The Xiongnu: History's First Nomadic Empire?
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century AD, the Xiongnu inhabited the area surrounding Mongol...
Music in Ancient Greece
28 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Without recordings, and with notation and instruments long forgotten, how can we possibly know what ...
The Rise of Cicero
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cicero is often considered to be one of the greatest orators of Ancient Rome. But how did he reach p...
Boudica: Through Roman Eyes
21 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Iceni warrior who led a revolt against the Roman Empire around 60 AD often stands alone in our m...
Petra: The Rose City
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A city of caves, temples and tombs, Petra gains its nickname from the pink sandstone from which it w...
The Ides of March
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 44 BC, the Ides of March took on a new significance. Previously observed as the first full moon o...
Women and Power in Ancient Egypt
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kara Cooney has been studying 6 of the remarkable female pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. In this episode ...
Boudica: Britain's Warrior Queen
07 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Boudica has become a hero of British folklore. Her leadership of the Iceni in an uprising against th...
The Origins of Warfare
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Popular discussions of human history are punctuated with conflict, but when did warfare begin? To di...
Cheddar Man: Science and the Skeleton
28 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cheddar Man is the oldest almost complete skeleton of a Homo sapien ever found in Britain and, for t...
Petra: Rise of the Nabataeans
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The assumption had once been that they were nomads until the Romans came. But more recent archaeolog...
Lugdunum: The Biggest Battle in Roman History?
21 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 197 AD, the armies of Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus met at Lugdunum, on the site of prese...
Palmyra: Pearl of the Desert
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Palmyra features in headlines today as a casualty of IS destruction, but during its heyday it was a ...
Myths of Masada
14 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 73 AD, 967 Jewish rebels against the Romans committed mass suicide atop the Masada Fortress. Or d...
Rome: 'The Eternal City'
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rome. The Eternal City. One of the most recognisable names that many associate with the Ancient Medi...
Besieging Masada
07 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dramatically placed on a plateau with drops of 400m to the east and 90m to the west, Masada translat...
Beasts of Battle: Indian War Elephants
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The four components of the Ancient Indian battlefield: infantry, cavalry, chariots … and elephants...
Edges of Empire: Rome's Northernmost Town
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly two miles south of Hadrian’s Wall lie the remains of Roman Corbridge, the northernmost tow...
Roman Military Tombstones: Uncovering the Unknown Warriors
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From Northern Britain to the Near East, Roman tombstones have been uncovered on various far flung fr...
The Mystery of the Ninth Legion
24 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The legions of Rome were the nucleus of Rome’s military might for centuries. From campaigning in n...
Edges of Empire: The Sasanian Frontiers
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, arguably the greatest external threat the Roman Empire faced came from the East. From...
Indonesian Cave Art: A Dramatic New Discovery
17 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a paradox for the ages, breaking news about people who lived and died thousands of years ago....
Tomyris: A Warrior Queen's Revenge
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Her legend afforded her a place alongside Eve, Cleopatra and Venus, to name just a few of the famous...
Oppian’s Halieutica: Creatures of the Ancient Deep
10 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The deep blue sea is the subject of speculation to this day but, in this episode, we have access to ...
Hannibal: Battle by the Trebia
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 218 BC, and Hannibal has made the mammoth journey across the Alps en route to Italy, accompan...
How Ancient Egypt Stayed Egyptian
03 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The length of time between the rule of Cleopatra and the erection of the Pyramids is the same as tha...
El Kurru: Egypt's Nubian Pharaohs
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Ancient Egypt was ruled by an extraordinary dynasty. This...
Hatshepsut: Egypt's Hidden Pharaoh
27 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hatshepsut – whose name means “foremost of noblewomen” – was an exceptional figure in the hi...
The Mystery of Mithras: A Pagan Christmas?
24 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The clichéd Christmas: white snow, hot fires, mulled wine and a feast. This might not be the case w...
Saturnalia: Bonus Episode!
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode from the History Hit archive, Dan talks to Kevin Butcher about the Roman festival of...
Hannibal: Crossing the Alps
20 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 218 BCE, Hannibal Barca's Carthaginian army, accompanied by horses and elephants, completed one o...
Thucydides: Thoughts on the Athenian Empire
17 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From 478 BCE until 404 BCE, a collection of Greek city-states were united under the leadership of At...
The Garamantes: Farming the Sahara
13 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Greco-Roman historians including Herodotus, Tacitus and Pliny the Elder would have us believe that t...
Scotland's Enigmatic Ancient Structures
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Brochs. Early archaeologists believed that they must have been built by the Danish, that the indigen...
Old Testament Warriors
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s probably the most famous book in the world, and it’s also essentially the only literary sou...
Spartacus: Life or Legend?
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
‘I’m Spartacus!’ In the field of epic film making, the 1960 historical drama ‘Spartacus’, ...
Dura-Europos: The Syrian Pompeii
29 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of Pompeii, we remember the city which became frozen in time after a natural catastrop...
