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? 00:00 Introduction 02:01 How was the Roman Republic governed? 04:46 The power-sharing system to prevent kings 07:22 Why did Rome become the greatest empire? 10:43 Roman glory of military success 13:21 Why Rome lost battles but won wars 15:30 A light-touch empire of obedience 17:47 Bizarre tax farming and exploitation 21:24 Inbuilt resilience of a fragmented centre 24:31 The challenge of running an empire like a student union 29:59 The rise of one-man rule and Julius Caesar 33:58 How Augustus permanently established autocracy 38:58 Nationalising the army and rebranding Rome 45:35 Incorporating provincial elites into the governmental structure of Rome 50:38 What are the changes after Augustus' reign? 56:16 Was the fall of the Western Roman Empire good or bad? 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 Mariana Des Forges, James Hickmann and McKenna Fernandez, edited by Matthew Wilson & the channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. You can find more Dan Snow's History Hit on the audio podcast here: https://podfollow.com/dan-snows-history-hit/view 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. All music from Epidemic Sounds. #DanSnowsHistoryHit #HistoryPodcast #RomanEmpire