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Understanding and tracking time is key to keeping society -- and our lives -- running smoothly. Early civilizations developed calendars with just 300 days in a year. But by 1582, the time it takes for Earth to rotate around the sun was better understood, and Pope Gregory introduced the 365-day Gregorian calendar -- the one used by most of the world today. Listen to hear a scientist explain the math behind adding and subtracting leap days to keep the calendar aligned with the Earth’s movement, and learn how Christianity played a role in the calendar’s creation.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in 79 CE buried the nearby cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. For the people living there, it was an unimaginable horror. Nearly 2000 years later, however, the remains of those two cities are a source of valuable information about Romans’ daily lives in 1st century Rome. This audio story is about modern day tension between archaeologists and volcanologists over access to the sites. The story is a reminder that the study of the past requires the expertise of people from multiple fields of study in order for us to get a complete picture.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting in history. Theories about what led to its collapse have ranged from the barbarian invasions to internal corruption to economic instability. However, a recent theory that is added to the mix is climate change. New research has contributed to the theory that climate change destabilized Rome and made it vulnerable to collapse. In this audio story, this theory is discussed, including the scientific evidence, specifically the study of tree rings, that supports it. There is also discussion about whether this was naturally occurring or a man-made phenomenon.

Roman historians wrote extensively about Roman civilization and its decline, but much less has been written about Rome’s early years. In this audio story, author Anthony Everitt discusses the rise of Rome from a small city on the Tiber River to a massive Mediterranean empire. He shows how Romans built their empire in part by offering citizenship to the people they conquered. Listen to an historian explain the strategies Romans used to build their empire, and learn how American government draws on ideas dating to the Roman Republic.

When Roman Emperor Hadrian took power of ancient Rome in 117 A.D., Romans were mired in debt and war plagued much of Rome's land. It was similar to when President Barack Obama began his term as President of the United States. He inherited war, financial problems, and social issues. Throughout the two decades of his rule, Hadrian used his position as emperor to bring Rome back to a peaceful and powerful glory. Listen as the audio clip explains the steps Hadrian took to improve the country at the beginning of his rule.

In modern times, we often remember the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra as a beautiful temptress largely defined by the men in her life. But a new biography presents another, more complicated picture of this intriguing historical figure. The author reminds us that historians have agendas and biases, and that Cleopatra’s traditional depiction may not be complete or entirely accurate. He explains that Cleopatra was a skilled diplomat and leader, who was very well-educated, strategic, and articulate. Listen to learn more about the many, surprising sides of Cleopatra.

America’s Founders borrowed from the ancient Roman Republic when they created the U.S. Government. The Senate, separation of powers, and checks and balances all came from the Romans. The Founders hoped that America would one day be as strong as the great Roman Republic had been. But every empire rises and then falls, and the author interviewed in this audio story says that Americans today can learn a lot about where the United States may be heading by studying the fall of Rome.

This public radio story describes the Julian calendar, developed during the rule of Julius Caesar in Rome in the first century BCE, and how this calendar failed to keep accurate time for the Catholic Church centuries later. You will hear how Pope Gregory called on modern science to create an accurate calendar in the 1500s, and that became the calendar we use today.