They’ve both been described as the greatest military commander in the ancient world, but who really takes the title (if either of them)? Alexander, the undefeated conqueror of one of the largest empires the world had yet seen, or Caesar, a leader who was critical in expanding and creating what later became the Roman Empire? For this episode, Tristan is joined by Dr Simon Elliott, author of Alexander the Great versus Julius Caesar: Who was the Greatest Commander in the Ancient World? Together, th...
Jan 02, 2022•45 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast We’re finishing off 2021 with what is perhaps Julius Caesar’s greatest legacy. It’s not a military victory or battle, but one of the many political reforms that truly has stood the test of time: the Julian calendar. Before, calendars were largely based on the lunar calendar, and believe it or not, were pretty flexible, and therefore easily manipulated for political gain. (Need more time to collect some taxes? Just add three more days!) In this episode, Tristan is joined by Dr Philip Nothaft to d...
Dec 30, 2021•46 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast For the first 4 centuries AD/CE, the ancient Greek novel was the most popular literary form in the Roman Empire and at the heart of these popular texts is discussion over race and identity. Could a Phoenician living within the Empire also identify as Roman? Could they be both X and Y? And can we use these novels as a lens through which to see how people in the ancient Mediterranean viewed prominent powers beyond Rome’s borders, for instance the Kingdom of Axum in modern day Ethiopia. To explain ...
Dec 26, 2021•1 hr•Ep 163•Transcript available on Metacast It’s fair to say that winter battles weren’t commonplace in the ancient Mediterranean world. There is, however, one striking exception. A clash that occurred in mid/late December 218 BC, in northern Italy very close to the Po River. This clash was the Battle of the River Trebia, fought between the Roman consular army of Sempronius Longus and the conglomerate Carthaginian force under the leadership of the legendary Hannibal Barca. In this special podcast, Dr Eve MacDonald, Dr Louis Rawlings and D...
Dec 23, 2021•42 min•Ep 162•Transcript available on Metacast Thanks largely to his feature in the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod ‘the Great’ of Judaea is one of the most infamous figures from the whole of history. So what do we know about this ancient near eastern ruler, who in his lifetime had contacts with a series of ‘goliath’ figures from the ancient Mediterranean World: from Caesar to Cleopatra and from Marc Antony to Augustus. To talk about King Herod, with a particular focus on the material and meaning of his monumental tomb at Herodium, Tristan was...
Dec 19, 2021•56 min•Ep 161•Transcript available on Metacast Contrary to popular belief, parties in Ancient Rome were not all depraved wine-fuelled orgies. In fact, Roman get-togethers were relatively tame by the standards of today. They often consisted of noble families sharing elaborate food dishes and entertaining one another with theatrical hysterics. Parties among less wealthy citizens were simpler, yes, but no less raucous. Bashes of all kinds—whether to celebrate great military victories or mark important festivals such as Saturnalia—were beacons o...
Dec 16, 2021•45 min•Ep 160•Transcript available on Metacast What the Book of Genesis is to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, songlines are to Indigenous Australians. Epic tales of desire, pursuit, shape-shifting spirits, strength and family ties, these are stories of the land, communicated only by a handful of elders. Today, Tristan is joined by Margo Neale, lead of the "Songlines: Tracking The Seven Sisters" exhibition, which is making its European debut at The Box in Plymouth till February 2022. Not only is this an art exhibition, but a...
Dec 12, 2021•57 min•Ep 159•Transcript available on Metacast Frederick the Great, Marie Antoinette and Oscar Wilde. Each of them have talked about, or been talked about in terms of, Ancient Greek ideas of homosexual love. From men taking on young apprentices, to Sappho’s yearning poetry, the Ancient Greek traditions have long been called upon in conversation as a background to contemporary celebrations of love between members of the same sex, but what is the truth to these stories. We are thrilled to welcome Alastair Blanshard, Paul Eliadis Chair of Class...
Dec 09, 2021•48 min•Ep 158•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re talking all about science, Stonehenge and what we know about a massive migration into Britain at the start of the Bronze Age some 4,500 years ago: the Steppe migration. For years the details of this incredibly important event have been hotly-debated. But recently, a huge new study has analysed the remains of several hundred individuals buried in Britain and dating to this time period, hoping to uncover more about the nature of this migration. Among the remains that were studie...
