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
141 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.
11 snips
Feb 22, 2026 • 58min
The House of Ramesses II: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh?
Dr Campbell Price, Manchester Museum curator and Egyptologist, unpacks Ramesses II’s rise from a turbulent century. Short scenes cover dynastic chaos, religious overhaul, military revival and monumental propaganda. Listeners travel from Karnak to Kadesh and see how political repair and spectacle forged a lasting royal image.
37 snips
Feb 19, 2026 • 1h 14min
The Fall of Persia | Alexander the Great
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy, historian and author of works on Philip and Alexander, provides expert analysis. He unpacks the sieges of Tyre and Gaza. He traces Alexander’s reception in Egypt and the founding of Alexandria. He breaks down the tactics at Gaugamela and the fall of Persepolis. He follows the chase after Darius into Bactria and the strains of the long eastern campaign.
30 snips
Feb 15, 2026 • 54min
The Skulls of Jericho
Raven Todd De Silva, an archaeologist and art conservator focused on Neolithic mortuary art, explores the plastered skulls from ancient Jericho and the Levant. She describes how the skulls were made and where they were found. The conversation covers regional variations, possible meanings like ancestor veneration or ritual uses, and links to broader Neolithic portraiture and identity.
51 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 1h 5min
The Invasion of Persia | Alexander the Great
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy, historian and author of works on Philip and Alexander, offers concise military expertise. They trace Alexander’s 334 BC crossing into Asia and bold tactics at Granicus and Issus. Discussion covers army composition, siegecraft and naval limits. Stories include the Gordian Knot and the respectful capture of Darius’s family, all framed around the campaign’s logistics and leadership choices.
41 snips
Feb 8, 2026 • 1h
How to Write Cuneiform with Dr. Irving Finkel
Dr Irving Finkel, Senior Assistant Keeper at the British Museum and cuneiform specialist, gives a lively tour of the world’s earliest script. He explains how pictographs on clay evolved into wedge-shaped signs. He traces who used cuneiform, why clay tablets survive, and how numbers and writing shaped ancient administration and learning.
71 snips
Feb 5, 2026 • 1h 24min
Alexander the Great | Rise to Power
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy, historian of ancient military history, provides expert context on Alexander of Macedon's youth and rise. Short scenes cover his education under Aristotle, the taming of Bucephalus, early battlefield roles like Chaeronea, the fallout from Philip II's assassination, and the ruthless consolidation of power that set the stage for campaigns in Asia.
46 snips
Feb 1, 2026 • 59min
Adam and Eve
Dr Dylan Johnson, a lecturer in ancient Near Eastern history and biblical scholar, explores Adam and Eve as Near Eastern mythic figures. He traces the fruit tradition, locates Eden toward Mesopotamia, contrasts Genesis creation strands, and maps parallels with Gilgamesh, Adapa and royal wisdom themes. Short, provocative takes on serpents, immortality, gardens and why the story mattered in antiquity.
20 snips
Jan 29, 2026 • 56min
The First Popes
Professor Rosamond McKitterick, Emeritus Fellow at Sidney Sussex College and medieval historian, guides a journey through early Roman Christianity. Short takes cover the Liber Pontificalis and how it shapes papal biographies. Traditions about Peter, links between Peter and Mark, Sylvester’s ties to Constantine, and Leo I’s confrontation with Attila are explored.
8 snips
Jan 25, 2026 • 56min
Xerxes the Great
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Professor of Ancient History specializing in Persian and Achaemenid studies, mines Persian sources to rethink Xerxes. Short takes cover his royal upbringing, court politics, monumental building at Persepolis and the roles of queens, eunuchs and satraps. The conversation contrasts Greek tales with Persian evidence and explores succession, rebellions and shifting religious policies under Xerxes.
