One of the greatest military commanders in history - it's no wonder Hannibal and Rome so frequently fought.

In the second episode of our Hannibal mini-series, Tristan is once again joined by Dr Louis Rawlings from Cardiff University to examine Hannibal's movements and clashes post-Trasimene.

Looking at the Roman reaction to their second defeat and what happened next, why are these 10 months so important? With horses bathing in vinegar, famed military strategies, and animals being sacrificed - what happened on the road to Cannae?

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In May 2020, four unique Roman artefacts were unearthed near Ampleforth, North Yorkshire by two amateur metal detectorists. A bronze bust that is thought to depict Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, a beautifully crafted horse, and a one of a kind figurine of the Roman god Mars, to name a few.

But who buried these beautiful artefacts - and what can they tell us about life in Roman Britain? In this episode Tristan takes a special behind the scenes look at one of Roman Britain's greatest mysteries: the Ryedale Hoard - now on display in the Yorkshire Museum.

To learn more about these mysterious objects, Tristan is joined by Yorkshire Museum curator Dr Lucy Creighton and metal detectorist Mark Didlick - who along with friend James Spark found the hoard buried in a field two years ago.

Watch the video version on YouTube

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Towards the beginning of the Second Punic War on 21 June 217 BC, a Carthaginian force under Hannibal launched a vicious ambush on a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius.

The resulting battle, at Lake Trasimene in Italy, saw a complete capitulation of the Roman forces - with thousands of legionaries meeting their end at the bottom of the blood-sopped waters.

In this episode - part of our special miniseries on Hannibal's wars with Rome - Tristan is joined by Dr Louis Rawlings from Cardiff University to discover more about the terror of Trasimene.

Produced by Annie Coloe. Edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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Known as the Eternal City, ancient Rome was one of the greatest civilisations in human history, but how did it come about?

With a turbulent history of Kings, civil wars and imperial desires - Rome has an incredible history. But who founded it? Were Romulus and Remus real brothers fighting for their kingdoms, or did a Trojan hero found one of the mightiest Italian states? Recent archaeological discoveries indicate a far more complicated picture of Rome's beginnings - but where does its mystic past fall into this new story?

In this episode Tristan is joined by Professor Guy Bradley from Cardiff University to discover more about the origins of Rome around the 8th century B.C.

TW: This episode contains a reference to rape

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If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

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Despite being one of the first civilisations in human history, Sumer is not as well-known as other Bronze Age societies such as Babylonia and, of course, Ancient Egypt.

Recent research indicates that the first ever writing system emerged in the Sumerian heartland of southern Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. So who were these Near Eastern pioneers forming some of the first urban settlements along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?

In this episode, Tristan is joined by Dr Paul Collins from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, to help unravel the mysteries of the Sumerians and their trailblazing civilisation.

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Famed across the ages and around the world - everyone knows the name Cleopatra. But how did she become one of the most infamous women in history?

Born in 69BCE, a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Hellenistic Egypt, Cleopatra VII lived a tumultuous life. Within two turbulent decades of taking the throne of Egypt, Cleopatra had emerged the victor of a brutal civil war. She won the hearts of two of Rome’s most powerful men, and successfully restored a golden age for her kingdom - she was a force few dared to reckon with.

In this episode, Tristan is joined by Professor Joyce Tyldesley, Dr Chris Naunton, and Dr Glenn Godenho, to discuss the rise of Cleopatra.

Produced by Annie Coloe. Edited and sound designed by Thomas Ntinas.

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In the final part of our Samnite Wars episodes, Tristan is once again joined by Dr Kathryn Lomas from Durham University to find out more about these conflicts and the effect they had on the rise of Rome as an ancient superpower. With three wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnite armies, beginning in 343 BC and ending with a Roman victory in 290 BC - what happened in those 53 years?

In this episode, Tristan and Kathryn cover the second and third wars, and look at the impact these fabled events had on the socio-political make up of the Italian peninsula. With Rome successfully taking control of large swathes of central and southern Italy, and the arrival of Pyrrhus, one of history's most infamous men - is this the beginning of Roman domination across the Mediterranean?

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

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In this first episode of a two-parter on the Samnite Wars, we focus in on one of Rome’s greatest rivals in early Italy. Based in modern day Campania, who were the Samnites?

With three wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnite armies, beginning in 343 BC and the ending with a Roman victory in 290 BC, what happened in those explosive 53 years?

In part one, Tristan is joined by Dr Kathryn Lomas from Durham University to find out more about these conflicts and the effect they had on the rise of Rome as an ancient superpower.

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Dozens of incredible examples of prehistoric rock art have been found across western Europe in recent decades - but what do they mean?

Artworks can be discovered all along the Atlantic seaboard, from Spain to Scotland, where one stunning example was uncovered just last year. Ancient peoples left traces of their prehistoric cultures across the length and breadth of the landscape - but what does this art reveal about them?

In this episode Tristan is joined by Dr Joana Valdez-Tullett to discover more about the mysterious world of Atlantic rock art.

Joana's book: https://www.barpublishing.com/design-and-connectivity.html

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store.

Tickets to Tristan's talk 'London in the Roman World' with Professor Dominic Perring on July 4 are available here: https://shop.historyhit.com/product/london-in-the-roman-world/

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Ancient Sparta was co-opted by the Nazis as a supposed model civilisation for the Third Reich’s twisted racial and martial ideologies.

German children were taught that the Spartans had originally been an ‘Aryan’ tribe, and that they should aspire to Laconian ideals such as endurance, discipline and military self-sacrifice. Yet modern evidence suggests the Ancient Greek city-state may not have been so militaristic after all.

In this episode, Tristan is joined by Dr Helen Roche from Durham University to find out more about this ‘Spartan paradigm’ and how it was exploited by the Nazi regime.

Tickets to Tristan's talk 'London in the Roman World' with Professor Dominic Perring on July 4 are available here: https://shop.historyhit.com/product/london-in-the-roman-world/

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