The Ancients

They built the great fortresses of the Bronze Age, developed a mysterious writing system and, according to Homer, led the Greek assault on Troy. But how much of the legend is rooted in reality? Was Agamemnon a real Mycenaean king?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Steve Kershaw to explore the world of the Mycenaeans. Who were these formidable Bronze Age Greeks, and what do their extraordinary palaces, tombs and undeciphered history reveal about the civilisation behind the legends?

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The Trojan War

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Bronze Age Cataclysm: The Minoan Eruption

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The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Editor is Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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How do you make a giant stone statue walk? On one of the most isolated islands on Earth, the people of Rapa Nui carved AND moved the extraordinary Moai, colossal faces hewn from soft volcanic rock that still inspire wonder today.

Today, Tristan Hughes is joined by Prof. Terry Hunt to uncover the story of Easter Island. How did its first settlers build a thriving society in such a remote and resource-limited environment? And what ingenious techniques allowed them to disperse these monumental statues across the island?

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The First New Zealanders

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The First Hawaiians

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hittites usually dominate the story of the Bronze Age. But Syria was home to some of the region's most powerful cities and kingdoms and helped forge the ancient Mediterranean world.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Amanda Podany to uncover this lost cradle of cities, from the wealthy trading hub of Ebla to the royal intrigues of Mari and the rise of the mysterious Mitanni. How did these cities and kingdoms build their wealth and forge alliances with distant rulers and what can their remarkable archives reveal about the trials and tribulations of everyday life in the Bronze Age Near East?

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The Bronze Age Brotherhood of Kings

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Hammurabi: Rise of the Babylonians

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The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Editor is Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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Why did Emperor Constantine abandon Rome to build a spectacular new capital from scratch? In the year 312 a bloody civil war and a miraculous heavenly vision changed the Roman world forever.

Tristan Hughes and Professor Judith Herrin uncover the epic origins of Constantinople. Discover how Constantine ruthlessly eliminated his imperial rivals, harnessed the strategic power of the Bosphorus, and erected a glittering metropolis that outshone the failing West.

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Ravenna and the Fall of Rome

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Decline & Fall of the Ancient World

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited and produced by Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's one of history’s most compelling cold cases. What happened to the Ninth Legion, a crack unit of 5,000 Roman soldiers who vanished from the historical record without a trace?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Roman historian Dr Simon Elliott to investigate the fate of the legion that helped conquer Britain. Was the Ninth wiped out in a bloody defeat on Rome’s northern frontier, or did it meet its end thousands of miles away in the East? Sifting through the surviving Roman records, can Tristan and Simon finally uncover what really happened to Rome’s most famous missing legion?

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The Roman Secret Service

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Julius Caesar’s Invasions of Britain

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Robin McConnell. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two thousand years ago, centuries before the Vikings, there was another Scandinavia. An Iron Age world.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen to uncover the deep roots of the seafaring North, journeying through a forgotten world of elite halls, Roman encounters, and ancient burial rites.

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Iron Age Britain

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Iron Age Ireland

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Produced and edited by Aidan Lonergan. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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Before Boudicca, another British leader brought the Roman war machine to a grinding halt. Meet Caratacus; the cunning King of the Britons who spent seven years outmaneuvering the empire.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Miles Russell to uncover the forgotten story of this charismatic guerrilla fighter. From leading fierce resistance in Wales to his betrayal, capture, and a life-saving speech in Rome, Caratacus was Britain’s ultimate escape artist.

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Who Was The Real King Arthur?

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The Roman Invasion of Britain

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Natasha Hughes. The studio manager is Hanif Hussain, the producer is Robin McConnell, the video producer is McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

The frozen continent of Antarctica was once a land of forests, rivers and thriving ecosystems. And millions of years before humans ever existed it was home to a whole host of ancient creatures, from the first sharks to the earliest marsupials.

Tristan Hughes is joined by paleontologist Professor John Long to uncover what the trilobite and dinosaur fossils buried beneath the ice reveal about this lost world and what they can reveal about Antarctica’s role in the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.

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Megalodon

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The First Sharks

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, one remarkable avian survivor traded the skies for the sea. Tristan Hughes and paleontologist Dr Steve Brusatte explore how prehistoric penguins emerged on ancient Zealandia, lost their flight and grew into colossal apex predators. But how did these giant ocean rulers eventually shrank to conquer the frozen continent of Antarctica?

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Terror Birds

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Dinosaurs: The Last Days

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Babylon was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. But what was life really like for the people who lived there? Behind its magnificent temples and royal palaces lay a city of crowded streets, disease, danger and everyday struggles.

Tristan Hughes is joined by friend of the show and Babylonian extraordinaire Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones to uncover the realities of life in Hammurabi's Babylon. Drawing on the remarkable texts left behind by its people, they explore everything from marriage and childbirth to taverns, rubbish-filled streets and the strange demons believed to haunt the home. What did it mean to walk the streets of Mesopotamia's most famous ancient city?

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The Fall of Babylon

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The Tower of Babel

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall. Producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS early ad-free podcasts and exclusive subscriber-only episodes every fortnight. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much can we really know about the historical Jesus? The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have shaped Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, but they were written decades after the events they describe. So how should we treat them as historical sources?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Helen Bond to examine where the Gospels came from, who wrote them and how closely they reflect the world of first-century Judea. Were they based on eyewitness testimony and earlier traditions? And what do their stories reveal about the life of Jesus of Nazareth?

