Episodes

  • Iron Age Britain
    May 24 2026

    What if Iron Age Britain was never a land of barbarians at all, but a world of skilled farmers, powerful women, trade, ritual, and spectacle? Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Tom Moore to reveal a far richer pre-Roman Britain, from roundhouses and hillforts to chariots, feasts, and buried offerings. Archaeology uncovers a society shaped by movement, identity, violence, and belief, where the Iron Age still echoes into Roman Britain and beyond.


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    Druids

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    Before Rome: The Truth About Late Iron Age Britain

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    The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch here: @TheAncientsPodcast


    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr
  • Prehistoric Greenland
    May 21 2026

    What can a frozen island reveal about the people who thrived there for thousands of years? Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Asta Mønsted to explore prehistoric Greenland through astonishing archaeology and living mythology, from permafrost-preserved homes, tools, and clothing to whale hunts, shamanic stories, and the world of the Thule Inuit. Along the way, they uncover how families survived the Arctic, honoured spirits, and built a rich culture in one of Earth’s harshest places.


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    Ice Age America

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    Origins of the Inuit

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Hannah Feodorov. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, plus early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • The Other Humans: Why We Survived?
    May 17 2026

    For most of human history, we were not alone. Human evolution was shaped by multiple human species living side by side, from Neanderthals in Europe to Denisovans in Asia, before all but one disappeared.


    Tristan Hughes is joined by Ella Al-Shamahi to explore the story of the early humans who once shared our world. How did these different species evolve? Did they compete or coexist? And what do the latest discoveries reveal about the tangled story of human evolution and the survival of Homo sapiens?


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    Homo Sapiens v Neanderthals

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    Human Evolution: Dragon Man

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    The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch here: @TheAncientsPodcast


    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    42 mins
  • What If Alexander Fought Rome?
    May 14 2026

    Rome vs Alexander. It's a counterfactual of suitably epic proportions, fit for movie theatres and sprawling strategy video games. What would've happen had the great Macedonian general not perished in Babylon and advanced on an emerging Roman Republic?


    Tristan Hughes is joined by Roman historian and friend of the show Steele Brand to ask - what would’ve happened had Alexander invaded Italy? They explore the work of Roman historian Livy, who wrote about this very scenario - would Rome have had enough to resist the mighty legions of an undefeated Macedonia, even before it had really started to forge it's empire? From the sparkling phalanxes of Alexander’s Asian realm to the Rome’s countless mass of citizen soldiers, find out which of these titans of history achieves ancient world domination.


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    Alexander the Great: Lord of Asia

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    The Battle of Phillipi: Death of the Roman Republic

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. Producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr and 20 mins
  • The Real Armageddon
    May 10 2026

    Armageddon is more than just a biblical prophecy hailing the end of days. It is a real place: Megiddo, an ancient city that for thousands of years stood at the crossroads of empires, trade routes and wars in the ancient Near East.


    In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by friend of the show Eric Cline to uncover the true story of the real Armageddon. Why did Megiddo become associated with the world’s final battle? What made this city so strategically important for millennia? From Bronze Age kingdoms to biblical tradition and modern archaeology, discover the remarkable history behind one of the most famous names in history and myth.


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    Bronze Age Collapse:

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    The Sea Peoples:

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    59 mins
  • Ancient China: The Warring States
    May 7 2026

    How did ancient China plunge into 261 years of chaos, and how did that turmoil forge an empire?


    Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andrew Seth Meyer to explore the Warring States period, from collapsing Zhou power and ruthless coups to mass armies, crossbows, and battlefield slaughter. They trace the rise of Confucian ideas, the seven great states, and the brutal climb of Qin toward China’s first emperor


    To find out more about Andrew's new book To Rule All Under Heaven, head to his website: https://www.andrewsethmeyer.com/


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    The Romans and China

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    The Terracotta Army:

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. The producer and audio editor is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    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.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr
  • The Prehistoric Plague
    May 3 2026

    The first ever outbreak of 'plague' - Yersinia Pestis, the most feared disease in human history - was long thought to be the Plague of Justinian in 541 AD. But new studies of ancient DNA have revealed traces of Yesinia Pestis dating back more than 5,000 years.


    In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Laura Spinney to explore the origins of prehistoric plague. How did this pestilence emerge to blight the Neolithic world? Where did it come from? And could it have triggered a Stone Age collapse which signalled the dawn of the Bronze Age in Europe? Discover how this deadly pathogen reshaped entire Stone Age societies, long before the advent of written history.


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    Did Plague Destroy the Roman Empire?

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    The Birth of Indo-European

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.


    Audio for Uploader:

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    49 mins
  • The Persian Gulf
    Apr 30 2026

    Near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital commercial chokepoints, lies an ancient trade route that powered civilisation 4,000 years ago: the Persian Gulf - where goods and ideas flowed between the great cities of Mesopotamia, Arabia and beyond to the far flung cities of the Indus Valley and the Indian subcontinent.


    In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Steffen Laursen and Dr Lloyd Weeks to uncover the story of this Bronze Age superhighway. How did this narrow sea connect such distant civilisations? What kinds of goods travelled its waters, and who controlled these vital routes? From the thriving Bahraini port of Dilmun to the wider networks beyond the Gulf, discover how this region became a crossroads of trade, culture and power, and why it still matters so much today.


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    Ea Nasir and the World's Oldest Letters:

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    The Romans and India:

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    Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

    All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

    The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    59 mins