History for Beginners

Augustus has now lost both of the grandsons he spent years preparing. In the year 4, Gaius Caesar dies of a wound taken at a fortress in Armenia, and four months later Augustus adopts two people on the same day: the stepson he let walk away to Rhodes and a young grandson he does not trust. We meet the births of the agricultural writer Columella, the Korean king Daemusin and a baby whose father will lose three legions. We also follow Parthia's change of king, a Han wedding staged as a public petition, Silla's founder, and the death of the man who built Rome's first public library.History for Beginners covers history one year at a time, starting in 1 CE. Each episode has births, events and deaths, with as much attention to the rest of the world as to Europe. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me.

From Liu Bang's victory in 202 BCE to Wang Mang's takeover in 9 CE, the Western Han built a bureaucratic empire, fought the Xiongnu, opened the routes to Central Asia, produced Sima Qian's history and counted nearly 60 million people in the census of 2 CE. This overview covers how the dynasty was run, how it paid for its wars and how it lost the throne.

Kingdoms and Empires is a companion to History for Beginners, giving each major civilisation an overview alongside the year-by-year timeline. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me.

How a city-state's republic became an empire spanning the Mediterranean, from the title of Augustus in 27 BCE to the division of the empire in 395 CE. This overview covers the origins in myth and republic, the transformation under Augustus, the legions and provinces, the economy of grain, coin and tax, and how an empire that lasted four centuries came apart.

Kingdoms and Empires is a companion to History for Beginners, giving each major civilisation an overview alongside the year-by-year timeline. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me.

Rome's long attempt to push its frontier from the Rhine to the Elbe, from the first crossings in 12 BC to the punitive campaigns of Germanicus in 14 to 16 CE. Tiberius reaches the Elbe in 5 CE and a Roman fleet sails to Jutland, and then a forest in 9 CE changes the plan.

Conflicts is a companion to History for Beginners, with one episode for each war, revolt or campaign in the year-by-year timeline. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me.

A bottle of blood. A mansion door in Chang'an. A plot to frighten the most powerful man in China with an omen. It fails, and it costs the regent Wang Mang's own son his life. We also meet the births of Ban Biao, who began the Book of Han, the general Geng Yan and the astrologer Balbillus. In Armenia, Gaius Caesar is wounded at Artagira, Augustus's powers are renewed for another ten years, and a Korean king moves his capital. We close with the death of a Han censor who would not serve Wang Mang.

History for Beginners covers history one year at a time, starting in 1 CE. Each episode has births, events and deaths, with as much attention to the rest of the world as to Europe. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me

Augustus has two grandsons groomed to inherit the empire. In the year 2, one dies at eighteen on his way to join the army in Spain, and a man who left Rome years earlier is allowed home. Also in this episode: a Parthian king and his mother who allegedly took the throne by poison, a Han census counting nearly 60 million people, a Vietnamese snapshot from the same census, and a scholar king of Mauretania. The one notable birth is Deng Yu, the youngest prime minister in Han history.

History for Beginners covers history one year at a time, starting in 1 CE. Each episode has births, events and deaths, with as much attention to the rest of the world as to Europe. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me

Nobody alive in the year 1 knew it was the year 1. The numbering was devised centuries later, and there is no year zero. In this first episode we meet three notable births (the Roman power broker Burrus, the convert king Izates II of Adiabene and the physician Scribonius Largus) and follow Rome's fight over Armenia. In China a child sits on the Han throne while Confucius is given a title that is ducal, not royal. We also visit Korea, Kush, Bactria and the Caucasus, and say plainly where the record is thin.History for Beginners covers history one year at a time, starting in 1 CE. Each episode has births, events and deaths, with as much attention to the rest of the world as to Europe. Where historians disagree or the evidence is thin, the episode says so. The voices are AI-generated. This series is mainly for my own education, and I am sharing it for anyone who wants to follow along. Spotted an error? Tell me.

History for Beginners Intro

Prehistory for Beginners: https://open.spotify.com/show/3oTD4Dm7qqwjVtKEQUDON6

Ancient History for Beginners:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6ep0A0b4ACmLo2PrKZ4gIo