{{italic title ''Caesar!'' is a set of British radio plays set in ancient Rome and written by

Mike Walker Mike Walker is the name of: Sports * Mike Walker (rugby union) (1930–2014), Scottish rugby union player * Mike Walker (English footballer) (born 1945), former English footballer * Mike Walker (Welsh footballer) (born 1945), former Welsh footbal ...

for the Classic Serial strand. The first series (premiered in 2003) was based on

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

's '' Lives of the Caesars'' - later series covered later emperors.

Series

Series 1

#Meeting at Formiae - 13 July 2003 - On

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

( David Troughton) and his dealings with Cicero ( Anton Lesser) and Cato the Younger ( Stephen Critchlow) #The Arena - 20 July 2003 - On the early career of Octavian ( Adam Levy), also featuring Jasmine Hyde as

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...

and with Richard Johnson as the remembering adult Augustus #Peeling Figs for Julius - 27 July 2003 - On

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

( David Tennant), also featuring George Baker as Tiberius, whom he had previously played in '' I, Claudius''.

Series 2

#The Best of Mothers - 17 July 2005 - On Nero ( Jonathan Forbes) and his mother

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claud ...

( Frances Barber) #The Glass Ball Game - 24 July 2005 - On

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

( Jonathan Hyde) and his relationship with his lover

Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, Ἀντίνοος; 27 November – before 30 October 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and probable lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his ...

( Andrew Garfield), his wife Sabina ( Amanda Root) and the historian Suetonius ( Jonathan Coy) #Citizens in a Great City - 31 July 2005 - On the reigns of Marcus Aurelius ( Ronald Pickup),

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

( Jim Sturgess) and Septimius Severus ( Ray Fearon), also featuring Severus' wife Julia Domna ( Helen McCrory).

Series 3

#Empress in the West - 25 February 2007 - On the life of Victoria ( Barbara Flynn) and the

Gallic Empire The Gallic Empire or the Gallic Roman Empire are names used in modern historiography for a breakaway part of the Roman Empire that functioned ''de facto'' as a separate state from 260 to 274. It originated during the Crisis of the Third Century, w ...

under the rule of Postumus ( Danny Webb) and her son Victorinus ( Sam Troughton) #The Maker of All Things - 4 March 2007 - On

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

(Sam Dale) and his son Crispus (Joseph Kloska), also featuring Constantine's second wife Fausta (Christine Kavanaugh) #An Empire Without End - 11 March 2007 - On Romulus Augustulus (Tom Hiddleston)

Sources

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006xjlm *http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d0bt7 Radio programmes set in ancient Rome BBC Radio 4 programmes 2003 radio programme debuts 2007 radio programme endings Cultural depictions of Augustus Cultural depictions of Livia