BBC Radio 4 LW

15 Minute Drama

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Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations

Kieran Hodgson

Nigel Barrett

Joanna Scanlan

Mia Soteriou

Kate McAll

Hattie Naylor

15 Minute Drama: How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me: Episode 1

How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me

Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - 15 Minute Drama, How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me, Episode 1

Pliny and his eccentric household are subject to the whims of an unstable emperor.

Venta the slave keeps an observant eye on Pliny the Younger, his mother Marcella and Doris the Greek cook in this second series of adventures in 1st-century Rome. By Hattie Naylor.

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Kieran Hodgson returns as Pliny the Younger, with Nigel Barrett as his trusty slave, Venta, who was captured during the Roman conquest of Britain. Based on real events in first century Rome. 

The Emperor Domitian rules Rome with a rod of iron, and is dangerously unstable and paranoid. There are spies everywhere. Venta, Pliny, his mother Marcella, and Doris the Greek cook will have to have all their wits about them if they are to prevail. 

As a teenager Pliny witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius from his home across the bay. Many years later, following a request from his uncle Tacitus who is an historian, he takes time off from being a lawyer to travel to Pompeii and Herculaneum where he hopes to find out what happened to his uncle, Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption. But upon returning to his villa outside Rome, he finds a letter from the Emperor which throws the whole household into a panic. 
By Hattie Naylor.

A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.

15 Minute Drama: How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me

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Hattie Naylor's drama series, based on real events in Rome in the 1st century AD.

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How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me

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