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

Antony & Cleopatra (Episode 3)

Cleopatra · Part 3

This episode (the third in the hosts' multi-part treatment of Cleopatra/Antony) traces how Mark Antony and Cleopatra mo…

Julius Caesar & Cleopatra (Episode 2)

Cleopatra · Part 2

This episode of The Rest Is History (part two of a Cleopatra miniseries) — hosted by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook …

Young Cleopatra (Episode 1)

Cleopatra · Part 1

This episode examines Cleopatra's place in history through a discussion between Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, draw…

RIHC: Biff & Chip, Dominic vs. Science, and The Divine Comedy

This episode is a wide-ranging listener Q&A and discussion. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook field questions about sci…

The Birth of Babylon

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook revisit Babylon’s earlier history, answering listener questions about its found…

RIHC: Heroism (Livestream)

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the idea of heroism across cultures and epochs. They trace the Greek co…

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…

Page 9 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