The Ancients

The Ancients

Latest video podcasts from The Ancients - dedicated to discussing our distant past.

Video podcasts for selected episodes and series are now available on the History Hit app.

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The Ancients
  • How The Fall of Rome Built Angkor Wat | The Ancients

    How did Indian culture shape the wonders of Southeast Asia?

    Tristan Hughes is joined by William Dalrymple to explore the fascinating first millennium AD, from vibrant trade dynamics with the Roman Empire to the establishment of powerful Indian trading guilds and the spread of Hinduism and Buddhi...

  • Tiberius: Underrated Emperor? | The Ancients

    WARNING: This podcast contains adult themes and discussion of paedophilia

    A brilliant general. A brooding autocrat. A recluse surrounded by scandal. Few Roman emperors divide opinion like Tiberius. But was he truly a monster, or the victim of centuries of salacious storytelling?

    In this episod...

  • Medieval VS Ancient: Historians Battle Over Their Domain | The Ancients

    Tristan Hughes and Matt Lewis (host of 'Gone Medieval') have a lively debate about the blurred boundary between the ancient and medieval worlds. Can Tristan champion Roman Emperor Justinian as an Ancient? What about Charlemagne? Which period can lay claim to the worst year in history? And was t...

  • How Did Antony and Cleopatra's Love Affair Unleash Wars? | The Ancients

    Rome. Egypt. Love. War. Over 2,000 years ago, the fates of two ancient worlds collided in one of history’s most legendary love stories: Antony and Cleopatra.

    In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Daisy Dunn to uncover the truth behind the myth - from their first meeting...

  • Becoming Nero: The Rise Of Rome's Evil Emperor | The Ancients

    Tristan Hughes and Conn Iggulden talk all about Emperor Nero's traumatic rise to power in the Julio-Claudian dynasty, featuring Agrippina the Younger, Caligula, and Claudius in this episode of the Ancients.

    In this in-depth ancient history podcast, host Tristan Hughes welcomes acclaimed historic...

  • Irish Myths: Uncovering Lost Prehistoric Legends | The Ancients

    Was the Eye of Sauron based on ancient Irish mythology? What can we know about these prehistoric legends and their effect on our stories today?

    Tristan Hughes and ancient history expert Anthony Murphy dive deep into the written tales to uncover how the seemingly "pagan" stories, written down by ...

  • Bizarre Sharks: The Freaky 400-Million-Year-Old Apex Predators | The Ancients

    Did you know fossil sharks are older than the dinosaurs and even the rings of Saturn?

    Tristan Hughes and leading palaeontologist Professor John Long delve into the epic evolutionary journey of these ocean survivors, from the earliest microscopic scales to the monstrous apex predators of the 'Gol...

  • Ancient Arctic: How The Inuit Survived The Frozen Tundra | The Ancients

    Tristan Hughes and Raven Todd Dilva discuss Arctic archaeology, revealing the Thule Inuit, an ancient civilisation that mastered survival across northern Canada and Greenland. This episode explores the remarkable migration of the Thule Inuit from Alaska around 1000 CE, their eventual replacement ...

  • What Finally Destroyed 'The Roman Empire'? | The Ancients

    Exploring the origins of the fall of Rome, ancient history expert Dr David Gwynn uncovers the 4th-century transformation of the Roman Empire under emperors like Diocletian and Constantine. This episode delves into a period often overlooked, examining how the empire consolidated after the tumultuo...

  • What (or Who) Caused The Fall Of Babylon? | The Ancients

    Ancient Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Persian Empire clash in this deep dive into the 539 BC conquest. Tristan Hughes and Reverend Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones discuss the unexpected fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the rise of Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Persia.

    They explore the pi...