Ancient History Fangirl

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! What did it take to be a gladiator? Who ended up in the arena, and why? And how did the gladiatorial games—one of the bloodiest sporting events known in the ancient world—come to be? From the ancient roots of Etruscan funeral games to the height of Roman spectacle, we examine the history of gladiatorial combat—and explore what life was li...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This week, we welcome internationally bestselling author and noted enemies-to-lovers enthusiast Thea Guanzon to the podcast. Thea’s debut novel, the Hurricane Wars, is an enemies-to-lovers romantasy with complex layers of worldbuilding and intrigue, rich with mythic resonance, airships, elemental magic, world-rending storms and eclipses,...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This week, we’re covering the final Wonder on our list of Seven Wonders: and this may be the one that broke us. It’s a Wonder located at the nexus of seawater and freshwater on the brackish headwaters of an epic river; a biodiversity hotspot. It was in this primal land that legend of a divine huntress grew. This is not the Artemis of the...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! When you think of Artemis, what springs to mind?  Perhaps it’s a fierce huntress with a bow and arrow, a sort of female Peter Pan—wild and untamed, haunting forests drenched in moonlight—a goddess who’s taken a stern vow of chastity, and refuses all company save that of her nymphs. That’s one version of Artemis—the Classical version. But...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Think the Amazons of Greek myth were mythical? Think again. The Greeks based their Amazons on the real-life warrior women next door. Centuries ago, ancient writers claimed that Scythian women of the Eurasian Steppe fought in battle alongside their men. Now, with modern bioarchaeology, the bones of real female warriors have emerged from th...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Lucian’s A True History has been called the world’s first work of science fiction—but above all, Lucian of Samosata was a satirist. And he had a bone to pick with the famous historians of his time—guys like Herodotus and Ctesias of Knidos. They were Lying Liars who Lied, you see, and Lucian was mad about it. So he set out to write his OWN...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! What tales kept people from thousands of years ago up at night? This Halloween, Ancient History Fangirl teams up with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! to delve into spooky stories from the ancient world that will send a shiver up your spine—tales of shrieking Banshees, deathly Furies, and the terrors of Samhain. So spread som...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! We’ve covered werewolves in the ancient world before—and their connection to the Berserker myth. But wait til you hear what happened to werewolf mythology when the Catholics got their hands on it. This episode is a wild ride, taking you from the ancient Greek and Roman werewolves to a Medieval monster tied to the mysteries of serial killi...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! The werewolf myth as we know it today generally involves getting bitten by a werewolf, transforming during the full moon, and being very susceptible to silver bullets. But werewolves in ancient Greece and Rome were a little different. Join us for a spooky-season deep dive into ancient werewolf mythology from thousands of years ago. We'll...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! In the last episode we discussed why the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only Wonder that historians don’t believe existed. There’s no archaeological evidence for it, and archaeologists have been scouring the ruins of Babylon since the 1800s. Also, Nebuchadnezzar himself—who could not shut up about all his own great building projects—n...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! What is it that makes the grimdark so sexy? NYTimes bestselling author Carissa Broadbent would know. She has been, in her own words, “concerning teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since she was roughly nine years old.” Today, her worlds are dark, gritty, war-blasted magical realms featuring (hot) characters caught in despera...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This week, we’re going to cover what may be the most mysterious of the Seven Wonders: a wonder that rose from the desert like a mirage, one whose name suggests it defied gravity itself; a wonder that may not have been a wonder at all: that may, in fact, never have existed. Join us as we explore the enigma of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! The hosts of the Partial Historians Podcast—Dr. Rad and Dr. G—have written a book! Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire takes you from the regal period through to the so-called 'fall' in the 5th century, covering topics such as: We Built This City on Rock and Roads - learn about the walls and aqueducts! Let's Get Mythical  Armed and Dang...

Preorder Enemy of my Dreams here! Epic news alert! We're so thrilled that the cover for Jenny's Alaric historical romantasy, Enemy of My Dreams is here! As many of you know, the research for this book was her inspiration for this podcast, and our listeners have been with her every step of the way. We are so excited for you to continue following her on this journey. To celebrate the cover reveal, w...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Today we’re going to talk about yet another giant statue in the Seven Wonders lexicon—one that was once pictured straddling the harbor at Rhodes, holding aloft a torch. He was supposed to depict the god Helios, although some said it looked more like Alexander the Great. Rhodes was an island full of pirates, smugglers and ne’er-do-wells. W...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This week, we invited onto the show one of our all-time favorite romance authors—New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert. Katee has written over 100 books and sold over two million copies worldwide. They are truly an author who Goes Big, swimming in the currents of dark and taboo romance, romantasy, paranormal and mon...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Today, we’re going to talk about a wonder that was built for a man who was once extremely powerful. But today, he’s known primarily for the grandness of his tomb—a tomb commissioned not by him, but by his wife (and sister)—a tomb so great that much like the Pharos’ name has been used in some languages to mean all lighthouses, his name in...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! It's easy to get the impression that no women were allowed in the war games of the ancient world, but nothing could be further from the truth. Female generals and warrior queens were everywhere—leading armies into battle by land and sea. In this episode, we cover five female military commanders—powerful allies and enemies of the ancient G...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. Joining us is Dr. Brad Onishi, co-host of the podcast Straight White American Jesus, a podcast that explores the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism from the perspective of two ex-evangelical ministers turned professors of religion. In this episode, Brad walk...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. If enacted, Project 2025 would touch on all aspects of American life—and we couldn’t get into all of it in one episode. This week, we invited Dr. Emily Rath onto the show to give us a first-hand perspective on what life would be like if Project 2025 was made into law....

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. We decided to take a break from our usual ancient history episodes to tell you about the Christo-fascist playbook that’s closer to being enacted into law than you might think. Project 2025 is a 900-page document that, if enacted, would rearrange our government to put u...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Angela J. Ford is the author of over 30 books, mostly steamy fantasy romance and romantic thrillers. Like Jenny, she fell in love with the Phantom of the Opera at an early age. And she wrote a romance novel inspired by that story--with the mysterious Phantom as the hero. Join us as we discuss Angela's Phantom-inspired novel, Music of the...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! With the 2024 Olympics beginning any day now, you’re probably (if you’re a nerd like us) asking yourself one question: what would it have been like to attend a day at the world’s first Olympic Games? The Games in ancient times were not like they are today. The punishment for cheating was being whipped before a screaming crowd, Opening Cer...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Sav R. Miller is a USA-Today bestselling author of steamy dark romances often inspired by Greek mythology, including the Monsters and Muses series and the upcoming Monsters Within. Her romances are often contemporary, and frequently delve into the dark and steamy side of the underworld, the mafia, and the criminal element. Join us as we d...

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Hera is one of the most unsympathetic goddesses in Greek mythology. Trapped in a toxic marriage with the King of the Gods, her vast power relegated only to wives and marriage, she often takes her fury at Zeus’s infidelities out on his victims and their children. But is there more to Hera’s story than tragically misplaced vengeance? Today,...