Dec 05, 2021•39 min•Ep 157•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. We’re going much further back, covering billions of years of prehistory as we look at the emergence of life on Earth. From the rise of the earliest microscopic membranes to the arrival of the dinosaurs. To talk through this massive topic, Tristan was joined by Henry Gee, a palaeontologist, evolutionary biologist and senior editor of the science journal Nature. Henry is also the author of a new book: A ...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep 156•Transcript available on Metacast Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early medieval archaeology: Vindolanda. Over the past 50 years, annual excavations at this site have revealed incredible amounts of new information. Information that has not only shone more light on the site’s history, but also on the minutiae of everyday life for those people who lived on this north western frontier of the Roman Empire almost 2,000 years. A plethora of stunning artefacts have been un...
Nov 28, 2021•43 min•Ep 155•Transcript available on Metacast It is one of the most remote ancient sites in the world. Situated on the isolated Micronesian island of Kosrae are the ruins of an ancient religious centre called Menka, also known as the Village of the Breadfruit Goddess. From temples to monumental statues to 'the painted cave,' Menka was an incredibly important site for Kosrae's ancient communities. Many mysteries, however, still abound. To talk through what we know about Menka and its archaeology, we're joined once again by Dr. Felicia Beards...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep 154•Transcript available on Metacast Alexander the Great and Caracalla. One often considered among the most successful military commanders of all time, the other, one of the worst emperors of Ancient Rome. So is it possible that the latter modelled himself and his army on the former. In this second episode with Dr Alex Imrie, we return to the story of Caracalla to explore the evidence for his Macedonian Phalanx, a formation of men purportedly used in his invasion of the Parthian Empire. Dr Alex Imrie, from the University of E...
Nov 21, 2021•27 min•Ep 153•Transcript available on Metacast Minoan Crete has kept people captivated for millennia, appearing in countless modern cultural practices till this very day. But who are the Minoans? In this episode, Tristan travels down to Oxford to talk to Professor Nico Momigliano, a leading expert in the history and legacy of the Minoans. Join us as we explore the lives, civilisation, and influence of the Minoan past.
Nov 18, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep 152•Transcript available on Metacast From Gladiator to Rome Total War to I, Claudius, today the Cohortēs praetōriae are one of the most distinctive military units of Imperial Rome. It was their job to protect the Roman Emperor and his household, a task for which they hold a somewhat ‘chequered’ record (especially when we focus in on the Praetorian Prefects). But what do we know about this unit’s origins? How did this powerful force become protectors of the Emperor and his household? What other functions did they serve? And how did ...
Nov 14, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 151•Transcript available on Metacast For decades the discovery of Ai Khanum, ‘the City of Lady Moon’, in Eastern Afghanistan has fascinated archaeologists and historians alike: from its ‘Greek’ theatre and gymnasium to the literary fragments preserved in the palatial complex to the everyday houses of the site. But there is also much more to this Greco-Bactrian metropolis, which reached its height in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. In this second part of Tristan’s chat with Dr Milinda Hoo, Milinda talks us through the religious and bu...
Nov 11, 2021•31 min•Ep 150•Transcript available on Metacast For thousands of years indigenous Australians, the longest living culture on Earth, have been fascinated by the stars. In this episode, Gamilaraay man and ANU astrophysics graduate Peter Swanton shines a light on Australian Indigenous Astronomy and the great depth of knowledge surrounding it: from the multi-layered story about the Southern Cross to the unique study of the 'Dark Emu' constellation to how Torres Strait islanders used the phases of the Moon for weather predictions and seasons.
Nov 07, 2021•47 min•Ep 149•Transcript available on Metacast To align with the COP26 conference in Glasgow, this episode features legendary Roman Britain archaeologist Dr David Breeze talking about his many years excavating the Roman site of Bearsden near Glasgow. We also chat about his long, star studded career working on the wider Antonine Wall and the iconic landmark that is Hadrian's Wall.
Nov 04, 2021•26 min•Ep 148•Transcript available on Metacast Was Ancient Rome truly as sexually liberated as we think? How did the Greeks feel about nude statues? And how did these ideas vary across the Ancient Mediterranean? In this episode, Alastair Blanshard is back on The Ancients to compare our misconceptions of ancient sexual fantasies with the truth. Having taught at the universities of Oxford and Reading, Alastair is currently Paul Eliadis Chair of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland, Australia. His book on this topic is ‘...
Oct 31, 2021•37 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast Following two assassinations and two executions, the title of Roman Emperor fell to Alexander Severus. He was one of the youngest to ever hold this title, and he was to be the final emperor of the Severan Dynasty. But who was making the decisions? In this episode we hear about the thirteen year reign of this young emperor, and examine the intriguing figure of his mother and advisor, Julia Mamaea. Matilda Brown, PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, is back on the Ancients to take us throug...
