Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Ancient Civilisations & Classical Antiquity

134 Episodes 31 Series 180 Figures 74 Events 350 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 134

2022

12 episodes

Tunisia: Dido of Carthage

Great World Cup Saga · Part 8

In this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook focus on Dido (Elissa), the legendary founder-queen of Carthage, usin…

Portugal: On the Edge of the World (Ep 1)

Portugal · Part 1

This episode inaugurates a multipart history of Portugal. The hosts trace Portugal's long, layered past from ancient ti…

Roman Holidays (Ep 4)

Holidays · Part 4

This episode examines holidays and tourism in the ancient world, comparing Roman elite leisure — villas, spas and the B…

RIHC: Holidays, Yorkshire, and disease

Holidays · Part 5

In this bonus episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat informally about recent work and listeners' contributions.…

Plague and the decline of the Roman Empire

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome Professor Kyle Harper (University of Oklahoma) to discuss his book The …

RIHC: Greece, Downfall, and Rishi's shoes

This bonus episode features Tom Holland welcoming Dominic Sandbrook back from holiday for a wide-ranging informal discu…

RIHC: Apocalyptic London, Orwell, and Producer Dom

This bonus episode is hosted solo by Tom Holland with production colleague “Dom” sitting in. They discuss the recent ru…

Londinium (Ep 1)

London Week · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook lead a walking tour through Roman London (Londinium), using surviving fragments, arch…

RIHC: American Civil War & Stonehenge (Livestream)

American Civil War (1861 to 1865) · Part 6

This episode is an interactive bonus-format conversation between Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. They introduce a ne…

Stonehenge

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview archaeologist and author Mike Pitts about Stonehenge’s chronology, co…

RIHC: Top Gun, Love Island, and Cicero

This members-only bonus episode features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discussing forthcoming and recent Rest…

Cleopatra's Downfall (Episode 4)

Cleopatra · Part 4

This episode is the fourth and final part of a multi-episode examination of Mark Antony, Cleopatra VII and Octavian in …

Page 8 of 12 (page size 12)

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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

180 tagged

Julius Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar)

47 episodes

Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon)

45 episodes

Augustus (Gaius Octavius Thurinus)

41 episodes

Herodotus

29 episodes

Nero

27 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

74 tagged

Trojan War

15 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

350 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