in Northern Italy, with a single legion. The river marked the border between cis-Alpine Gaul and Italy proper. Bringing…