Are they're

podcast listeners. A quick notice before today's episode. A Q and A episode will be recorded in January

so if you've any questions you want answered about Rome or about the podcast,

now's your chance. I'll be putting a sticky topic on the

emperors of Rome Facebook page and you can post it there you can also email

them to us at emperors podcast at Gmail.com.

Also if you want to record yourself asking a question,

using your phone for example, and email that through,

I may use it in the editing.

Just make sure you say who you are and where you're from.

Thanks to everyone who's listened to the podcast this year and for all the great feedback and comments that you've sent through.

We will see you in the new year.

And for those wanting to know when we'll return to talking about emperors, the answer is February.

So on that note,

Are they? And welcome to to Empress of Rome, a podcast about the rulers of the ancient Roman Empire.

And with me today is Dr. Lily Withercombe, a curator from the National Museum of Australia in

Canberra. I travelled north to our nation's capital where the museum is

hosting an exhibition, a history of the world in a hundred objects from the

British Museum. Its star attraction, at least in my opinion, is the bronze head of Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome. Lily was kind enough to introduce us.

We're standing in front of a head from a colossal bronze statue of the

Emperor Augustus. So he's the first emperor of Rome. He's the adopted son of Julius Caesar and he comes to power after really tumultuous decades in the Mediterranean

periods of civil war in which he defeats a number of political and military opponents to become the number one man in Rome.

...