Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

128 Episodes 29 Series 173 Figures 70 Events 345 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.

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

Episodes by year

2026

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

2025

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

Spartacus and Gladiators, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Julius Caesar, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

Alexander the Great, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

RIHC: Shakespeare, Roman Slavery, and the Tudors

The Trojan War, with Mary Beard - FULL EPISODE

RIHC: How Real Were The Greek Myths?

Greek Myths: The Riddle of the Sphinx (Part 2)

Greek Myths: Sex, Drugs & Tragedy (Part 3)

Greek Myths: Jason & The Quest for the Golden Fleece (Part 4)

RIHC: Romans in Britain, the Language of Boudicca, and Celtic Mysteries

Hannibal: The Invasion of Italy (Part 3)

Hannibal: Roman Bloodbath at Cannae (Part 4)

Hannibal: Elephants Cross the Alps (Part 2)

Hannibal: Rome's Greatest Enemy (Part 1)

RIHC: Greek Gods, The Trojan War, and The Odyssey

RIHC: Mesopotamian Mythology, Cyrus the Great, and The First Museum

RIHC: The Last English Pope, Persian Europe, and Tom and Dominic's Favourite Castles

Emperors of Rome: Claudius, Paranoia and Poison (Part 4)

Emperors of Rome: Sex Secrets of the Caesars (Part 1)

Emperors of Rome: Tiberius, Slaughter and Scandal (Part 2)

Emperors of Rome: Caligula, Incest and Insanity (Part 3)

2024

RIHC: The Eruption of Vesuvius, Lost Texts, and Ancient Cults

The World's First City

RIHC: The Roman Conquest of Britain EXTRA

The Roman Conquest of Britain: To the Ends of the Earth (Part 4)

The Roman Conquest of Britain: Boudicca’s Reign of Blood (Part 3)

The Roman Conquest of Britain: The Empire Strikes Back (Part 2)

The Roman Conquest of Britain: Julius Caesar’s Invasion (Part 1)

History's Greatest Beards: From Egyptian Queens to Medieval Conquerors (Part 1)

RIHC: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Royal Correspondence

Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar (Extract)

RIHC: The Death of Nelson, Ancient Egypt, and The Holy Roman Empire

Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic (Extract)

RIHC: Ancient Monsters, Roman Conspiracies, and D-Day Gaffs

Helen of Troy: A Family of Blood (Part 2)

Helen of Troy: Queen of the Greek Myths (Part 1)

The First Emperor of China

RIHC: The Ottoman Empire, James Bond and the Titanic Submersible

Ancient Carthage: Rise of a Superpower (Part 2)

Ancient Carthage: Lords of the Sea (Part 1)

Carthage vs. Rome: The Wolf at the Gates (Part 3)

Carthage vs. Rome: Total War (Part 4)

RIHC: Murder Mysteries, Historical Rebellions and Zombie Rome

RIHC: The Greatest Holidays in History (Livestream)

Romans in Space: Star Wars, Dune and Beyond...

2023

RIHC: Political Dynasties, Fascism and the Roman Republic

RIHC: The New Julius Caesar, Henry Kissinger, and Power in American Politics

RIHC: The Seven Most Iconic Moments in History

RIHC: Roman Sex Scandals, Courageous Leaders, and Napoleon’s Fate

RIHC: History’s Greatest Warrior, JFK vs. Nixon, and Roman Civil Wars

RIHC: Roman Emperors - Busts, Coins, and Mullets (Livestream)

PAX: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age (Extract)

The Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death

RIHC: The Destruction of Carthage, The Beatles, and St Cuthbert’s Way

The Lost Library of Alexandria

Roman Apocalypse: Pompeii 79 AD

RIHC: French Intellectuals, Matricide, and Newtonian Physics

RIHC: Rome's Greatest Emperors (Livestream)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Ep 1)

Hadrian and Antinous

Athens and the Birth of Democracy

RIHC: Roman Scotland, Humanities, and Herodotus

Herodotus: The Birth of History

RIHC: The Death of Napoleon, South Vietnamese agency, and tent evangelists

RIHC: Tom's top books, historical guilt, and trigger warnings (livestream)

Atlantis: The Legend (Ep 1)

Atlantis: Legacy of the Lost Empire (Ep 2)

RIHC: Reagan & Thatcher, Roman Britain, and -sleazy hacks-

RIHC: Roald Dahl, Scottish politics, and regal Reagan

The Murder of Julius Caesar

The Fall of the Roman Republic

The Greatest Female Pharaoh