Dr Michael Scott examines the vital role played by the Romans in the preservation of Greek drama and in the history of theatre. He explores how the Romans absorbed Greek theatre and adapted it to their own, very Roman, ends and looks at how this famous empire provides one of the crucial connections between our modern drama and the great plays of the ancient Greeks.

Inconsolable at the death of Brutus at Philippi, Servilia makes her final bid to gain the ultimate vengeance against Atia. Meanwhile, Eirene and Gaia have a major falling-out, prompting Eirene to demand that Pullo properly chastise the slave. When he does, the dynamic between the two of them changes in a violent and unexpected fashion.
King Herod engages Mark Antony as a reluctant ally by offering a generous gift of 20,000 pounds of gold.

The price of Caesar's mercy: Cicero nominates Caesar to an unprecedented ten-year dictatorship and Brutus speaks in support of the motion. With martial authority and Niobe at his side, Vorenus campaigns for magistrate under Posca's advice, but is shocked to learn from Posca that Caesar has already fixed the election in Vorenus's favor.
Meanwhile, Atia continues her humiliation of Servilia while denying any involvement in her assault.

Through the mountains and jungles of Colombia, Cooper goes in search of the truth behind one of the greatest stories ever told - the legend of El Dorado. His journey takes him from Bogota to the Caribbean coast, through territories once dominated by two cultures, the Muisca and the Tairona, who flourished for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. Cooper reveals forgotten peoples who valued gold in a way the Western world still struggles to understand, travelling to an astonishing lost city and meeting the last survivors of an ancient civilisation.

Lucius Vorenus, the power-hungry 'Son of Hades', controls the Aventine but practices a pointless, beastly reign of terror, coming down hard on gang captains for futilities, and nearly ruins his friendship with Pullo, whose efforts to calm things down are mistaken for disrespect and disobedience, even starts a fight once he learns the truth about Niobe; Pullio leaves Rome disgusted.
After Atia convinces Marc Antony the governorship of ghastly Macedonia after his consulate would not only be unpleasant but leave him exposed to his dangerous enemies.

In the third episode of the series, Commodus rises to power as Rome's new emperor, but not everyone supports his ascent. Among those conspiring against him: his older sister Lucilla.