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

2022

9 episodes

The Jewish Revolt

Jewish Revolt / Destruction of Jerusalem · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the First Jewish–Roman War (commonly called the Jewish Revolt), focusing on t…

The Jews Against Rome

Jewish Revolt / Destruction of Jerusalem · Part 2

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook introduce the origins and early course of the First Jewish–Roman War and the de…

Crucifixion

In this Easter episode Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland examine crucifixion: its origins, mechanics, social function i…

When did the Roman Empire fall? (Part 1)

The End of the Roman Empire

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook debate when — and whether — the Roman Empire actually fell, arguing that no single da…

Disease vs. the rise of civilisation (Part 1)

Disease · Part 1

This episode is an interview with historian Kyle Harper about his book Plagues Upon the Earth. Harper traces the deep h…

Babylon

This Rest Is History episode is a wide-ranging discussion of Babylon, concentrating on its most famous period from Nebu…

RIHC: Reputations (Livestream)

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss how reputations are made, unmade and revised across history. They open with G…

RIHC: Augustus, Appeasement, and a life of hiccups

This bonus episode of The Rest Is History (hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook) is a wide-ranging listener-feedback…

Crossing the Rubicon

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Julius Caesar's decision to cross the Rubicon and the wider collapse of…

2021

3 episodes

1 Jan: Nero's succession and the fall of the Byzantine Empire

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas · Part 9

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook mark New Year’s Day with a two-part Roman-themed discussion. Tom opens with eve…

Nero

This episode of The Rest Is History (hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook) examines the life, reign and reputation o…

The World Cup of Gods - Preview

World Cup of Gods

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook launch a playful "World Cup of Gods" tournament, explaining the rules (no curre…

Page 9 of 11 (page size 12)

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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