Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

152 Episodes 33 Series 194 Figures 78 Events 374 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.

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Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 152

2024

12 episodes

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

The Roman Conquest of Britain · Part 4

This episode concludes a short Rest Is History series on the making of Roman Britain. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook…

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

The Roman Conquest of Britain · Part 1

This episode of The Rest Is History, hosted by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, examines Julius Caesar's two expediti…

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

Beards · Part 1

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the cultural, political and religious meanings attached to beards from …

RIHC: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Royal Correspondence

This episode is a conversational Q&A between hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, recorded amid a marathon on the h…

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

This episode is an audiobook-style preface read by Tom Holland promoting his sequel to Rubicon, titled Dynasty. Holland…

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

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook open by recounting a live Tudors-themed show at Hampton Court, then p…

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

Tom Holland introduces the re-release of his first history book, Rubicon, announcing he has narrated the audiobook and …

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

This bonus episode of The Rest Is History features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook in an informal, wide-ranging…

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

Helen of Troy · Part 2

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Heinrich Schliemann’s archaeology and the relationship betwee…

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

Helen of Troy · Part 1

This episode of The Rest Is History is a deep-dive into Helen of Troy: her mythic origins, portrayals across ancient Gr…

The First Emperor of China

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the life, rule and legacy of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of China. The…

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

Titanic · Part 7

This bonus Rest Is History episode is a shorter Q&A-style instalment opening the podcast's multi-episode Titanic series…

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Series in this era

33 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

Roman Civil War

4 episodes Aired: 2026-08-30

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

Historical figures

194 tagged

Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)

55 episodes

Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon)

50 episodes

Augustus (Gaius Octavius Thurinus)

49 episodes

Herodotus

31 episodes

Nero

30 episodes

Cleopatra VII Philopator of Egypt

27 episodes

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Cicero)

26 episodes

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)

24 episodes

Claudius (Roman Emperor)

20 episodes

Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus)

20 episodes

Historical events

78 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

Peloponnesian War (431–404 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

Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC)

11 episodes

Battle of Marathon (c. 490 BC)

10 episodes

Battle of Thermopylae

10 episodes

Books

374 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

The Odyssey

Author: Homer

11 episodes

I, Claudius

Author: Robert Graves

10 episodes

Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

Author: Tom Holland

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

15 episodes