Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

138 Episodes 31 Series 187 Figures 76 Events 355 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 138

2026

11 episodes

RIHC: Is Marathon the Most Important Battle in Ancient History?

In this Rest Is History Club Q&A bonus, hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook revisit the Battle of Marathon, fieldin…

Greece vs Persia: The Battle of Marathon (Part 2)

Greece vs Persia · Part 2

In this episode of The Rest Is History, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook dramatise the pivotal Battle of Marathon in 4…

Greece vs Persia: The Rise of the First Superpower (Part 1)

Greece vs Persia · Part 1

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the early Persian response to the Ionian Revolt, beginning wi…

Wine and the Birth of Civilisation

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the eight‑thousand‑year saga of wine, from its prehistoric root…

RIHC: The Odyssey, Ancient Greek Wars, and Ottoman Invasions

In this Restless History bonus episode, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome returning guest Alex Preston to explo…

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 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: 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

1 episode

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…

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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

187 tagged

Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)

47 episodes

Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon)

45 episodes

Augustus (Gaius Octavius Thurinus)

41 episodes

Herodotus

30 episodes

Nero

27 episodes

Cleopatra VII Philopator of Egypt

25 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

76 tagged

Trojan War

16 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)

12 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

355 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

14 episodes