Pompeii and the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pompeii is back in the news. An extraordinary new, touching discovery, found during the Great Pompei...
Linothorax: Kevlar of the Ancients
22 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The House of the Faun in Pompeii is known for being one of the largest and most impressive private r...
Volcanic Vineyards of Pompeii
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An ancient town, buried and preserved beneath volcanic ash, Pompeii is a gift to archaeologists and ...
Terror in the Teutoburg Forest
15 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Its been used for nationalist propaganda across the ages and its just been dramatised for Netflix, b...
Agrippa and Augustus: The Golden Age
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Romans, an ancient conquering civilisation with an empire that spread from Europe across the Bal...
The Other Alexander
08 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander, an Ancient Greek king and a victorious conqueror. No, not that one, not Alexander the Gre...
Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander the Great. One of the most recognisable names in history. In his short lifetime he conquer...
Catullus: Rome's Most Erotic Poet
01 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you're looking for a raunchy Roman poet, look no further than Catullus. Born into one of the most...
Ancient Ethiopia: The Kingdom of Aksum
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At its height the Kingdom of Aksum was considered one of the four great powers of the Ancient World....
The Origins of Ancient Vietnam
25 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It is one of the most extraordinary ancient archaeological sites in Southeast Asia, albeit one that ...
The Battle of Philippi: Death of the Roman Republic
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In October 42 BC the Roman Republic committed suicide. Near the town of Philippi in northern Greece ...
Sophocles' Lost Plays
18 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Big Three. In antiquity it could mean a whole host of different things, the triumvirate of Caesa...
69 AD: Rise of Vespasian
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
69 AD was a tumultuous year in Roman history. 4 Romans assumed the title of emperor; only one remain...
Crassus and the Battle of Carrhae: The Defeat of Rome
11 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Gareth Sampson, author of Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrou...
Septimius Severus in Scotland
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Snow talks to Simon Elliott about Septimius Severus, the first Hammer of the Scots, about his No...
Nero the Antichrist?
04 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Emperor Nero is one of antiquity's most infamous figures, having a particularly hostile relation...
Agrippa: Rome's Forgotten Hero
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are few men in Roman history that can claim to have been as influential as Marcus Agrippa. The...
The Polynesians: Ancient Mariners of the Pacific
27 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The ancient Polynesians remain the greatest seafarers in history. Already by the time of the legenda...
The Battle of Salamis
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We've had the Battle of Thermopylae with the brilliant Paul Cartledge; we've had the Battle of Artem...
The Rise of Constantine
20 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Emperor Constantine I, better known as Constantine the Great, is one of the most significant emp...
Jason and the Golden Fleece
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode from the History Hit archive features the brilliant Tom Holland telling the myth...
Alexander the Great: Through Persian Eyes
13 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conqueror. Destroyer. Convert. Legendary king. It's fair to say that Alexander the Great's relations...
The Roman Forum
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Another one from the History Hit archive! The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanu...
The Vestal Virgins
06 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Priestesses of Vesta, Goddess of hearth, home and family, the College of Vestal Virgins were Rome’...
Pax Romana
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Time for a delve into the History Hit ancient history archives! In this podcast Dan Snow sits down w...
Kingdom of Kush
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Along the banks of the River Nile, directly south of ancient Egypt and hundreds of miles away from t...
Battle of Artemisium
23 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Around this time 2,499 years ago the famous Battle of Thermopylae was raging. But it is important to...
Battle of Thermopylae
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
2,499 years ago the Persian 'Great King' Xerxes launched history's largest amphibious invasion of Eu...
War Elephants
16 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Move over Hannibal. More over Carthage. This podcast is all about a much BIGGER elephant power in an...
'Killing for the Roman Republic'
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 281/280 BC, the Hellenistic King Pyrrhus ventured to southern Italy to aid the Italiote-Greek cit...
Combat Trauma
09 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From the 2000 historical blockbuster 'Gladiator' to the Total War series, brutal hand to hand warfar...
Stone Circles
02 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From Cornwall to Orkney, stone circles are scattered throughout the length and breadth of the Britis...
Agrippina the Younger
26 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Agrippina the Younger (AD 15 - 59) was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
Horse Archery
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The horse archer was one of the most feared warriors of antiquity. Triumphing mobility and fluidity,...
Antonine Wall
12 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In c.142 AD the Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the construction of a new wall in Northern Britain. S...
Housesteads and Hadrian's Wall
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Housesteads Roman Fort is one of the great, surviving treasures of Roman Britain. Once an auxiliary ...
Origins of Biological & Chemical Warfare
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The origins of biological and chemical warfare stretch far back; modern technology has not brought a...
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
26 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 4th century and early 5th centuries two massive largely-Germanic confederations arrived ...
Plague of Athens
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Plague in the ancient world was nothing unusual. Bouts of illness were common occurrences, but we do...