The Origins of Rome
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Known as the Eternal City, ancient Rome was one of the greatest civilisations in human history, but ...
The Sumerians
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Despite being one of the first civilisations in human history, Sumer is not as well-known as other B...
The Rise of Cleopatra
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Famed across the ages and around the world - everyone knows the name Cleopatra. But how did she beco...
Rise of Rome: The Fall of the Samnites
10 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the final part of our Samnite Wars episodes, Tristan is once again joined by Dr Kathryn Lomas fro...
Rise of Rome: The First Samnite War
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of a two-parter on the Samnite Wars, we focus in on one of Rome’s greatest r...
Prehistoric Rock Art of Atlantic Europe
03 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dozens of incredible examples of prehistoric rock art have been found across western Europe in recen...
Sparta and the Nazis
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ancient Sparta was co-opted by the Nazis as a supposed model civilisation for the Third Reich’s tw...
The First Americans
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Modern humans thrived in the Americas for thousands of years before the first European colonists arr...
The Rise of Mammals
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They survived extinction level events and record high global temperatures - how did mammals adapt an...
The Image of God
19 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Often pictured with a flowing white beard, looking down from Heaven - why is God always seen as an o...
Mermaids
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The central Mediterranean is home to a bounty of creatures - fish, dolphins, and... mermaids? In tod...
The Death of Alexander the Great: Explained
12 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander the Great’s untimely death at Babylon in 323 BC triggered an unprecedented crisis across...
The Origins of Clothing
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Clothing has been essential for human evolution. From protection against changing climate, through t...
Roman Treasures of Iron Age Scotland
05 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1919, excavators working near Edinburgh in Scotland unearthed the largest hoard of Roman hacksilv...
Boudica
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Boudica has become a hero of British folklore. An ancient queen, her leadership of the Iceni in an u...
Saint Brigid: Turning Bathwater into Beer
29 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Saint Patrick is a household name, celebrated around the globe every March. But what do we know abou...
Greeks vs Romans: Empires at War
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Greece and Rome, they are the heavyweights of ancient history. But what happened when they came face...
Iron Age Wales: Before the Romans
22 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The residents of Britain during the Iron Age are often collectively called 'Celts'. However, both be...
Homer
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the world’s most famous poems. But who was their author, Home...
The Origins of Homo Sapiens
15 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What do we know about the earliest hominins to exist? With a story spanning one million years and co...
The Birth of Physiology
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The treatment of mental health has been rapidly growing and improving over the past few decades, but...
Pandora
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
According to Greek myth, Pandora was the first human woman - moulded from the earth by Hephaestus on...
The World of Stonehenge
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Described as the "most important piece of prehistoric art to be found in Britain in the last 100 yea...
The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The rise of Christianity in the first few centuries AD is one of the most significant stories in wor...
An Ancient Guide to Healthy Living
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Poetry, parables, and produce - how did someone live a healthy life in the ancient Greco-Roman world...
Saint George
24 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 23rd of April marks Saint George's Day - but who are we actually celebrating? Is there any truth...
Food in the Greco-Roman World
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of the modern Mediterranean, delicious and vibrant food is one of the first things tha...
Mary Magdalene
17 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Who was Mary Magdalene? Jesus' confidant, a devout follower, or a sex worker?In this Easter special,...
Weapons of the Terracotta Army
14 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When someone says the Terracotta Army, you’d be forgiven for instantly thinking of rows upon rows ...
The Rise of Marius: Third Founder of Rome
10 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gaius Marius (157 BC – 86 BC) was one of the first warlords of the late Roman Republic, a gen...
Before Rome: The Truth About Late Iron Age Britain
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Roman connections with Britain stretch back to (at least) the mid 1st century BC. But what has archa...
The Symposium: How To Party Like An Ancient Greek
03 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Ancient Greece, the symposium was no ordinary after-dinner drinking party, but one in which the H...
Dogs in Ancient Greece
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Man's best friend has been at our side for thousands of years. Ancient Greece was no exception, and ...
