The Ancients

For most of human history, we were not alone. Human evolution was shaped by multiple human species living side by side, from Neanderthals in Europe to Denisovans in Asia, before all but one disappeared.

Tristan Hughes is joined by Ella Al-Shamahi to explore the story of the early humans who once shared our world. How did these different species evolve? Did they compete or coexist? And what do the latest discoveries reveal about the tangled story of human evolution and the survival of Homo sapiens?

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Homo Sapiens v Neanderthals

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Human Evolution: Dragon Man

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The Ancients is now on YouTube! Watch here: @TheAncientsPodcast

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rome vs Alexander. It's a counterfactual of suitably epic proportions, fit for movie theatres and sprawling strategy video games. What would've happen had the great Macedonian general not perished in Babylon and advanced on an emerging Roman Republic?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Roman historian and friend of the show Steele Brand to ask - what would’ve happened had Alexander invaded Italy? They explore the work of Roman historian Livy, who wrote about this very scenario - would Rome have had enough to resist the mighty legions of an undefeated Macedonia, even before it had really started to forge it's empire? From the sparkling phalanxes of Alexander’s Asian realm to the Rome’s countless mass of citizen soldiers, find out which of these titans of history achieves ancient world domination.

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Alexander the Great: Lord of Asia

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The Battle of Phillipi: Death of the Roman Republic

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. Producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Armageddon is more than just a biblical prophecy hailing the end of days. It is a real place: Megiddo, an ancient city that for thousands of years stood at the crossroads of empires, trade routes and wars in the ancient Near East.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by friend of the show Eric Cline to uncover the true story of the real Armageddon. Why did Megiddo become associated with the world’s final battle? What made this city so strategically important for millennia? From Bronze Age kingdoms to biblical tradition and modern archaeology, discover the remarkable history behind one of the most famous names in history and myth.

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Bronze Age Collapse:

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The Sea Peoples:

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did ancient China plunge into 261 years of chaos, and how did that turmoil forge an empire?

Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andrew Seth Meyer to explore the Warring States period, from collapsing Zhou power and ruthless coups to mass armies, crossbows, and battlefield slaughter. They trace the rise of Confucian ideas, the seven great states, and the brutal climb of Qin toward China’s first emperor

To find out more about Andrew's new book To Rule All Under Heaven, head to his website: https://www.andrewsethmeyer.com/

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The Romans and China

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The Terracotta Army:

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. The producer and audio editor is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first ever outbreak of 'plague' - Yersinia Pestis, the most feared disease in human history - was long thought to be the Plague of Justinian in 541 AD. But new studies of ancient DNA have revealed traces of Yesinia Pestis dating back more than 5,000 years. 

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Laura Spinney to explore the origins of prehistoric plague. How did this pestilence emerge to blight the Neolithic world? Where did it come from? And could it have triggered a Stone Age collapse which signalled the dawn of the Bronze Age in Europe? Discover how this deadly pathogen reshaped entire Stone Age societies, long before the advent of written history. 

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Did Plague Destroy the Roman Empire?

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The Birth of Indo-European

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital commercial chokepoints, lies an ancient trade route that powered civilisation 4,000 years ago: the Persian Gulf - where goods and ideas flowed between the great cities of Mesopotamia, Arabia and beyond to the far flung cities of the Indus Valley and the Indian subcontinent.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Steffen Laursen and Dr Lloyd Weeks to uncover the story of this Bronze Age superhighway. How did this narrow sea connect such distant civilisations? What kinds of goods travelled its waters, and who controlled these vital routes? From the thriving Bahraini port of Dilmun to the wider networks beyond the Gulf, discover how this region became a crossroads of trade, culture and power, and why it still matters so much today.

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Ea Nasir and the World's Oldest Letters:

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The Romans and India:

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 79 AD, life in Pompeii unfolded beneath the shadow of a tremoring Mount Vesuvius. Streets bustled, businesses thrived, and merchants built fortunes, unaware disaster was hours away. But what happened when that disaster struck? How did these ordinary Roman citizens seek to survive last days of Pompeii?

In today's episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Jessica Venner to uncover the final moments before and during the eruption. From the famous fish sauce trade to the chaos of ash and fire, discover how ordinary Pompeians experienced one of history’s most devastating disasters, and what their stories reveal about life and death in the Roman world.

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Pompeii: The Buried City

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Sex Work in Pompeii

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the first technology was just a stone?

Tristan Hughes and Dr. Emma Finestone, - Curator and the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Humans Origins at Cleveland Museum of Natural History - travel back over 3 million years to Africa, where early hominins began shaping stone tools that transformed survival, diet, and behaviour. From the earliest finds to the widespread tool making industry in northern Tanzania, they explore who made these tools, how they worked, and why they matter.

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Rise of Humans

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Origins of the Wheel

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Hannah Feodorov. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A legend of the great Greek city of Athens, Themistocles rose from obscurity to save ancient Greece and helped shape one of the greatest naval powers in history. Yet his story ends in exile, condemned as a traitor and serving the very empire he once defeated: Persia.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Michael Scott to explore the extraordinary life of Themistocles. Together Tristan and Michael delve into the political intrigue of early Athenian democracy, charting Themistocles’ dramatic rise and equally dramatic fall. How did he persuade Athens to invest in its fleet and defeat Persia's great navy? Why did his career end in disgrace? And how did this architect of Greek victory ultimately find himself in the service of the Persian Empire, the very enemy he swore to destroy?

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How to Party Like an Ancient Greek:

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The Persian Wars: Xerxes, Thermopylae and Salamis:

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What made the Hittites one of the great Bronze Age powers, and how did their empire survive on war, diplomacy and faith? Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Elena Devecchi to uncover ancient royal intrigue, lavish festivals, the 'Thousand God', and the world’s oldest known peace treaty.

From Hattusha’s immense lion gates to secret archives and sacking Babylon, it’s a dramatic deep dive into an empire that once stretched as far as Troy.

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The Bronze Collapse

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Tower of Babel

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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.