Professor Catherine Edwards explores the dramatic stories of women who tasted power and felt its pain as they influenced the Roman Empire across four centuries, in the mini-series MOTHERS, MURDERERS & MISTRESSES: EMPRESSES OF ANCIENT ROME. These women were PR weapons and fashion role models, patrons and matchmakers, politicians and plotters. Their lives were bursting with scandal and scarred by violence. In three programs, Dr. Edwards offers a compelling new perspective on this vast Empire, suggesting that women could pull the strings of power - but only at great personal risk.