The Persian Wars: Xerxes, Thermopylae and Salamis

St. Valentine of Rome, patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, among many other things. But who exactly is the real St Valentine, and how has the story been kept alive? In this episode, Tristan is jo...

13 Feb 202231min

Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex was first constructed just three decades after the empire’s legions conquered Britain in the first century AD. Rediscovered in 1960, Fishbourne is the largest kn...

10 Feb 202241min

London is today one of the greatest cities in the world, and the story of its origins is fittingly spectacular. Founded by the Romans as Londinium in around 47-50 AD, the metropolis served as a major ...

6 Feb 20221h

Imagine you are a traveller sailing to the major cities around the Mediterranean in 750 BC. You would notice a remarkable similarity in the dress, alphabet, consumer goods, and gods from Gibraltar to ...

3 Feb 20221h 2min

It’s here! Today is the publication date of Tristan’s first book, Alexander’s Successors at War: The Perdiccas Years. Focussing in on 323 – 320 BC, the book tells the story of the tumultuous events th...

30 Jan 20221h

Tens of thousands of clay tablets containing texts written in the ancient Cuneiform script of the Assyrian Empire have been discovered, giving us invaluable insights into the inner workings of the Mes...

27 Jan 202244min

In this second part of Tristan’s explainer, he takes us right into the heart of the battle dubbed the Persian Thermopylae. Listen as Alexander begins a full-blooded assault on the Persian Gates, and f...

23 Jan 202239min

In January 330 BC, Alexander the Great faced one of his most difficult challenges to date. A small Persian force, entrenched in a formidable defensive position that blockaded Alexander’s route to the ...

20 Jan 202238min