Darius Arya digs Rome — literally.

Archaeologist, public historian, author, and TV host based in the Eternal City, Darius Arya has spent his career doing what most people only dream about: getting his hands dirty in the ruins of the Roman Empire and then explaining, on camera, why any of it still matters. He directs educational programs, leads lecture series, spearheads heritage preservation initiatives, and guides specialized tours — all while hopping between US, Italian, and European TV productions as host or featured expert.

A Ph.D. archaeologist and historian, Darius Arya has spent over 17 years excavating in Rome and Ostia Antica and teaching university programs across Italy. He’s an Explorer’s Club member, Fulbright scholar, a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a guest scholar at the Getty Conservation Institute and a Shorty Award winner. He directs the American Institute for Roman Culture and its online learning platform Ancient Rome Live.

History, for Darius, isn’t a desk job. He’s rappelled into caverns, explored underground churches and forgotten temples, and crawled through the Cloaca Maxima — one of the world’s oldest sewers — not for the thrill of it (well, not only), but because that’s where the answers are.

For 20 years he’s appeared as an expert or host on History, National Geographic, Discovery, Smithsonian, PBS, and Italy’s Rai5, among others, and is a regular voice on BBC Radio 4, CBS Sunday Morning, and CNN. He’s one of only a handful of American Ph.D. archaeologists working in television today — translating serious scholarship into conversation that’s actually worth having, on screen and off.

He has worked alongside major institutions — the Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, Italian superintendencies and museums, Italy’s Ministry of Culture, Museum Week, ICOMOS — plus a range of corporate partners.