I, Caesar - Season 1

Historians discuss Caesar's early life and ruthless rise to power and tell of the ferocious ambition that led him to conquer Gaul, overcome the threat of his rival Pompey and eventually become a dictator.

In 44BC, a little-known teenage relative of the assassinated Julius Caesar stepped into the vortex of Roman politics. He was to triumph over Mark Antony and Cleopatra in a brutal civil war and become Rome's first Emperor. A vivid portrait of Augustus, one of history's great political leaders, studies the methods he used to steer the empire towards the zenith of its power. 

Under the tutelage of the great philosopher Seneca, Nero began his reign promisingly, but his rule became characterised by an obsession with his meagre artistic talents and sullied by corruption, sexual debauchery, matricide and political slaughter

In AD 117, Hadrian succeeded Trajan - his cousin and fellow Spaniard - as emperor. A poet and lover of architecture, he shocked Rome with a policy that halted conquest and expansion, concentrating instead on consolidating the empire behind border defences such as Hadrian's Wall. Tonight's programme shows how his reign reflected the increasing role for provincial subjects in government. 

The reign of Constantine during the fourth century helped to revive a Roman world in deep crisis and changed the course of world history. Through a policy of one-empire, one-god and his embrace of Christianity -which saw a clampdown on persecution and the construction of churches - he halted the fragmentation of the empire and facilitated the spread of the faith. 

Born a Serbian peasant, Justinian became the last truly great Caesar, ruling the eastern half of the Roman empire from Constantinople for over 40 years. In AD 536, he succeeded in reconquering "fallen" Rome from the Goths, but his dream of a permanent reunification was to prove elusive.