In this episode of the podcast, I take a look at the book In Blood and Ashes: Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in Ancient Greece by Jessica L. Lamont, exploring the content of book, the subject of Greek curse tablets, and my overall thoughts about the book. 

In this episode we talk to John Ma about the ancient polis, what the key elements of a polis were, how the polis developed throughout antiquity, and why the polis declined.

In this episode, we talk to Rubina Raja about the caravan city of Palmyra, the city's place between the powers of Rome and Parthia, and how archaeology is being used to supplement the limited literary evidence.

In this episode, we talk to James Ford about atheism in ancient Greece, how it differed from modern concepts of Atheism, and how concepts of atheism in ancient Greece evolved over time.

In this episode, we talk to Justin Pollard about his work as a historical advisor and his new series "Those About to Die".

In this episode we talk to Andrew Michael Chugg about the Pharos Lighthouse, its construction, and the many theories around the light of the lighthouse.

In this episode, we talk to Eric Cline about his new book After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations, the archaeology of the Early Iron Age, and how civilizations cope with collapse.

In this episode we talk to Anthony Kaldellis about his new book The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium, Byzantium's continuity with the Roman world, and the ins and outs of writing narrative history.

In this episode we talk to Dr Emma Southon about her new book A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women, the position of women in ancient Rome, and the struggles of working in academia.

In this episode episode we talk to Roger Gassman, the solo developer behind the game Pax Augusta, a city-building game set in ancient Rome, about what it takes to make a game set in the ancient world.