# Mary Beard on Ruling the Roman Empire

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dan-snow-s-history-hit-483719/mary-beard-on-ruling-the-roman-empire
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dan-snow-s-history-hit-483719/mary-beard-on-ruling-the-roman-empire.md
Podcast: [Dan Snow's History Hit](https://stenobird.com/podcast/dan-snow-s-history-hit-483719)
Published: 2026-06-11T02:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/mary-beard-on-ruling-the-roman-empire
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/dansnowshistoryhit/e/6a1ea89b2ee21c89f08d364c/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=neSFrGuEJtwx9Qq2Q_Ux3qFc1LJ29r2--jVhIZ5bjNs
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dan-snow-s-history-hit-483719/episodes/mary-beard-on-ruling-the-roman-empire
Duration seconds: 3130

## Resource

What did it take to rule an empire that was never meant to have an emperor? In this second episode of our series on the Roman Empire, we're joined by classicist Mary Beard to trace how Roman leadership evolved over a thousand years - from the competitive power-sharing of the Republic, to the carefully constructed one-man rule of Augustus. Why did the republican system buckle under its own success? And what set the empire on the path to fragmentation? Make sure to join us for our third episode next week, when Peter Heather will explain how and why the Roman Empire fell apart. Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore. We need your help! Let us know what you want from Dan Snow's History Hit by filling in our anonymous survey here: https://forms.gle/PvgayWLkWGjYT4St6 Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe . You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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