The Battle of Cannae
An unprecedented force of 86,000 men fought against Hannibal’s Carthaginian army on 2 August 216 BC.
Ancient
Class Dismissed
Entering the ivory tower to investigate the ‘class’ in ‘Classics’.
Inside the Ancient Bull Cult
King Minos and the Minotaur remain shrouded in mystery and mythology, yet evidence of a Bronze Age ‘Bull Cult’ at the Minoan palaces abounds. Were bulls merely for entertainment or did they have a deeper significance?
When Lebanon Ruled The Seas
The Phoenicians were the great maritime traders of the ancient Mediterranean.
The Bookshelves of Ancient Ebla
Cuneiform tablets preserved in the fire that devastated the Mesopotamian city of Ebla offer an extraordinary insight into life 4,000 years ago.
Arab Conquests and Sasanian Iran
Iran, despite its conquest by the armies of Islam, retained its own Persian language and much of its culture. Khodadad Rezakhani examines the process by which a Zoroastrian empire became part of the Islamic world.
Spreading the Word
Many of the world’s languages derive from a single source. Harry Ritchie tells the story of Proto-Indo-European.
The Rise and Fall of Nimrud
Before its untimely end this once great city was the centre of a vast and powerful civilisation.
Mongolia: Ancient and Modern
Charles Bawden discusses the shifting borders and evolving cultures of the Mongolian nation.
In the Service of Rome
R.W. Davies describes the life of the other ranks in the Roman armed services, as recorded in surviving letters.