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A podcast for all ancient history fans! The Ancients is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Featuring interviews with historians and archaeologists, each episode covers a specific theme from antiquity. From Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome. Hosted by Tristan Hughes. New episodes every Sunday and Thursday.From History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts Dan Snow's History Hit, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. Hos...
Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Tristan Hughes makes ancient history accessible by pressing guests on evidence, interpretation, and the limits of what survives.
The Ancients turns ancient history into an interview-led inquiry, with Tristan Hughes asking guests to explain both what happened and how anyone can know.
Athens' quiet subjects cannot testify; you get to decide how much their silence proves.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Neanderthals come into focus through painted handprints, feathers, and evidence that undercuts the old caricature.
The episode takes a familiar prehistoric stereotype and tests it against painted handprints, feather collecting, and the idea that Neanderthals moved through a world of specific signs, not just broad legend.
A careful look at ancient power politics that keeps the NATO analogy honest.
The episode treats the Delian League as a rough NATO parallel, then keeps pulling that comparison apart with the record. It looks at who signed up, who tried to leave, and how Athens handled resistance, while keeping the source problem in view.
A measured look at Leonidas that places Thermopylae inside Spartan politics and the Persian advance.
Leonidas is set against Thermopylae, but the discussion keeps widening to the Persian advance in late summer 480 B.C. and the political world around Sparta.
A Bronze Age star map becomes a story about changing knowledge, not just ancient wonder.
This episode presents the Nebra Sky Disk as the oldest known star map in the world and traces how its meaning changes across four phases of use.
A clear look at Herodotus as historian, observer, and early witness to cultural difference.
The episode frames Herodotus as more than a familiar name, and that choice pays off. His Histories becomes a way into the Persian invasions of Greece, but also into the larger habit of asking what can be known about peoples across the Mediterranean world and beyond.
Greek myth told with fatal momentum.
Ancient empire told in old public-domain voices.
The Ancients examines Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the writer behind the Histories, which began with the line that his inquiries were set down so the memory of great deeds would not be lost.
One pigment mark on the wall sets the scene.
This episode features an interview with archaeologist Sir Barry Cunliffe about his new book on ancient maritime trade routes connecting the Roman world to China via the Indian Ocean.
This episode explores the Gospel accounts of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, including his name, the betrayal, the thirty coins of silver, and his demise.
This episode discusses the discovery of Britain's earliest known dog from 15,000 years ago in Goff's Cave, featuring interviews with the researchers.
This episode begins with a promotional segment for History Hit and Acast, then transitions into a narrative about a Roman centurion on the Rhine frontier, likely leading into a discussion of Roman military history.
The Ancients looks at the Delian League, an alliance of Greek cities founded in 478-7 BCE after the Persian Wars and usually compared here to “the ancient history version of NATO.” Tristan Hughes talks with Professor Polly Lowe of the University of Durham, who specializes in ancient Athenian imperialism and uses Thucydides, inscriptions, Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Plutarch to reconstruct the league.
Leonidas enters the historical record mostly through Thermopylae, while Tristan Hughes and Dr.
Tristan Hughes and guest archaeologist and art conservator Raven look closely at the Nebra Skydisk, the oldest known star map in the world.
A podcast exploring ancient history through interviews with historians and archaeologists, covering topics from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome.
A podcast exploring ancient history through expert interviews, covering topics from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome.
This episode explores the Nordic Bronze Age, the seafaring and raiding proto-Vikings of Scandinavia, through an interview with archaeologist Johan Ling.
This episode discusses the fall of Babylon in 539 BC and the rise of Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire.
A podcast exploring ancient history through expert interviews, covering topics from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome.