How truthful are modern depictions of Ancient chariots? In this second episode, Mike Loades explores the reality behind the scythed chariot shown in Boudica's Westminster statue. He then draws upon his experimental archaeology to discuss the truth about racing chariots in Ancient Rome. How many horses did they use, and how big were they? Would the riders really have been standin? Mike is a writer, television presenter, director and military historian who has personally tested many replica chariots, including on the streets of London.
In popular culture, Nero is thought of as the Emperor who played the fiddle as Rome burned to the ground. Whilst this might not be strictly factual, it does hint towards another side of this infamous character. For this episode, Dr Shushma Malik returns to The Ancients to discuss Nero's interest ...
480 BC is a year widely-celebrated in Greek history – when Leonidas and his core of 300 Spartans heroically defended against a powerful Persian army at Thermopylae and an outnumbered, Athenian-led navy defeated a mighty Persian armada at Salamis. Yet it was not just off the coast of Athens that o...
Stretching out from the north west of France, Brittany has long been as identifiable with the Atlantic Ocean as with its continental neighbours in Europe. Whilst Sir Barry Cunliffe’s research and archaeological interests have taken him far and wide over the last six decades, this close neighbour ...
