Ancient Rome

Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are interrogating the past, attempting to de-tangle the present for their new podcast "The Rest Is History" They question the nature of Greatness, why…

How did certain people come to be called ‘the Great’? Is the notion of great men and women outmoded? Can anyone today be reckoned ‘great’? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a wide rang…

Recorded hours after Joe Biden was named President of the United States, we ask if Donald Trump is a modern day Caesar, willing to do anything to stay in power? Or is Trump the natural successor to th…

Pompeii Why does Pompeii continue to hold such a fascination for so many people? And which secrets are still to be uncovered from beneath the ashes? Dr Sophie Hay, a leading expert on the ruined I…

Is the age of empires over? And are they always a bad thing? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore empires through history, examining the modern assumption that nation statehood is always the better way.

Counterfactuals are the great what ifs of history. Imagine the Nazis winning World War 2, or the Roman Empire never falling. Is this a valid form of historical enquiry? Or is it simply game-playing?…

The battle lines are drawn as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook get involved in this most timely of subjects. They discuss the historical significance of culture wars from Ancient Rome to the US Civil Rights movement.

He remains one of the great characters in all history. But was he depraved, corrupt and evil? Or an artist much maligned by elitist historians? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss Nero.

No country has enjoyed a greater influence on the English than Italy. Ahead of the European Championship final, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the history of Rome, Italy and England. A…

The world’s most famous classicist, Professor Mary Beard, joins Tom and Dominic to discuss how the legacy of classical Greece and Rome has been interpreted and re-interpreted over the past millennium…

Oh, to be Dutch in the seventeenth century. Or Roman in 150 AD. Or British in the 1990's. Tom and Dominic debate the merits of various "Golden Ages" in history, and ask whether we might have seen the…

To kick off our 12 Days of Christmas mini-series, Tom and Dominic remember the birth of the Holy Roman Empire and Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation *The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*: Tom and…

In a distinctly Roman start to 2022, Tom sets the scene for Rome's "Year of the four Emperors", while Dominic recounts a battle which was the beginning of the end for the Byzantine Empire. *The Re…

Julius Caesar crossed the banks of the Rubicon river with his legion on this day (maybe) over 2000 years ago. In the first of a two-parter, Tom explains how Caesar rose to become powerful enough to ta…

Now ready to take on Pompey and the Senate, Julius Caesar must take the final step and cross over into Italy with his legion. Join The Rest Is History Club for early access, ad-free episodes, bonu…

Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever wondered why we send each other cards and go out to Carluccio's for dinner on a weeknight? In today's episode, Tom and Dominic drill down into the details - wh…

Tom and Dominic explore what Edward Gibbon called “the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the history of mankind”: the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Join The Rest Is History Club f…

What happened to the Roman Empire after its fall? In the second of two episodes, Tom and Dominic discuss where Rome endured, how its ghost still haunts 21st century geopolitics, and which member o…

Crucifixions were a form of public execution so heinous that the Romans themselves were reluctant to document their gory details... In this Easter special, Tom and Dominic trace the origins and ev…

"The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans: a thrilling, terrible, and blood-soaked story." Following on from last week's episode on the Crucifixion, Tom and Dominic take us back to Judea to diss…