Oct 28, 2021•48 min•Ep 146•Transcript available on Metacast To fight against the Roman empire and then make an alliance with them took a certain courage and tenacity. In this episode we are introduced to Mavia, the warrior queen of the semi-nomadic Tanukhids, who did just that. Dr. Emran El-Badawi, associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Houston, takes us through the things we know and the things that are speculated about Mavia. Emran also places her within the context of the 4th and 5th centuries CE, and discusses her legacy a...
Oct 24, 2021•48 min•Ep 145•Transcript available on Metacast Gold and horses! 2,500 years ago, in the area of the Great Steppe that is now Eastern Kazakhstan, an extraordinary ancient Scythian culture reigned supreme. They were called the Saka, renowned for their skill as horse archers and for their elaborate elite burials. Ancient Persian and Greek sources labelled them a barbaric, nomadic people – a scourge on the ‘civilised’ world. But new archaeological discoveries from East Kazakhstan are revealing a very different picture. A picture that high...
Oct 21, 2021•49 min•Ep 144•Transcript available on Metacast Often up there in the upper echelons of most articles listing Rome's worst emperors, it's fair to say that history has not been kind to Caracalla. Whether it was contemporary sources depicting him as a deranged Heracles and Alexander the Great loving megalomaniac or the 18th century historian Edward Gibbon labelling him 'the common enemy of mankind,' for centuries he has been an epitome of infamy. To talk through what we know about this figure, and whether he deserves this reputat...
Oct 17, 2021•52 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast A theatre, a gymnasium and houses with colonnaded courtyards: these are the hallmarks of an Ancient Greek city. So what are they doing in the city of Ai Khanum, far east of their origins in present day Afghanistan? In this first part of Tristan’s chat with Milinda Hoo, she takes us through the structures found in this ancient city, and what they tell us about the infrastructure and origins of Ai Khanum. Milinda is a global and ancient historian at the University of Freiberg, specialized in ...
Oct 14, 2021•32 min•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast In October 331 BC, one of the most important battles of world history occurred on the plain of Gaugamela. Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, had been campaigning east of the Aegean Sea against the Persian Empire for 3 ½ years. Already he had won a series of notable victories and conquered many lands west of the Euphrates River. But it would be on 1 October 331 BC that a 25 year old Alexander came up against his biggest challenge to date. A large army, gathered by the ...
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast Very few figures in history are recognizable from their silhouettes, but included in this small group is Nefertiti, one of the most famous queens of Ancient Egypt. Professor Joyce Tyldesley speaks to Tristan not only about the famous image of Nefertiti, but also about the theories surrounding her life, death and burial (no aliens in sight!). Joyce is a professor at the University of Manchester and an expert on the role of women in Ancient Egypt.
Oct 07, 2021•52 min•Ep 140•Transcript available on Metacast In his lifetime King Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, forged one of the largest empires in ancient history. But it was what happened to Alexander following his demise – his ‘life after death’ - which resulted in one of the great archaeological mysteries of the ancient Mediterranean. Following his death, aged just 32, his corpse became of prime importance for his former subordinates – a talismanic symbol of legitimacy during the tumultuous period that was the Wars of...
Oct 03, 2021•56 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast This week our understanding of when humans first inhabited the North American continent has been turned on its head … by a set of c.22,000 year old footprints. In this episode, hear how footprints can form crucial evidence for populations of prehistoric people and animals, and how now extinct famous megafauna such as mammoths and giant sloths once interacted with early humans. To reveal all about this ground breaking new discovery, Tristan was joined by Bournemouth University's Dr Sally Reynolds...
Sep 30, 2021•29 min•Ep 138•Transcript available on Metacast Legendary leaders and notorious battles, we imagine the sound of clinking armour. But what did the Romans take with them into battle? In the second of our episodes recorded at Chalke Valley History Festival, Legio II Augusta's David Richardson talks through a selection of iconic weapons and deadly devices used by Roman soldiers. Legio II Augusta Website - https://www.legiiavg.org.uk/ For behind the scenes and extra Ancients, follow Tristan on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ancientstrista...
Sep 26, 2021•45 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast It’s werewolf time on the Ancients! In this episode Exeter University’s Professor Daniel Ogden highlights how these mythical creatures have their origins in ancient times and thrived in a story world shared by witches, ghosts, demons and dragons. Join Tristan and Daniel as they shine a light on werewolf (or werewolf-related) stories that survive from antiquity. From Homer’s Circe to Petronius’ Satyricon. Also making an appearance is the Strix-Witch, a Roman phenomenon and persistent feature of t...
Sep 23, 2021•42 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast 
