
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics Roman True Crime
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Sep 4, 2026 Historian Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five, and Oxford classicist Llewelyn Morgan investigate the unsolved death of Regilla, an aristocratic Roman woman. They examine her marriage to the volatile Herodes Atticus, family tensions, suspicious memorials, and the evidence behind his ancient acquittal. Hallie finds him guilty; Llewelyn does not. Then the audience delivers its verdict.
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Regilla Married Into Power
- Regilla’s marriage connected two powerful families despite her youth and limited choice.
- Her Roman lineage linked her to future empresses Faustina the Elder and Faustina the Younger.
Herodes Built Wealth From Buried Treasure
- Herodes’s fortune came through his father’s claim of discovering buried treasure.
- Natalie Haynes jokes that “buried treasure” usually means stolen property on the Antiques Roadshow.
Herodes Had A Violent Reputation
- Herodes already had a reputation for violent anger before Regilla’s death.
- Fronto accused him of beating freedmen so severely that one died, although political rhetoric may have amplified the charge.



