Darren McLean

Build Like a Roman

No. of episodes

21

Latest episode

2026-06-16

Where can you listen?

Build Like a Roman is a podcast about how the Roman world was built.

Focusing on materials, craft, and construction, each episode explores the practical realities of Roman building — from stone, brick, and mortar to the organisation of labour and technical skill behind surviving structures.

Short, focused episodes introduce core building materials before diving deeper into how buildings were made, maintained, and understood in the Roman world.

For students of archaeology, history, and art history — and for anyone interested in how ancient buildings actually came into being.

North Africa and Western Asia are home to a multitude of Roman buildings. Some still used on a daily basis, others in ruins, but that's typically not the fault of the original builders. The fact that these still exist at all after 2,000 years or more is a testament to skill and creativity of the original builders.

There are some great Podcast which look at Roman politics, history, and architecture, however in this Podcast, we focus on Construction history, that being building materials, techniques and and the people who did the work!

From structures to frescos, we'll cover it all!

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