Was Cleopatra actually Egyptian?

It's a surprisingly important question. When most people think of Cleopatra, they have a specific person in mind. The Egyptian queen who married Julius Caesar and loved Mark Antony, and nearly ruled the Roman Empire for herself. But she was merely the final chapter in the long story of the Ptolemaic rulers of ancient Egypt. Who were the women who came before her? And though she is the most famous, does that mean she was the greatest Cleopatra?

Matt Lewis and Dr Deirdre Klokow unpack the mighty and sometimes mysterious legacy of the Cleopatras. Keep an eye out for her book, The Seleucids And Their Land, coming out in 2027.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. You can watch this episode and more on our YouTube channel.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Robin McConnell

Produced by: Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Ptolemy's Lament by Sarah Schachner

The Alexandrian Pleiad by Sarah Schachner

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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

The unforeseen consequences of this war led to the first scientific history book, the birth of philosophy. and the rise of Alexander the Great. Assassin's Creed Odyssey puts us at the heart of the expansive conflict that occurred when Athens went to war with Sparta: the Peloponnesian War. Guest host Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Roel Konijnendijk to recount the causes, events and legacy of this pivotal war in the ancient Greek world.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™.

Hosted by: Tristan Hughes

Edited by: Michael McDaid

Produced by: Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Delphi by The Flight

Pirates, Thugs and Bandits by The Flight, Michael Georgiades

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here. You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected]

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

Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Benjamin Hornigold... Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced recreates the key people, places and events of the Golden Age Of Piracy. The game puts players in the salty shoes of Captain Edward Kenway as he rubs shoulders with real historical pirates as they fight for their freedom from the British and Spanish empires.

In the final episode of this special series, Matt Lewis is joined by the game’s Narrative Director Joel Janisse, and Level Design Director Julien Koch to find out how Ubisoft meticulously recreated the world of pirates with new historical details; and what were the biggest challenges of revisiting a fan-favourite game?

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. You can watch this interview on YouTube.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Robin McConnell

Produced by: Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

A Short Life But A Merry One by Brian Tyler

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Theme by Brian Tyler

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected]

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

02:09 - Did you reuse assets from the OG Black Flag?

09:31 - New decade, new tech: how did you stay faithful to Black Flag?

12:21 - Did you do new historical research?

14:10 - What's your favourite historic detail?

16:31 - Why is it called "Resynced"?

20:07 - Narrative vs Level Design

21:49 - Does History get in the way of Gameplay?

26:09 - 2013 vs 2026: the changes to working on Black Flag 

29:48 - What's your favourite level/mission in the game?

30:15 - New Crew: are they based on historical people?

33:56 - Avoiding Pirate Tropes

37:28 - Did Matt Ryan re-record his performance as Edward Kenway?

39:31 - Why remake Black Flag?

44:17 - Why did Ubisoft remove the Abstergo sequences?

45:56 - Combat gameplay: fighting like a true pirate

47:56 - What did you learn making this game?

50:23 - What other games will be Resynced?

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

How did Theseus escape the Labyrinth? Is the Labyrinth real? Who created the Minotaur? Assassin’s Creed Odyssey immerses players in the mythology of Ancient Greece. In particular, they can walk in the footsteps of Theseus through the Labyrinth and come face to face with the mythical Minotaur. Archaeology reveals the real roots of the myth and how it developed over time.

How is the myth connected to Knossos palace on Crete? Prof Nicoletta Momigliano guides Tristan Hughes from The Ancients podcast through the maze of myth vs reality that is the Minoan Labyrinth.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this episode on YouTube.

Hosted by: Tristan Hughes

Edited by: Alex Jones

Produced by: Robin McConnell, Anne-Marie Luff

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Phoibe the Orphan by The Flight, Michael Georgiades

The Minotaur by The Flight

Barnabas by The Flight, Michael Georgiades

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected]

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

Did pirates really bury treasure, fly the Jolly Roger and walk the plank?

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced avoids many of the clichés of pirate fiction. Yet staying true to history still includes tropes of pop culture pirates - there may be no talking parrots, but they still drink a lot of rum. Matt Lewis rejoins Dr Rebecca Simon to debunk pirate myths!

