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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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.
Roman Marriage Left Regilla Little Autonomy
- Regilla had little say in moving from Rome to Athens or in managing her marriage.
- Plutarch advised wives to suppress personal feelings and share their husbands’ moods.
Herodes Disowned His Own Son
- Herodes reportedly disliked his son Bradua and excluded him from his will.
- Philostratus says contemporaries considered that treatment inhumane.
