The Ancients

History Hit

A podcast for all ancient history fans! The Ancients is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Featuring interviews with historians and archaeologists, each episode covers a specific theme from antiquity. From Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome. Hosted by Tristan Hughes.

New episodes every Sunday and Thursday.

From History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts Dan Snow's History Hit, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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645 episodes
Updated Sunday

Episodes645

Newest first

Feb 21, 2021 · 40 min
Lugdunum: The Biggest Battle in Roman History?
Tristan speaks to Dr Jonathan Eaton about the battle of Lugdunum.
Feb 18, 2021 · 46 min
Palmyra: Pearl of the Desert
Ted Kaizer explores Palmyra's multicultural, multilingual nature at the heart of the caravan trade
Feb 14, 2021 · 23 min
Myths of Masada
In 73 AD, 967 Jewish rebels against the Romans committed mass suicide atop the Masada Fortress. Or did they? In this second part of Tristan’s interview with Jodi Magness from the University of North Carolina, who co-directed the 1995 excavations of the...
Feb 11, 2021 · 43 min
Rome: 'The Eternal City'
Tristan was joined by Dr Greg Woolf, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies in London, to run through the story of one of the most talked about cities of the Ancient World.
Feb 7, 2021 · 37 min
Besieging Masada
Dramatically placed on a plateau with drops of 400m to the east and 90m to the west, Masada translates from Hebrew as fortress. It became just that when Herod the Great built a magnificent palace complex upon it between 37 and 31 BC, the remains of whi...
Feb 4, 2021 · 56 min
Beasts of Battle: Indian War Elephants
The four components of the Ancient Indian battlefield: infantry, cavalry, chariots … and elephants. These magnificent creatures were dominant in conflicts to the east of India, in South-East Asia, but also to the west, in Greece and Africa. For this ep...
Jan 31, 2021 · 22 min
Edges of Empire: Rome's Northernmost Town
Roughly two miles south of Hadrian’s Wall lie the remains of Roman Corbridge, the northernmost town of the Roman Empire. The site’s archaeology is unique. The remains highlight what was once a bustling town. As its centre was the high street. Covered w...
Jan 28, 2021 · 39 min
Roman Military Tombstones: Uncovering the Unknown Warriors
From Northern Britain to the Near East, Roman tombstones have been uncovered on various far flung frontiers of the Roman Empire. Dedicated to those auxiliaries and legionaries that perished far from home, guarding a distant border of this ancient empir...
Jan 24, 2021 · 39 min
The Mystery of the Ninth Legion
The legions of Rome were the nucleus of Rome’s military might for centuries. From campaigning in northern Scotland to the Persian Gulf, these devastating battalions extended and cemented Roman power. Yet of these legions there was one whose end is shro...
Jan 21, 2021 · 44 min
Edges of Empire: The Sasanian Frontiers
For centuries, arguably the greatest external threat the Roman Empire faced came from the East. From the Sasanian Persian Empire. With its nucleus situated in Iran, at its height the Sasanian Empire was one of antiquity’s most formidable kingdoms, cont...
Jan 17, 2021 · 43 min
Indonesian Cave Art: A Dramatic New Discovery
It’s a paradox for the ages, breaking news about people who lived and died thousands of years ago. This discovery is no different, because Adam Brumm and his team in Sulawesi have released their discovery of the oldest known figurative art made by mode...
Jan 14, 2021 · 40 min
Tomyris: A Warrior Queen's Revenge
Her legend afforded her a place alongside Eve, Cleopatra and Venus, to name just a few of the famous women whose biographies were collected by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1361-2. Though not a household name as the others may be, Tomyris’ story contains all o...
Jan 10, 2021 · 46 min
Oppian’s Halieutica: Creatures of the Ancient Deep
The deep blue sea is the subject of speculation to this day but, in this episode, we have access to the mysteries, myths and misgivings that were associated with the ocean in the 2nd century AD. The Halieutica was written in Hexameter by the Greek poet...
Jan 7, 2021 · 45 min
Hannibal: Battle by the Trebia
It’s 218 BC, and Hannibal has made the mammoth journey across the Alps en route to Italy, accompanied by his army, their horses, and their elephants. But the real battle is yet to come, and in this fantastic second episode with Louis Rawlings, he takes...
Jan 3, 2021 · 55 min
How Ancient Egypt Stayed Egyptian
The length of time between the rule of Cleopatra and the erection of the Pyramids is the same as that between now and the birth of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, it is perhaps no surprise that some periods of Ancient Egypt fall beneath the radar. The...
Dec 31, 2020 · 56 min
El Kurru: Egypt's Nubian Pharaohs
In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Ancient Egypt was ruled by an extraordinary dynasty. This was the 25th Dynasty, also known as the Nubian Dynasty because of their Kushite roots. They maintained their Nubian identity, with one...
Dec 27, 2020 · 1 hr 4 min
Hatshepsut: Egypt's Hidden Pharaoh
Hatshepsut – whose name means “foremost of noblewomen” – was an exceptional figure in the history of Ancient Egypt. Only the second woman in history to assume the title of pharaoh, during her reign she oversaw the building of monumental temples, establ...
Dec 24, 2020 · 54 min
The Mystery of Mithras: A Pagan Christmas?
The clichéd Christmas: white snow, hot fires, mulled wine and a feast. This might not be the case were the holiday not to fall on 25 December and, although many things have been missed in 2020, the usual questions of whether this is the right date arri...
Dec 22, 2020 · 26 min
Saturnalia: Bonus Episode!
In this episode from the History Hit archive, Dan talks to Kevin Butcher about the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Held between the 17 and 23 December, Saturnalia invloved plenty of drinking, gift-giving, and a sense of a world turned upside-down.
Dec 20, 2020 · 28 min
Hannibal: Crossing the Alps
In 218 BCE, Hannibal Barca's Carthaginian army, accompanied by horses and elephants, completed one of the most audacious military marches of ancient Mediterranean history. Setting off from southeast Spain, on their way they overcame a number of ho...