Ancient History 101

If you've started reading the Odyssey, Iliad or Aeneid and wondered how these epic poems were created, this episode explains exactly how the poets made these extraordinary stories. Laura Jenkinson-Brown joins us once again to talk about the literary techniques used, the narrative plot points that audiences came to know and expect, and we talk about which, if any, modern superheroes come the cl...

Welcome back! It's time for Series 2. Allow Alexandra to introduce you to one of her heroines: today Christy Constantakopoulou joins 101 to talk all things Athenian Empire. Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! As usual, for a transcript, map, images, and further reading suggestions, head to the episode webpage Find Ancient Histo...

Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where you can learn more about our expert guests. We have merch available at our RedBubble shop , or you can help support the podcast by buying history books and translations we’ve hand-chosen for you at our online bookshop in the USA or...

Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website, where you can learn more about our expert guests. We have merch available at our RedBubble shop, or you can help support the podcast by buying history books and translations we’ve hand-chosen for you at our online bookshop in the USA or UK...

It is the end of Series 1 already! Join us for a recap, as well as a sneak peak into Series 2, coming on the 21st of October. Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where you can learn more about our expert guests. We have merch available at our RedBubble shop , or you can hel...

It is the second half of the finale of Ancient History 101 series 1! The concluding part of our two week extravaganza dealing with none other than Boudica. Featuring experts from all three of the cities Boudica burned, this episode picks up where we left off in Part 1, as Boudica decides to march on Colchester, London and St Albans, but does she stop there? Joining Alexandra is Ben Paites from Col...

It is time for the finale of Ancient History 101 series 1! And we have something a little special for you to celebrate - a two week extravaganza dealing with none other than Boudica. Featuring experts from all three of the cities Boudica burned, this episode introduces us to Iron Age Britain, contact with Rome, and who Boudica was. We also chart her growing anger (which we will see unleashed in Pa...

This week we're examining an event that rocked the Roman world, to make sure that the stories we think we know are actually how events unfolded. Spoiler alert, it is never that simple! Alexandra is talking about the aftermath of the Battle of Carrhae, when Rome's richest man met his end. But how did Crassus die? And what happened to his corpse? For useful images, a recommended further reading list...

Roel Konijnendijk returns for some more military adventures, this time to tell of an expedition borne of hubris that would go terribly, tragically wrong. Handy maps of Sicily and Syracuse, as well as a transcript, can be found on the episode webpage. Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and o...

Peta Greenfield joins the pod to talk about some of the most extraordinary women of ancient Rome. For a transcript and book recommendations, we have a dedicated episode webpage here . Find the Partial Historians here Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where you can learn m...

OK, forget Odysseus for a minute, because there was another Greek who found coming home from Troy to be a bit of a nightmare too... Shelby Judge drops into the pod to walk us through a play by Aeschylus that tells us exactly what happened when Agamemnon came home to his wife... Find links to recommended translations, performance recordings and a transcript on the episode webpage Make sure to click...

An enemy of Rome with a big reputation, but who made some very questionable decisions... Talking about Vercingetorix today is guest expert and archaeologist Zoé Elise Thomas, who knows Gaul like the back of her hand. For images, maps and a transcript, visit the episode page Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 1...

Fancy dipping your toes into one of the murkier periods in history? Lots of people have Big Opinions on the decline and fall of Rome, but do they know what they're talking about? Here to answer this, as well as explain how and why Christianity became the Roman religion of choice, how the empire split in half, and to answer the question When Did Rome Fall is the wonderful historian of Late Antiquit...

Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where you can learn more about our expert guests. We have merch available at our RedBubble shop , or you can help support the podcast by buying history books and translations we’ve hand-chosen for you at our online bookshop in the USA or...

Alexandra is joined by Alexander Vandewalle to talk about Greek myths in a whole raft of video games, from the good, the bad to the downright weird. Episode transcript and images of interest Find Antiquity Games Night online here! Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where y...

Want a biography of Alexander the Great that doesn't just repeat the same old stories and peddle the same old narratives? Stephen Harrison joins Alexandra to add a hefty dose of nuance to the discussion about a man whose history is far less certain than we've been led to believe. For a transcript, head to the episode webpage. Follow Stephen on Youtube or Instagram for more Hellenistic history and...

It's Disability Pride Month! To mark the occasion, we welcome guest expert Alexandra Morris to talk about disabilities and disabled people in ancient Egypt, including Tutankhamun himself! Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday! For a transcript and images, click here Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website , where you...

Fulvia - a woman who (quite literally) set Rome on fire. Joining us today is Jane Draycott, author of Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome In Part 2, we talk about Fulvia's love for Mark Antony, and what happened when Octavian cornered her into starting a civil war. We'll be seeing Jane again in November to celebrate the release of her next book: Fatal Monsters: Cleopatra, Her...

Fulvia - a woman who (quite literally) set Rome on fire. Joining us today is Jane Draycott, author of Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome In Part 1, we talk about Fulvia's marriages and life as a wife, and her 15 year long feud with Cicero... For more information about Jane and to purchase her books, click here Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode;...

Alexandra has written a book, and it's launching this month! To celebrate, here is an episode all about Alexandra's area of expertise: gladiators! This is a quickfire list of more than a dozen gladiator 'facts' that you'll find on the internet, debunked and debated in less than an hour. Find a transcript of this episode and links to buy Gladiators of the Greek World: How a Roman Blood Sport Took A...

It's about time Ancient History 101 covered the history of a place, and for our first one we've chosen Thebes! Here to talk us through the mythology and history of this underdog city is Boeotia expert Michael Furman. As always, for maps, book recommendations and a transcript, you can head to the episode page on our website. Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have...

We have a really fascinating biography episode today of a Roman poet with a complicated career - Ovid. Alicia Matz joins Alexandra to discuss this most controversial author, in a discussion that made us laugh, cringe, and sympathise, all in under an hour. NOTE: This episode is a little more adult than our typical episodes, listener discretion is advised. For recommended translations of Ovid's work...

This week, Alexandra invites Debby Sneed onto the pod to chat about a topic far too often overlooked in documentaries and paperback histories - the lives of disabled people in the Greek world. We cover some common misconceptions, archaeological evidence, and ancient attitudes. Can the ancient Greek world give our modern societies some pointers on how to make our world more disability friendly? The...

For this biography episode, Alexandra is joined by author L.J Trafford to piece together the life of Roman emperor Domitian - was he truly one of the worse emperors of Rome? This episode has it's own page on our website, so if you want relevant images, a transcript, to read the poems mentioned in the episode or to find L.J's excellent books, head straight there! Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so t...

Ben Paites, curator extraordinaire, is here to tell us exactly what happens behind the scenes to make museums work. How do museums acquire exhibits, who decides what gets displayed, and are museums always benignly ethical? Ben gives Alexandra answers to all these questions and more. For Ben's book 50 LGBTQ+ Finds, click here to go to our UK bookshop , and here for the United States. Make sure to c...