Situated north of the Hindu Kush and south of the Oxus (Amu Darya) River, the history of the ancient region of Bactria is rich and diverse. From the Oxus Civilisation that flourished in the Bronze Age to the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, the Greco-Bactrians and the Kushans.

In this podcast Tristan chats to David Adams, Australian photo journalist and documentary film maker, who has been fortunate enough to explore many of the archaeological sites of Bactria. From the 'City of Lady Moon' to the whereabouts of Bactra, 'Mother of All Cities', join David and Tristan as they discuss some of the most extraordinary ancient sites in the world.

Arcadia Expeditions: https://www.arcadiaexpeditions.com/

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Forget the Games, ancient Olympia’s importance stretched much further than simply being the birthplace of its namesake sporting festival. Boasting hundreds of years of history, at its height this critical sanctuary was home to some of the most stunning art and architecture in the ancient world. Its cultural history is astonishing, known about by scholars thanks to both an extraordinary amount of archaeology surviving and several vital ancient literary accounts.

In this second episode of our mini-series on ancient Olympia, Professor Judy Barringer from the University of Edinburgh shines a light on Olympia’s early history and how the site rose to become one of the most important religious centres in the ancient Greek World. Judy is the author of Olympia: A Cultural History.

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The Huns! The name of this ancient people triggers a multiplicity of responses and evokes a number of images (nearly all of them negative). They have been portrayed as a savage people, who contributed little to world history. But is this really the case? In this podcast, Tristan was joined by Professor Hyun Jin Kim to talk about the emergence of the Huns in the west in the late 4th century, and the striking geopolitical changes that their rapid expansion brought about. Hyun Jin dismantles the portrayal that all the Huns did was destroy and plunder and highlights the remarkable structure of this ancient empire. The first unified empire in Europe beyond Rome’s borders.

Hyun Jin is a Professor in Classics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of The Huns, published by Routledge in 2016.

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The most famous sporting event in the world is upon us, so it's only right that we consider what do we know about the ancient origins of the games in Olympia, ancient Greece?

Even back then it was absolutely central to everybody's imagination about what a sporting event should be. Ancient history legend and author of ‘Olympia: The Story of the Ancient Olympic Games’ Robin Waterfield joins Tristan Hughes to discuss the Olympic Games in antiquity.

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast

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Here on The Ancients, we think that you will love Leonardo, the official podcast accompanying the murder-mystery period drama starring Aidan Turner. Leonardo takes a deep dive behind the scenes with the cast and crew, as well as discovering more about Da Vinci’s art and life from the curators and historians who know him best.

This new podcast, hosted by television presenter and Leonardo enthusiast Angellica Bell, can be found here http://smarturl.it/leonardopodcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

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