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 12 of 128

2025

11 episodes

Hannibal: The Invasion of Italy (Part 3)

Hannibal · Part 3

This episode of The Rest Is History (hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook) continues their multi-part narrative on H…

Hannibal: Roman Bloodbath at Cannae (Part 4)

Hannibal · Part 4

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook deliver a detailed narrative and analysis of the Battle of Cannae (2 August 216…

Hannibal: Rome's Greatest Enemy (Part 1)

Hannibal · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook introduce a new Rest Is History series focused on Hannibal and the Second Punic War. …

Hannibal: Elephants Cross the Alps (Part 2)

Hannibal · Part 2

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Hannibal Barca’s bold decision to invade Italy in 218 BC, focusing on m…

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

Tom Holland interviews Daniel Mendelson about Mendelson's new translation of The Odyssey and the poem's historical reso…

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

This episode of The Rest Is History features an interview with cuneiform specialist and author Moody Al Rashid about he…

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

In this bonus Q&A episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answer listener questions on a wide range of topics. They d…

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

Emperors of Rome · Part 1

This episode discusses Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars and the release of Tom Holland's new Penguin Classics translati…

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

Emperors of Rome · Part 4

This episode examines the rise and rule of Claudius after the assassination of Caligula. Using Suetonius’s Life of Clau…

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

Emperors of Rome · Part 2

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the life and reputation of the emperor Tiberius, centring on Suetonius' lurid…

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

Emperors of Rome · Part 3

This Rest Is History episode examines the life and reign of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula), interrogating …

2024

1 episode

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

This bonus episode features Tom Holland in conversation with Llewellyn Morgan (chair of Oxford Classics) about the rece…

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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