Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

15 Minute Drama

Drama

Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations

BBC Radio 4 LW

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

Kieran Hodgson

Nigel Barrett

Joanna Scanlan

Mia Soteriou

Matthew Gravelle

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

A day at the baths in Rome has a surprising ending for Pliny.

Pliny, his mother Marcella and his slave Venta spend the day indulging in the pleasures of Rome - shopping and bathing. By Hattie Naylor.

Captured in Wales during the Roman conquest of Britain, Venta is now a slave in the household of Pliny the Younger, a wealthy lawyer who lives in a magnificent villa just outside Rome. As servitude goes, things could be worse. Pliny is a kind, if tetchy, master and uses Venta mainly as a scribe. His mistress, Pliny's mother, thinks of him as her 'bedroom attendant'. Recently Venta had a lucky escape when he was forced to fight in the Colosseum and survived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, he was given no choice but to kill Calvin, lover of Doris the cook, who now won't speak to him. 

Depressed by the decline in the standard of Doris's cooking following Calvin's death, the family spend the day in Rome, shopping for bargains in the market, followed by sheer indulgence at the Baths. But the outing ends with a surprising turn of events for Pliny. By Hattie Naylor, based on real events in first century Rome.

Pliny the Younger . . . Kieran Hodgson
Venta . . . Nigel Barrett
Marcella . . . Joanna Scanlan
Doris . . . Mia Soteriou
Hawker . . . Matthew Gravelle

Music composed and performed by Pete Flood (percussion) with Laura Cannell (recorder, crumhorn), Rhodri Davies (Harp) and Paul Sartin (Oboe, Cor Anglais)

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

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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

Accessibility links

Programme Index

15 Minute Drama

How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me

Episode 1

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4