MOST men think about the Roman Empire on a daily basis. Well, they do if you believe what you see on social media.

Sword and sandal epics are back on the Hollywood agenda and this week sees the release of Gladiator II – the sequel to Ridley Scott’s iconic film starring Russell Crowe.

The release of such a major film will have people not only flocking to the Vue cinema on Botchergate but also to Rome itself, inspired by the images on screen.

I myself would count myself amongst that number, having been inspired not only to go and visit the Eternal City but study it at university.

Whilst as a teenager I thirsted after tales of some of the most influential politicians and figures ever to walk the earth – Caesar, Cato, Cicero, Livia, Augustus and Constantine to name but a tiny few – but as I explored further, I realised the real intrigue of the Roman world was not the great figures of history, but the people who lived through it.

Many men and women who lived under Roman rule were thousands of miles away from a city which was beyond their wildest dreams.

Carlisle is a place uniquely suited to explore these extremities of the Roman world. The city is genuinely at the cutting edge of Roman discovery with the continued excavations at the cricket club.

The pieces found at the Roman bath house there have made headlines across the world and has made academics question whether a Roman Emperor really came to Cumbria 1,800 years ago.

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Each individual discovery helps academics to further paint a picture of what life was like for people in Carlisle in the second century AD.

Carlisle is also at the heart of Hadrian’s Wall which has stood the test of time for 1,900 years. Some of the best-preserved sections of the wall are only a few miles away with hill forts littered across the rolling hills towards the Tyne Valley.

The return of the sword and sandal epics to our screens will help to inspire and interest in Rome and her empire, but instead of booking those flights just yet, maybe look a little closer to home first to get your Roman fix.