The Ancients

Bagram, also known as Begram, has been in the news a lot recently. Over the past couple of days, the last US and NATO troops have withdrawn from Bagram air base, which they have occupied for some 20 y...

8 Jul 202140min

Dividing Sicily from Italy, the Strait of Messina is a small stretch of water with an incredible history that stretches back to ancient times. It was likely here that the mythical sea monsters of Scyl...

6 Jul 202141min

It is one of the most remarkable ancient sites in the World. Situated east of the Zagros Mountains in modern day Iran, Persepolis was an important urban centre of the Achaemenid Persian Empire for alm...

4 Jul 202148min

In the long tradition of categorising famous wives as the good or the bad, Nero’s partners are no exception. These women are regularly reduced to simple characters within the final Julio-Claudian Empe...

30 Jun 202148min

Sparta. Situated in the southern Peloponnese, this ancient Hellenic city-state has become ingrained in popular imagination as the home of unmatched Greek super soldiers, trained for war since youth an...

29 Jun 202126min

Situated roughly two miles south of Hadrian's Wall in the heart of the Northumberland countryside, Vindolanda is home to some of the most remarkable archaeology from Roman Britain. Its history spans s...

27 Jun 202153min

An incredibly popular goddess, characterised in statues of her by a vest of bee hives, or are they breasts … bull scrotums? In this episode Tristan speaks to Dr Carla Ionescu about the Ephesian Artemi...

23 Jun 202136min

The novel, and in particular the romance genre, is at the heart of a billion dollar industry, but when did they originate? In this episode, Professor Tim Whitmarsh from the University of Cambridge tak...

22 Jun 202149min