First transmitted in 1960, Sir Mortimer Wheeler embarks on an epic journey from Britain to Africa to examine the legacy of one of history’s greatest civilisations - the Roman Empire. At the height of its reign the Roman Empire held territory spanning from the Atlantic to the Tigris. The empire was a formidable political force that dominated the peoples of three separate continents, offering them a new and distinct culture and a civilization that allowed for freedom of travel.

First transmitted in 1960, Sir Mortimer Wheeler examines the religious cosmologies which emerged, and died out, under the Roman Empire. Paganism was the predominant religious belief system of the Romans. However, when followers became disillusioned by their Pagan deities, Christianity replaced the old religious doctrine and emerged as the new belief system to take hold across the Roman Empire.

First transmitted in 1960, Sir Mortimer Wheeler concludes his journey to trace the legacy of the Roman Empire by surveying some of the empire’s most impressive architectural feats and the artworks that characterised the period. He marvels at an array of buildings, sculptural monuments, religious paintings and frescos that artists during this period produced.