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The Pharisees

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Rise of Christianity

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Editor is Matthew Wilson. The producers are Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forget everything you thought you knew about the ancient Maya. Cracking their mysterious hieroglyphs didn't just reveal boring calendars, it exposed a cutthroat, Game of Thrones-style world of rival superpowers, Tikal and Calakmul.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor David Stuart to uncover tales of powerful female warlords, dark pilgrimages to the underworld, and the secret jungle "whiteboard" of an ancient mathematician.

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The Maya Collapse

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The Olmec: Mother of Mesoamerican Civilisations

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited and produced by Joseph Knight.

The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of graphic violence from the start.

When we picture human sacrifice in ancient Britain, the iconic, flaming Wicker Man often comes to mind. But how much of this is Roman propaganda, and what does the actual archaeology reveal? Tristan Hughes is joined by archaeologist Dr. Miles Russell to separate popular myth from gruesome reality. From perfectly preserved bog bodies in the north to mysterious grain pit burials down south, who were these victims and why did they die?

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio & video editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Robin McConnell. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before the mammoths disappeared, people hunted them across Ice Age America. Armed with distinctive stone spear points, the mysterious Clovis culture left behind traces of a world filled with giant beasts and landscapes now lost to time.

Tristan Hughes is joined by archaeologist Dr Madeline Mackie to explore the latest discoveries surrounding America’s prehistoric history. Who were these remarkable hunter-gatherers? How did they hunt some of the largest animals ever to walk the continent? And what mysteries still surround one of the most fascinating cultures of Ice Age America?

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Ice Age America

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The First Americans

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

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:

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How did the Romans ambush a massive Carthaginian fleet from behind a Sicilian island to win one of history's fiercest sea battles? For over 20 years, Rome and Carthage fought a brutal war for supremacy over Sicily. Tristan Hughes is joined by Carthage expert Dr. Eve MacDonald to explore the epic First Punic War; a conflict defined by titanic naval clashes, lethal boarding bridges, war elephants...sacred chickens!

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Rise of Hannibal

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How To Survive in Carthage

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Natasha Hughes. The producers are Joseph Knight & McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes, including our recent 'After Ancients' interview with Dr. Eve MacDonald.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much of Iron Age Ireland is myth, and how much is archaeological reality? At the monumental Hill of Tara, sacred kings ruled over a landscape steeped in ancient ritual and ancestral memory.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. John Waddell, author of The Celtic World, to explore the truth to be found through the mist and beneath the hills. We hear about legendary rulers like Queen Medb, epic cattle raids, massive ceremonial feasts, and lawless, roaming war bands.

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Iron Age Britain

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Origins of the Celts

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS ad-free, early access podcasts AND exclusive subscriber-only Ancients episodes. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of human origins is often imagined as a simple journey from Africa, but is the truth actually much messier? Tristan Hughes and leading palaeoanthropologist Prof. Chris Stringer dismantle the traditional narrative, discussing how recent breakthroughs in fossils and ancient DNA reveal a complex, shifting history of multiple migrations and cross-breeding to uncover where we truly come from.

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The First Britons with Prof. Chris Stringer

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Rise of Humans

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. The studio manager is Hanif Hussain. The producers are Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch HERE

Want even MORE Ancients? Sign up to History Hit for early access ad-free, plus exclusive subscriber-only episodes.

PLUS with a History Hit subscription you can watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when an entire city disappears? Beneath the sands and wetlands of Egypt lie the remains of forgotten cities that once stood at the heart of one of the ancient world’s greatest civilisations.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Egyptologist Chris Naunton to uncover the story of Egypt’s lost cities. From the rediscovery of Tanis, the mysterious city immortalised by Indiana Jones, to ancient capitals like Memphis and Amarna, they explore what caused these cities to vanish. And how many more are still waiting to be found?

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The Silver Pharaohs

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Alexandria: The Sunken City

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

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.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Augustus was Rome's first Emperor. But who made his empire possible? Behind the throne stood Marcus Agrippa, the brilliant general whose victories secured the Roman world yet whose name was consciously erased from the record by his erstwhile great friend.

In this very special episode Tristan Hughes is joined by bestselling author Robert Harris to uncover the remarkable life of Agrippa. How did a man from relative obscurity become Augustus’s most trusted ally? What role did he play in the victory at Actium and the birth of the Roman Empire? And why did this extraordinary figure disappear from Rome’s public memory?

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How Slavery Built the Roman Empire

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Young Caesar v Mark Antony

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The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch here: @TheAncientsPodcast

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Editor is Natasha Hughes. Produced by Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

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.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Vandals have gone down in history as the barbarians who helped bring down the Western Roman Empire. Their name became synonymous with violence and destruction, but who were they really?

In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andy Merrills to uncover the real story of the Vandals. From their migration across Europe to the conquest of Carthage, they explore how the Vandals emerged as a formidable power at the heart of Rome’s final crisis; what archaeology reveals about their rule, and whether the Vandals were really as destructive as their reputation suggests.

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The Goths:

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The Franks:

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

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.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.