Was King Arthur a real historical figure or merely a mythical hero?Tristan Hughes and Dr. Miles Russell delve into the myth and mystery of King Arthur, exploring the historical figures who may have inspired this legendary character, including Magnus Maximus, Emperor Constantine and Julius Caesar's great rival Cassivellaunus. They reveal the fascinating connections and rich oral traditions that shaped Arthurian legend and ravel the myths, surrounding one of Britain's most legendary figures.Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.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. You can take part in our listener survey here:https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MKTheme music from Motion Array, all other music from Epidemic Sound
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It's The Ancients on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and Happy New Year. 2025 is here, and for The Ancients, well, we have some huge treats for you over the next few weeks as we kick off January in style. Watch this space. Now, it is still the holiday season and the Ancients team are just wrapping up their Christmas break.
So today we're bringing back to the fore another of my favourite episodes from the back catalogue. And I had a lot of fun choosing this particular episode because it's all about King Arthur and the real life ancient figures who inspired this legendary King of the Britons. because there was more than one.
As the brilliant Dr. Myles Russell from Bournemouth University explained to me in this interview that I did with him back in early 2021, almost four years ago. Myles has been a regular on the Ancients and on the History Hit YouTube channel since then. We filmed with him about the great Iron Age British hillfort Maiden Castle, and about the mysterious Roman 9th Legion, Legio IX Hispana.
He is a lovely man and a brilliant speaker, talking Romans, Iron Age Britons and King Arthur. You name it, he knows it. What not to love? Enjoy! MUSIC The question of who was the real King Arthur, it's kind of like what happened to the Ninth Legion. It's one of those great mystery questions of history.
It is. I mean, Arthur is such an incredible character. He's a world character, really. You know, he's famous everywhere. And I think his story is one that just keeps getting reinvented for every generation. You know, he's one of those characters from the past where it's now very difficult to disentangle the historical truth from the sort of mythology and the fantasy that's built on it.
But because the story's been enlarged and enlarged and enlarged over time, every generation makes the Arthur that they want. So we see in the last few decades, there's been TV series, there's been films, there's been computer games. It's just building on that mythology. So probably of all characters in the past, King Arthur is probably one of the most famous, really. He's world renowned.
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