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

06:08 - Did Pirates Use Black Flags?

12:30 - What does "Jolly Roger" mean?

13:24 - Peg Legs & Eye Patches

18:47 - Pets!

20:59 - Pirate Bling

23:54 - Did Pirates force folk to Walk the Plank?

25:07 - Did Pirates Maroon Enemies?

26:32 - The Pirate Code

32:32 - Did Pirates Bury Their Treasure?

37:16 - X Marks The Spot?

38:24 - Where Is The Rum?

41:10 - What's Your Favourite Pirate Myth?

42:15 - Why do Pirate Myths persist?

48:52 - Enter the Animus: which myth do you want to prove?

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this episode on YouTube.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Robin McConnell

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

The Buccaneers by Brian Tyler

Confrontation by Brian Tyler

Fare Thee Well by Brian Tyler

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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

In the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows, the legendary Hattori Hanzo embodies both samurai and shinobi warriors. As history's most famous ninja, he was also a samurai: his fierce dual nature earned him the nickname, "The Demon".

How did Hattori Hanzo reach such legendary status? And what does his story tell us about the warring loyalties of late Sengoku Japan?

Joining Matt Lewis to answer these questions and more are Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt, authors of Ninja Attack!: True Tales Of Assassins, Samurai And Outlaws. You can keep up to date with Hiroko and Matt's work on their blogs blog.hirokoyoda.com and blog.pureinventionbook.com

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. 

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Tim Arstall

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell, Peta Stamper

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Explore Bamboo Forest by The Flight

Roaming the Wild by The Flight

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite Assassin's Creed game or podcast episode at [email protected]

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

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced puts us in the heart of the pirate world during the Golden Age Of Piracy: the island of New Providence and its capital, Nassau. As we roam around its highly detailed recreation in the game, we get a sense of what it was like to live in a place that wanted to be free from the yoke of kings and empires. But was it really a tropical paradise? Is its reputation as a bastion of democratic freedom founded in fact or fiction?

Matt Lewis is joined by pirate historian Dr Rebecca Simon, author of Why We Love Pirates and Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read to answer these questions and more!

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this episode on YouTube.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Robin McConnell

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

The Buccaneers by Brian Tyler

Confrontation by Brian Tyler

Fare Thee Well by Brian Tyler

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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

The Hagia Sophia is a landmark that has stood for 1500 years, and that players can clamber all over in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. It is remarkable not only for its longevity, but also for its blending of multiple cultures: their art, architecture, languages and faiths. It is as much a melting pot as the metropolis that surrounds it.

To unpack this complex history, Matt Lewis is joined by Emily Neumeier, Assistant Professor of of Islamic art and architecture at Temple University.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. 

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Alex Jones

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Altair and Darim by Lorne Balfe

Constantinopolis by Lorne Balfe

Welcome to Kostantiniyye by Jesper Kyd

Arrocco by Lorne Balfe

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced recreates the beautiful islands of the Caribbean in stunning detail, and introduces players to some of the most famous pirates in history. Why did the Caribbean, in all the world, became so associated with pirates? When did piracy in the Caribbean begin? And when did it end?

Matt Lewis is joined by pirate historian Dr Rebecca Simon, author of Why We Love Pirates and Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read to answer these questions and more!

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Watch this episode on YouTube.

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Robin McConnell

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

The Islands of the West Indies by Brian Tyler

Confrontation by Brian Tyler

I'll Be With You by Brian Tyler

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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

Assassin's Creed Revelations transports us to Constantinople, only a couple of generations after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. It is one of history’s defining events, turning the city into the bridge between Christian West and Islamic East. Dr Gemma Masson gives Matt Lewis an overview of the events of the conquest and the impact it had on both the face of the city and the lives of the people who called it home.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. 

Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Alex Jones

Produced by: Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Manager: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett

Music:

Welcome to Kostantiniyye by Jesper Kyd

Sailing To Constantinople by Lorne Balfe

Master And Mentor by Lorne Balfe

Byzantium by Jesper Kyd

If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here.

Tell us your favourite episode or Assassin's Creed game at [email protected]

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