The Legacy of Julius Caesar's Assassination
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The legacies of the Ides of March stretch from that very afternoon on March 14th 44BC to the modern ...
The Rise of the Dinosaurs
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dinosaurs! Spectacular resilient beings who were able to adapt and survive the most terrifying of ev...
Young Caesar vs Marc Antony
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What happened after the Ides of March? How did the Romans go from co-ordinated assassinations to the...
Saint Patrick
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Man, myth or legend... who was the real Saint Patrick? Did he really banish all the snakes from Irel...
The Rise and Fall of Brutus
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Junius Brutus is best known as one of the conspirators against Julius Caesar, but there's so ...
Helen of Troy
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships - but is there more to her than a beautiful f...
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: Explained
06 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
March 15th 44BC is perhaps the most notorious date in all of ancient history. On that fateful day, t...
The Origins of Ukraine
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's not often we cover current affairs on The Ancients (the clue is in the name), but in light of P...
Sappho: The Poet from Lesbos
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Famous throughout antiquity, yet retold only in fragments today - who is Sappho? Her poetry ins...
The Terracotta Army
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Discovered by local farmers in 1974, the Terracotta Army is one of the most astounding archaeologica...
Eureka! Innovation in Ancient Greece
20 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's often thought that the ancient Greeks were devout in tradition, strict in their ways and belief...
The First Australians
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Indigenous Australians have lived on the vast continent of Australia for thousands of years - but ho...
The Truth About Saint Valentine
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
St. Valentine of Rome, patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, among many other things. But who exa...
The Largest Roman Palace North of the Alps
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex was first constructed just three decades after the empire’s...
The Origins of London
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
London is today one of the greatest cities in the world, and the story of its origins is fittingly s...
The Phoenician World
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine you are a traveller sailing to the major cities around the Mediterranean in 750 BC. You woul...
Alexander's Successors at War: The Spartan Adventurer
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s here! Today is the publication date of Tristan’s first book, Alexander’s Successors ...
The Scholars of Assyria
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tens of thousands of clay tablets containing texts written in the ancient Cuneiform script of the As...
Alexander the Great & The Persian Thermopylae (Part Two)
23 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this second part of Tristan’s explainer, he takes us right into the heart of the battle dubbed ...
Alexander the Great & The Persian Thermopylae (Part One)
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In January 330 BC, Alexander the Great faced one of his most difficult challenges to date. A small P...
The Birth of the Roman Empire
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
16 January 27 BC is a date sometimes associated with the beginning of the Roman Empire. It was on th...
The Seleucid Empire: In the Shadow of Rome
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At its height, the Seleucid Empire stretched from Thrace (modern day Bulgaria) to the Indus River Va...
Spinning in the Roman World
09 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Spinning held an important place in ancient society, and no, we're not talking about ancient exercis...
Cannibalism
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a macabre topic to discuss, but also one that has fascinated people for generations. So what ...
Alexander The Great vs Julius Caesar
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They’ve both been described as the greatest military commander in the ancient world, but who reall...
How Julius Caesar Changed Time
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re finishing off 2021 with what is perhaps Julius Caesar’s greatest legacy. It’s not a mili...
Race & Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel
26 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the first 4 centuries AD/CE, the ancient Greek novel was the most popular literary form in the R...
Hannibal's Winter War
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s fair to say that winter battles weren’t commonplace in the ancient Mediterranean world. The...
King Herod
19 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks largely to his feature in the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod ‘the Great’ of Judaea is one ...
How to Party Like a Roman
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Contrary to popular belief, parties in Ancient Rome were not all depraved wine-fuelled orgies. In fa...
Songlines: Australia's Book of Genesis
12 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What the Book of Genesis is to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, songlines are to In...
Homosexuality & Ancient Greece
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick the Great, Marie Antoinette and Oscar Wilde. Each of them have talked about, or been talke...
The Bronze Age Burials at Stonehenge
05 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking all about science, Stonehenge and what we know about a massive migration into ...
The Origins of Life on Earth
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. W...
Vindolanda's 2021 Excavation
28 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early me...
