Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

133 Episodes 31 Series 179 Figures 74 Events 347 Books 1 Authors

Spanning the Bronze Age through the Roman Empire, episodes examine political, military, religious and cultural developments across the Mediterranean and Near East. Series include "Afghanistan" (Achaemenids, Alexander‑era campaigns and later regional history), "Alexander" (Macedonian origins, Aristotle’s education, campaigns and legacy), "Atlantis" (Plato and later receptions), "Beards" (symbolic roles of facial hair), and bonus interviews with Mary Beard on Caesar, the Trojan War, Alexander and Spartacus. Episodes cover Uruk, Greco‑Persian battles (Artemisium, Salamis), the Bronze Age collapse, Hadrian’s Wall, Carthage’s founding, the Bar Kokhba revolt and Roman Britain. Discussed figures and texts include Helen of Sparta, Antipater, Germanicus, Herod, Aulus Plautius, Spendius, Plutarch, Alexander to Actium, Moses and Monotheism and the Gospel of Mark.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 133

2026

6 episodes

Rome’s Greatest Enemy: Carthage at the Gates (Part 1)

Rome's Greatest Enemy · Part 1

This episode examines the aftermath of Hannibal's victory at the Battle of Cannae (2 August 216 BC) and why he did not …

Rome’s Greatest Enemy: Bloodbath in Africa (Part 3)

Rome's Greatest Enemy · Part 3

This episode focuses on the climactic confrontation between Hannibal and Scipio — the Battle of Zama — and the concludi…

Rome’s Greatest Enemy: Hannibal’s Nemesis (Part 2)

Rome's Greatest Enemy · Part 2

This episode of The Rest Is History (episode two of a short series on the Punic Wars) examines the Roman response to Ha…

Rome’s Greatest Enemy: Carthage Destroyed (Part 4)

Rome's Greatest Enemy · Part 4

This episode concludes the hosts' multi-season treatment of Carthage and the Punic conflicts. It traces how the memory …

RIHC: Ancient Iran, Cyrus the Great, and Persian Nationalism

Iranian Revolution

This bonus episode of The Rest Is History features Tom Holland interviewing Professor Ali Ansari about how post‑revolut…

RIHC: The Discovery of Fire, Ancient Cannibals, and British Neanderthals

This bonus episode features host Tom Holland interviewing Nick Ashton, Curator of Palaeolithic Collections at the Briti…

2025

6 episodes

RIHC: Historical Love Affairs, Totemic History Books, and the Naming of Wars

This New Year’s Eve Rest Is History bonus episode is a members' Q&A in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recap th…

Spartacus and Gladiators, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Bonus Interviews with Mary Beard · Part 4

Tom Holland interviews classicist Mary Beard about gladiators and the rebellion led by Spartacus. They discuss Spartacu…

Julius Caesar, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Bonus Interviews with Mary Beard · Part 3

This members-only interview (the third in a short series with Mary Beard) focuses on Julius Caesar. Mary and the hosts …

Alexander the Great, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Bonus Interviews with Mary Beard · Part 2

Tom Holland interviews Mary Beard about Alexander the Great, probing the line between the historical man and the myth t…

RIHC: Shakespeare, Roman Slavery, and the Tudors

This Rest Is History Club bonus episode is a wide-ranging Q&A between hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook for club …

The Trojan War, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Bonus Interviews with Mary Beard · Part 1

Tom Holland interviews classicist Mary Beard at Leighton House about the Trojan War and its place between myth and hist…

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Series in this era

31 series

Bonus Interviews with Mary Beard

4 episodes Aired: 2025-10-09 – 2025-10-31

Carthage

4 episodes Aired: 2024-02-19

Cleopatra

4 episodes Aired: 2022-06-13

Emperors of Rome

4 episodes Aired: 2025-01-27

Hannibal

4 episodes Aired: 2025-05-25 – 2025-05-26

Rome's Greatest Enemy

4 episodes Aired: 2026-02-02

The Roman Conquest of Britain

4 episodes Aired: 2024-09-29

Greek Myths

3 episodes Aired: 2025-09-21

Persian Wars

3 episodes Aired: 2021-11-27

World Cup of Gods

3 episodes Aired: 2021-11-27

Historical figures

179 tagged

Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)

47 episodes

Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon)

45 episodes

Augustus (Gaius Octavius Thurinus)

41 episodes

Herodotus

29 episodes

Nero

26 episodes

Cleopatra VII Philopator of Egypt

24 episodes

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Cicero)

23 episodes

Claudius (Roman Emperor)

20 episodes

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)

20 episodes

Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus)

18 episodes

Historical events

74 tagged

Trojan War

15 episodes

Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD, Roman Empire)

15 episodes

First Punic War (264–241 BC, Mediterranean)

14 episodes

Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC)

13 episodes

Roman conquest of Britain (from AD 43)

13 episodes

First Judean–Roman War (66–73 CE) / Destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE)

12 episodes

Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC)

11 episodes

Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC)

10 episodes

Battle of Marathon (c. 490 BC)

10 episodes

Battle of Salamis (480 BC)

9 episodes

Books

347 tagged

Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West

Author: Tom Holland

16 episodes

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Author: Tom Holland

16 episodes

The Iliad

Author: Homer

13 episodes

I, Claudius

Author: Robert Graves

10 episodes

Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

Author: Tom Holland

9 episodes

The Odyssey

Author: Homer

9 episodes

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

8 episodes

The Histories

Author: Herodotus

8 episodes

The Aeneid (standardized)

Author: Virgil

6 episodes

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (standardized)

Author: Edward Gibbon

6 episodes

Authors

1 tagged

Homer

13 episodes