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.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 8 of 128

2021

8 episodes

Golden Ages

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the idea of 'golden ages': what defines them, whether the concept is legitima…

Stonehenge, Ancient Ritual and the Origins of Paganism

Paganism · Part 2

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Professor Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol) about paganism across…

Classics

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Professor Mary Beard about the long reception and cultural afterlife …

Sparta

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Sparta: its origins, social structure, myths, and lasting rep…

Thermopylae & Salamis - Part 1

Persian Wars · Part 1

This episode of The Rest Is History sets the scene for Thermopylae and Salamis by explaining the broader context of the…

Ancient Olympics

The Olympics · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the ancient Olympic Games, exploring origins, mythic founders and the festiva…

The World Cup of Gods - Part 2

World Cup of Gods · Part 2

This episode (part two of the "World Cup of Gods" coverage) features Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook taking listeners…

The World Cup of Gods - Part 1

World Cup of Gods · Part 1

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook present a light-hearted themed episode built around a Twitter-run "World Cup of…

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Series in this era

29 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

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

Alexander

2 episodes Aired: 2021-11-27

Historical figures

173 tagged

Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)

47 episodes

Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon)

44 episodes

Augustus (Gaius Octavius Thurinus)

41 episodes

Herodotus

28 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

70 tagged

Trojan War

15 episodes

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

15 episodes

First Punic War (264–241 BC, Mediterranean)

13 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

345 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