Menka: Village of the Breadfruit Goddess
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It is one of the most remote ancient sites in the world. Situated on the isolated Micronesian island...
Caracalla's Macedonian Phalanx
21 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander the Great and Caracalla. One often considered among the most successful military commander...
The Legacy of the Minoans
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Minoan Crete has kept people captivated for millennia, appearing in countless modern cultural practi...
The Rise of the Praetorian Guard
14 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From Gladiator to Rome Total War to I, Claudius, today the Cohortēs praetōriae are one of the most...
Ancient Globalisation? Life and Death at Ai Khanum
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For decades the discovery of Ai Khanum, ‘the City of Lady Moon’, in Eastern Afghanistan has fasc...
The First Astronomers
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For thousands of years indigenous Australians, the longest living culture on Earth, have been fascin...
Glasgow's Roman Remains & Hadrian's Wall
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To align with the COP26 conference in Glasgow, this episode features legendary Roman Britain archaeo...
The Truth About the Roman Orgy (And More!)
31 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Was Ancient Rome truly as sexually liberated as we think? How did the Greeks feel about nude statues...
The End of the Severan Dynasty
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Following two assassinations and two executions, the title of Roman Emperor fell to Alexander Severu...
Mavia: Arabia's Warrior Queen
24 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To fight against the Roman empire and then make an alliance with them took a certain courage and ten...
Ancient Kazakhstan: Gold of the Great Steppe
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Gold and horses! 2,500 years ago, in the area of the Great Steppe that is now Eastern Kazakhstan, an...
Caracalla: The Common Enemy of Mankind?
17 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Often up there in the upper echelons of most articles listing Rome's worst emperors, it's fair ...
Ai Khanum: A Greek City in Afghanistan?
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A theatre, a gymnasium and houses with colonnaded courtyards: these are the hallmarks of an Anc...
Alexander the Great's Greatest Victory
10 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In October 331 BC, one of the most important battles of world history occurred on the plain of Gauga...
Nefertiti
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Very few figures in history are recognizable from their silhouettes, but included in this small grou...
The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great
03 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In his lifetime King Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, forged one of th...
The Oldest Human Footprints in North America
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week our understanding of when humans first inhabited the North American continent has been tur...
Roman Weapons
26 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary leaders and notorious battles, we imagine the sound of clinking armour. But what did the R...
Werewolves and Strix-Witches
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s werewolf time on the Ancients! In this episode Exeter University’s Professor Daniel Ogden h...
Fortress Cilicia: Megastructures in the Near East
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s death, his empire became the subject of a series of tita...
Clodius: Best Villain of the Roman Republic?
19 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Historian and author Dr. Emma Southon returns to the Ancients to shine a light on the life - and mur...
Maya Warfare and Sacrifice
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With a history stretching back thousands of years, it’s about time that the Ancients started looki...
The Origins of Civilisation
12 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world is constantly changing, and so has the perception of civilisation, but what exactly are th...
Sex in Ancient Rome
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve covered bloody battles, we’ve covered stunning cities, we’ve covered civilisations far a...
Romans vs Caledonians: The Battle of Mons Graupius
05 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 83/84 AD a battle was fought somewhere in Scotland between the Roman forces of Gnaeus Julius Agri...
Roman Camps in Britain
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When one mentions Roman military installations you would be forgiven for instantly thinking of their...
Nan Madol: Venice of the Pacific
29 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nan Madol. It is one of the most awesome, enigmatic and unique ancient sites in the World, and yet m...
The Lost Tomb of Cleopatra
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Among the rulers of Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra VII has long held a place in legend, her story having b...
The Rise of Marseilles: France's Oldest City
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today it is the second largest city in France. But Marseilles is also the country’s oldest city. F...
The Rise of Hannibal
22 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He was one of the greatest enemies the Romans ever faced. An excellent general and a larger-than-lif...
Colchester: From Bronze Age to Boudica
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It is the one possible case of urbanisation in Britain prior to the arrival of the Romans, and that ...
Tacfarinas: The Desert Hydra
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He was one of the greatest rebels of Rome from the 1st century AD, but his name is not one you might...