A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...

This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, we look at all the reasons behind the first age of Imperial China's final, dramatic fall.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Claire Hynes

Jake Barrett-Mills

Shem Jacobs

Alex Peattie

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/

Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered...

This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. And hear the remarkable story of how this thriving empire collapsed all at once, in a matter of days.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills

Rhy Brignell

Shem Jacobs

Annie Kelly

Lou Millington

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried.

This episode, we travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how they rose from humble beginnings to form the foundation of all our modern societies. With myths, proverbs and even some recreated Sumerian music, travel back to where it all began, and find out how humanity's first civilization fell.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills

Rhy Brignell

Shem Jacobs

Nick Bradley

Emily Johnson

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

Sumerian Music kindly provided by Gayle and

Philip Neuman, of Ensemble De Organographia. Their CD, "Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks," is available from

northpacificmusic.com.

Today, the Songhai Empire is all but forgotten by history. But this medieval kingdom was once the most powerful force in Africa.

Find out how this civilization grew up on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, among some of the most extreme conditions that nature can throw at us. Discover how it grew and flourished, passing through a process known as the imperial cycle, and learn about what ultimately caused its sudden and dramatic collapse.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills

Rhy Brignell

Bryan Tshiobi

Pip Willett

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

On one of the world’s most isolated islands, hundreds of vast stone statues lie mouldering in the grass.

In this episode, we take a look at one of archaeology’s most enduring puzzles: the mystery of Easter Island. Find out how this unique community grew up in complete isolation, severed from the rest of the world by a vast expanse of ocean. Discover the incredible story of how it survived for so many centuries, and examine the evidence about what happened to finally bring this society, and its statues, crashing down.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills

Jacob Rollinson

Annie Kelly

Shem Jacobs

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

Deep in the Cambodian Jungle, a ruined city crumbles among the roots of banyan trees.

In this episode, we look at the history of the Khmer Empire of medieval Cambodia, and the ancient mega-city of Angkor. I want to explore how this great civilization rose to a size and wealth virtually unprecedented in the world, how it overcame the challenges of its climate and landscape, and all the factors that led to its final, dramatic collapse.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Rhy Brignell

Lou Millington

Sebastian Garbacz

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

One of the most unlikely tales of a society’s fall in is the incredible saga of the Vikings of Greenland.

Find out the history of how these European settlers built a society on the farthest edge of their world, and survived for centuries among some of the harshest conditions ever faced by man. Discover how this civilization was able to overcome the odds for so long, and examine the evidence about what happened to cause its final and mysterious collapse. Including Viking poetry, Inuit folktales and thousands upon thousands of walrus.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jacob Rollinson

Jake Barrett-Mills

Sebastian Garbacz

Special thanks to Jordan Ashley Moore (Ancient Literature Dude) for his readings of Old Norse poetry.

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

In the tropical forests of Central America, vast stone pyramids slowly crumble beneath the trees.

In this episode, we look at one of history's great romantic mysteries: the fall of the Classic Maya Civilization. Find out how this great civilization grew up among environmental conditions that no other civilization has ever contended with, learn about the fatal flaws that lay beneath its surface, and what happened after its final, cataclysmic collapse.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Bryan Thsiobi

Jacob Rollinson

Jake Barrett-Mills

Helena Bacon

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Around the year 1100 BC, a wave of destruction washed over the Eastern Mediterranean. It wiped whole civilizations off the map, and left only ash and ruin in its wake.

This catastrophe, known as “the Late Bronze Age Collapse”, has become one of the enduring puzzles of history. I want to explore how so many societies could collapse all at once, and seemingly without warning, as well as examine the lessons it might teach us in our increasingly globalised and interconnected world.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Shem Jacobs

Jacob Rollinson

Jake Barrett-Mills

Bryan Tshiobi

Helena Bacon

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: incompetech.com/

Additional music (The Hurrian Hymn) by Michael Levy

A vast ruined bath house, a fire-damaged poem and a world teetering on the brink of collapse.

In this episode, we look at the history of the collapse of Roman Britain. Find out how a great civilization grew up almost overnight on the island of Britannia, how it endured the test of centuries against barbarian invasions and foolish rulers, and what happened after its final dramatic collapse.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Shem Jacobs

Jacob Rollinson

Jake Barrett-Mills

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100209

Artist: http://incompetech.com/