Episode Two

In this programme art critic Alastair Sooke steps back into the Roman world, thanks to their invention of the documentary-style marble relief and to a volcano called Vesuvius. Sooke explores the remarkable artistic legacy of Pompeii before finding out how Rome's first emperor, Augustus, used the power of art to help forge an empire.

Enthusiastic, questioning and engaging, Treasures of Ancient Rome reveals how there was so much more to the Romans than just conquering and soldiering, and charts the decline and fall of the Roman Empire through some of its hidden and most magical artistic treasures.