The Ancients

Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a scholar, ruling the great Assyrian empire at the heigh...

The Huns weren’t just Attila’s warriors in Europe — in Central Asia, the White Huns built the most powerful Hunnic empire, ruling for a century and dominating the ancient Silk Roads. While the Europea...

How did Roman aqueducts help build an empire? They’re some of the most iconic structures from the ancient world — feats of engineering that transformed cities. But how exactly did Roman aqueducts work...

From towering tenements to Punic porridge — step into the streets of ancient Carthage. In this immersive episode of The Ancients, Tristan travels back to 210 BC to explore daily life in the heart of o...

Iconic monumental stone heads, the intriguing Lord of Las Limas, the enigmatic 'were-jaguar' figures, so much survives from the ancient Olmec civilisation. Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Jillian Moll...

Powerful, cunning, uncompromising, even murderous (allegedly)... meet Rome’s first empress and one of ancient history’s ultimate power players. Livia Drusilla has long been cast as the bloodthirsty ma...

In this special episode of the Ancients, released just hours after the embargo on new research was lifted, Tristan Hughes discusses the fascinating discovery of ancient Siberian ice mummies and their ...

Why was London transformed from a bustling Roman metropolis into a ghost town by the fifth century? Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Dominic Perring to explore the rich archaeological findings that reve...

Epic heroes, sacred rivers & ancient gods – this is Irish mythology as you’ve never heard it. From Newgrange to the Hill of Tara, Ireland’s myths are rooted firmly in its prehistoric past. In today's ...

As part of our week of Sharks on the Ancients, today we tell the story of Megalodon, the largest living marine animal, ever. Does this colossal prehistoric shark still lurk beneath the waves? Tristan ...