…podcasts

What makes our top three?

1. BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time

Melvyn Bragg is a closet classicist and he generates good rapport with all the heavyweights of British Classics: Cartledge, Hall, Beard et al.

Thanks to Andy Keen for compiling all the past episodes.

3. Yale University’s Open Course, An Introduction to Ancient Greek History

Donald Kagan, titan of the American academy, runs you through what you need to know in a meaty but munchable series.

What else is there?

[needs editing]

• Institute of Classical Studies podcasts
• University of Oxford Classics podcasts
• Classical Studies audio from OpenLearn (E.g. The Birth of Comedy series)
• Reading Latin Poetry podcast
• Digital Classicist podcast (audio only 2008–2012; video 2013–)
• The Sphinx Blog (very occasional podcasts on classical themes in popular music)
• The Partial Historians ~ A Roman History podcast
• Caraheard – Richard Rothaus and Bill Caraher talk about various things archaeological
• Ancient Studies Articles – Dr. Sarah Bond and Dr. Kristina Killgrove bring you the latest in interdisciplinary articles in ancient studies.
• The History of Rome – Mike Duncan gives a narrative and analytical history of Rome from its legendary foundation to 476 CE
• The History of Byzantium – A podcast telling the story of the Roman Empire from 476 AD to 1453
• The Endless Knot – Dr. Mark Sundaram & Dr. Aven McMaster discuss a range of humanities-focussed topics, often covering Classical topics and Classical reception
• ASOR Podcasts ~ from the American Schools of Oriental Research
• 12 Byzantine Rulers – The History of The Byzantine Empire
• Trojan War: The Podcast – A serialized re-telling of the story of the Trojan War, with additional commentary.
• MythTake: A fresh take on ancient myth – Alison Innes & Darrin Sunstrom look at myth-related passages from ancient texts and explore the myths. iTunes link
• The History of Ancient Greece – A weekly podcast series covering Ancient Greek political, social, and cultural history from prehistory to the Roman conquest

Rome:

• The History of Rome – the podcast on Rome, all the way from the founding of Rome to the fall of the west in 476. The first dozen episodes or so are a bit rough, but stick with it and you’ll be richly rewarded
• The History of Byzantium – also the podcast about Rome…just about what remained when the west fell. No other podcast bridges the transition from antiquity to the medieval period so well.
• The Rhine – the Roman empire from the perspective of the Germanic peoples across the Rhine. Highly recommended.
• The Fall of Rome – complement the others with an amazing podcast specifically on what happened when Rome “fell” from a guy who just finished his PhD in the subject. It continues on in his podcast “Tides of History”, where he alternates between the fall of Rome and the rise of the modern world.
• Belisarius: A History – a deep dive into someone who’s been called the last great Roman general.

Greece:

• The History of Ancient Greece – what it says on the tin, takes you all the way from the Stone Age to classical Greece, discussing politics, war, culture and much more.
• The History of Greece – a newer addition with fewer episodes, but the first few ones have been excellent. Definitely worth a listen!

Egypt:

• The History of Egypt Podcast – Egyptian history is long, the podcast has over 80 episodes so far and it hasn’t even gotten to 1000 BCE!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ancient-world/id517589332

Ancient Greece Declassified