The History Network
406 episodes listed below
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Discussions from Ancient Warfare Magazine. Why did early civilisations fight? Who were their Generals? What was life like for the earliest soldiers? Ancient Warfare Magazine will try and answer these questions. Warfare minus two thousand years.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Ancient Warfare Podcast makes ancient conflict legible by showing how historians reason through disputed stories, fragmentary evidence and stubborn unknowns.
Ancient Warfare Podcast turns military history into a working argument. Editor Jasper Ortas guides a recurring roundtable through Roman legions, hoplite equipment, military innovation and the uncertainty surrounding famous battles.
Jasper's panel turns a Roman rain miracle into competing claims, and you hear certainty evaporate.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A wide-ranging look at how ancient armies changed through service terms, manpower, auxiliaries, and fleets.
Ancient Warfare Podcast frames revolutions as shifts in how armies are built and sustained, not just neat turning points. The episode links military change to service terms, manpower, auxiliaries, and fleets, and the sweep from the late Bronze Age to Rome gives it a broad,…
The Rubicon becomes a gamble, not a slogan, and the famous line is pulled back toward its Greek source.
Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon is treated less like a neat turning point than like a risky bet. The discussion tracks the lead-up to 10 January 49 BC and keeps the Roman Civil War from feeling inevitable, which is where it works best.
A Roman army episode that favors evidence, contradiction, and hard questions over tidy certainty.
This Ancient Warfare episode looks at the Roman army of the second century AD as a problem of evidence as much as a story of battles. It moves from the wider shape of the era to the uneasy edges around Nerva and Septimius Severus, then into the Marcomannic Wars and the miracle…
A holiday reading roundtable where niche scholarship, dry asides, and useful recommendations all earn their place.
The episode turns holiday listening into a reading-list chat, with the panel comparing specialist ancient-history books they have read, want to read, or hope to unwrap.
A careful look at a hard to pin down revolt, and at how quickly Rome's collapse gets blamed on it.
Murray treats the Balcardi or Balcaudai as a real historical knot, not a neat label. The episode keeps circling back to the contradictions: citizens and pillagers, revolt and raiding, tax pressure, recruitment, and the distraction of a frontier that will not stay out of the…
A brief look at how ritual movement, military training, and protection overlap in ancient warfare.
Murray keeps the discussion rooted in chorobantic, choretic, and Pyrrhic dance, and the thread is consistent: these forms are tied to war through drill, protection, and ritual force.
A battlefield-view question turns into a discussion of tactics, leadership, and historical impact.
The episode starts from a simple question about which ancient battle would be most worth seeing, then moves steadily from spectacle into tactics and interpretation.
A hoplite episode that turns bronze armor into a story about wealth, access, and political change.
This episode treats hoplite kit as a question of access: who could afford it, who could wear it, and who counted as a fighter. It keeps bronze on the body and politics in the same frame, which makes the discussion sharper than a simple tour of ancient armor.
Outnumbered units, remembered under fire.
Battle maps, war films, and patient context.
War news, tested against military reality.
Antique European history, read aloud.
The host discusses a listener's question about historical examples of military formations being flanked while maintaining cohesion and facing attackers from two sides simultaneously.
This segment discusses why the Greeks did not attack the Persian pontoon bridge over the Hellespont during the second Persian invasion, exploring logistical and strategic challenges.
The panel asks what a basic hoplite panoply really meant in practice.
The panel takes on generals and commanders in antiquity.
The host reads a fan letter questioning the origin of the phrase 'the die is cast' and discusses its possible meanings in ancient context.
Host Murray tackles a listener's question about why ancient Greek and Roman helmets featured crests, exploring multiple theories from battlefield identification and command structure to psychological intimidation and cultural display.
The host answers a listener's question about when outflanking became a tactical innovation in ancient warfare.
Host Murray explores the often-overlooked Athenian archer corps, answering a listener's question about their equipment, status, and role in Athenian society.
The panel spends the episode asking what counts as a revolution in warfare.
The host answers a listener's question about the relationship between the Roman military and gladiators, focusing on military amphitheaters.
Host Murray investigates a listener's question about the historical evidence for 'war pigs'—specifically, whether flaming or squealing pigs were actually used in ancient battles to panic war elephants.
The host answers a listener's question about the longevity of bronze helmets in ancient warfare.
The panel opens on the date.
Host Murray explores the methods and evidence for Roman military signaling, covering flag systems from Polybius, fire-signaling techniques from Sextus Julius Africanus's Kestoi, and the role of encryption.
Host Murray answers a listener question about evocati, Roman veterans who were recalled to military service after completing their initial service.
The host answers a listener's question about how Roman triple-line formations could avoid being outflanked by enemies with wider frontages.
The panel opens with issue 105 of Ancient Warfare magazine and the Roman army of the second century AD.
This episode explores the ancient Roman dice game Alea, linking it to Julius Caesar's famous 'let the die be cast' quote during the Rubicon crossing.
This episode examines the historical plausibility of a meeting between Hannibal and Scipio Africanus, discussing ancient travel logistics, language barriers, and the aristocratic nature of warfare.
Jasper Ortas brings Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffrey, Mark DeSantis, and Murray Dahm together for a holiday book roundtable.
The host answers a listener's question comparing the physical toll of modern hockey playoffs to the endurance of Caesar's legionaries.
Murray explores how Greek hoplite phalanxes maintained cohesive lines during advances, using historical sources to calculate formation widths and depths.
This episode explores the historical question of whether Persians used cats and other sacred animals against Egyptians at the Battle of Pelusium, based on Polyinus' account.
Murray answers a listener question about the Bacaudae (or Bagaudae), peasant insurgent groups in the Western Roman Empire from the 3rd through 5th centuries.
Host Murray answers a listener's question about whether ancient sources describe chariot drivers exiting their chariots before combat contact.
Host Murray explores the connection between ancient ecstatic dances like those of the Korybantes and Kuretes and military training, arguing they were not just spiritual rituals but foundational for phalanx drill and combat movement.
The panel takes up a listener's question about which ancient battle they would most want to observe, with drone-like views and multiple angles.
Historian Murray Dahm discusses his book on the Dacian Wars between Rome and Dacia.
The hosts discuss the historical accuracy and storytelling of the film Gladiator 2.
The hosts discuss the history of Legio Decima Fratensis, a Roman legion, as featured in issue 17.5 of Ancient Warfare Magazine.
A panel discussion on the most influential weapon of the ancient world, starting with the mace as potential first evidence of warfare.
A panel discussion on the end of the Persian Wars, covering battles and lesser-known aspects after 480 BC.