The Silk Road was a pivotal ancient exchange network that connected the grassy steppes of Asia and the Middle East with the western world. The passage of goods, ideas and technologies along this bustling commercial artery was crucial to the development of the ancient East and West. It was, quite simply, the glue that held the ancient world together. But what were the origins of this first global exchange network? 

In today’s episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes seeks to answer that very question. Speaking to Dr. Miljana Radivojevic they discuss how people living in Bronze Age Central Asia helped build the world’s first and most famous trading route. 

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan 

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Auxiliaries were some of the most important troops in the all-conquering Roman Army. Unlike legionaries, their more heavily-armoured and widely famed counterparts, auxiliaries were recruited from across the Empire and were renowned for their versatility. Deployed as border guards in the far-away hinterlands near Hadrians Wall or as mobile cavalry in the deserts of Parthia, they helped aid the advance of Rome’s military behemoth in many more ways than one.

In today’s episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by historical novelist Ben Kane to delve deeper into the fascinating stories of these soldiers and uncover who they were, where they came from and how important they were to Rome’s many conquests. 

This episode was edited and produced by Joseph Knight.

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The Beaker People were a Bronze Age culture that revolutionised prehistoric Britain. They were responsible for introducing Bronze Age technology into the British Isles for the first time, and also completely replaced the island’s earlier inhabitants. Identified by their distinctive style of pottery they quite literally changed the faced of British settlement and genetics forever. But how much do we know about them? And what archeological traces have they left behind?

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes talks to Dr. Alison Sheridan to learn the mysterious story of the 'Beaker People'. Alison explains what recent DNA research has revealed about the nature of their arrival into the British Isles and how significant an impact they had on Britain’s Bronze Age past.

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient world’s foremost centres of knowledge and culture, and the jewel of the Nile Delta. But when was it built? And where did all the books come from?

In today’s episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes speaks to Dr. Islam Issa about the story behind one of histories greatest libraries. Together they explore why Alexandria’s reigning dynasty - the Ptolemies - were so obsessed with acquiring knowledge and uncover whether it really did burn down in a great fire. 

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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Apollo, the favourite son of Zeus and twin brother of Artemis, was a Greek God with many faces. Perhaps most famous as Phoebus, the God of the Sun, he was the patron of poetry and prophecy, of music and dance. And yet he also possessed a darker side. He was a terribly vengeful character and brought death and disease to both those he hated and loved through his trademark poisonous arrows.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Liv Albert, host of the podcast Let's Talk About Myths Baby to peel back the layers from one of Greek mythology's most complicated characters.

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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The Goths are renowned for many things, not least sacking Rome in 410 AD and helping to bring about the fall of the Western Roman Empire. They were a 'barbarian' people from across the Danube who began migrating into the Empire during the 3rd and 4th centuries, pushed out of their ancestral nomadic lands by the onrushing Huns. But what were their origins? And did they really cause the fall of Rome?

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes speaks to Dr. David Gwynn to tell the tale of the Goths from their origins on the great plains of Eastern Europe to their great migrations and successive invasions of Italy.

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan and Ella Blaxill.

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Have you ever wondered about the dark side of archeology? The illegal seizing of ancient artefacts? The looting of goods from age old historical sites and their sale on the black market? Well it is a practice that goes back hundreds of years and today we’re exploring how it works, why it happens and what government bodies are doing to prevent it.

In this episode of The Ancients Tristan Hughes is joined by Prof. Valerie Higgins to shine a light on how illicit objects and artefacts have found their way to museums and private houses all too often. 

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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Europe’s earliest known humans lived over 1.2 million years ago. After initially roaming the plains of Iberia in small groups, they spread across the Pyrenees into the wider European continent. But for more than 100,000 years all traces of humans in these regions vanish. The question is…what happened?

In today’s episode of the Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Chris Stringer, and by Dr. Chronis Tzedakis and Dr Vasiliki Margari to explore the fate of these first Europeans and discover how a massive climate disaster drove some of Europe’s earliest humans to extinction. 

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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Would you be able to survive in ancient Babylonia?

In this episode, Tristan is joined once again by Amanda Podany from California State Polytechnic University to discuss the realities of daily life in this fascinating empire. Together, they discuss everything from clay tablet literature and ancient board games to crime, slavery and female entrepreneurship in the era of King Hammurabi c. 1750 BC.

Produced by Joseph Knight. Edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most iconic monuments from ancient history. 73 meters in length and 20 meters high, the huge limestone statue depicts a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head thought to represent Khafre, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom (c. 2570 BC).

In this fascinating bumper episode of our special Wonders of the World miniseries, Tristan is joined by Dr Campbell Price from Manchester University to learn more about this world-famous effigy, from its shadowy origins, to its role as a tourist attraction for the Ancient Greeks & Romans, and of course its mysterious missing nose.

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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