The Ancients
History Hit
A podcast for all ancient history fans! The Ancients is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Featuring interviews with historians and archaeologists, each episode covers a specific theme from antiquity. From Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome. Hosted by Tristan Hughes. New episodes every Sunday and Thursday.From History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts Dan Snow's History Hit, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.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.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
17 snips
Mar 29, 2026 • 1h
The Roman Centurion
Dr Ben Kane, bestselling author and Roman military expert, explores the reality of centurions. He unpacks their central role and battlefield leadership. He examines kit, the vine stick as punishment, command structure and recruitment paths. He also covers helmets, peacetime duties and how centurions shaped Rome’s military success.
8 snips
Mar 26, 2026 • 1h 6min
The Delian League: Ancient NATO?
Polly Lowe, professor of ancient history at Durham and specialist in Athenian imperialism, guides a lively tour of the Delian League. She traces its origins after the Persian Wars, the shift from ships to tribute, the treasury’s move to Athens, revolts like Naxos and Samos, and when a defensive league hardened into Athenian maritime rule.
39 snips
Mar 22, 2026 • 1h 4min
Leonidas: King of Sparta, Hero of Thermopylae
Dr Andrew Bayliss, Associate Professor in Greek History and Sparta specialist. He unpicks sources on Leonidas, the Spartan system that shaped him, and the politics behind his rise. Listens to the run-up to Xerxes' invasion, why Thermopylae was chosen, and how the final stand and its aftermath were remembered through history.
14 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 1h 3min
What if the Ides of March Failed?
Dr Hannah Cornwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History at the University of Birmingham, unpacks Julius Caesar’s plans and personality. She walks through his slated eastern campaigns, looming reforms, and relationships with allies like Cleopatra. Short, sharp scenes imagine his military aims, political honours, and the ripple effects had his assassination failed.
64 snips
Mar 15, 2026 • 48min
Herodotus: The Father of History
Dr. Roel Konijnendijk, a classical historian specialising in ancient Greece and the Greco-Persian Wars, discusses Herodotus as traveller, investigator, and storyteller. He explores Herodotus' methods, his wide-ranging travels, memorable digressions on Egypt and Persia, and how The Histories weaves ethnography, myth and war into a causal narrative.
59 snips
Mar 12, 2026 • 1h 3min
The Phoenicians
Josephine Quinn, a Cambridge professor who studies Phoenician identity and Mediterranean history, guides a lively tour of ancient seafaring life. She explores Levantine port cities, long-distance navigation, trade networks from Tyre to Carthage, the spread of the alphabet, and how origins and myths were invented and reused across the Mediterranean.
23 snips
Mar 8, 2026 • 51min
Bronze Age Star Map: The Nebra Sky Disk
Raven Todd DeSilva, an award-winning archaeologist and art conservator focused on prehistoric Europe, walks through the Nebra Sky Disk’s discovery and scientific debates. They explore its materials and symbols, the horizon arcs and solar alignment, its possible use as a lunisolar calendar, cultural links across Bronze Age networks, and the disk’s ritual burial and legacy.
15 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 1h 17min
The Age of Dinosaurs with Henry Gee
Dr Henry Gee, paleontologist and science writer known for bringing deep-time to life, guides a tour of dinosaur history. He traces recovery after the Great Dying and the rise of early dinosaurs on Pangaea. He explores sauropod gigantism, the origins and spread of feathers, Jurassic continental breakup, Cretaceous endemism, and the impact that ended their reign.
22 snips
Mar 1, 2026 • 57min
Ramesses the Great: Death of a Dynasty
Dr Campbell Price, museum curator and Egyptologist, gives expert commentary on Ramesses II and Ramesside Egypt. He discusses the Kadesh campaign and its myth-making. They cover the shift to frontier fortifications and standing armies. He explains the peace with the Hittites and the turn to colossal temple-building like Abu Simbel. Finally, they trace the dynasty’s rapid unraveling after Ramesses’ long reign.
119 snips
Feb 26, 2026 • 1h 17min
Alexander the Great | Lord of Asia
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy, historian and author known for his work on Philip and Alexander, guides a dramatic retelling of Alexander’s final campaigns. Short scenes cover Bactrian uprisings, guerrilla warfare, brutal sieges, the mutiny after Bucephalus’s death, the Gedrosian desert march, mass marriages at Opis, Hephaestion’s death and Alexander’s mysterious fall in Babylon.
