Our ‘potted history of Rome’ for a light-hearted approach to Rome’s fascinating but complex history from 753 BC to 337 AD. This short video clip has been made available by the University of Reading and comes from our successful free online course, Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City, available from FutureLearn. Visit futurelearn .com site and search ‘Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City’ for the full course (free without certificates option available) This animation was created by Guy Horsfall, Todd Howson Moxey and Will Day, students from the University of Reading’s Typography and Graphic Communication department.

Let’s explore ancient Rome’s great forum spaces. The oldest was the main Forum, followed later on by the nearby imperial fora. These started with Julius Caesar’s Forum Iulium, which set a pattern which other emperors followed. First and foremost was Caesar’s adoptive heir Augustus, who built the Forum Augustum, partly to honour Caesar (and Augustus’ revenge on his killers). Look around the grand political and religious structures of the Forum in the high imperial period. You should get the flavour of the dynastic space taking shape and see some of the structures which still stand today. These films and worksheets have been made available by the University of Reading and come from our free online course Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City, available from FutureLearn. Visit futurelearn .com site and search ‘Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City’ for the full course (free without certificates option available) This animation was created by Guy Horsfall, Todd Howson Moxey and Will Day, students from the University of Reading’s Typography and Graphic Communication department.