SPECIAL - The History of Crete

3500 BCE - 1600 CE - Uncover the ancient earthworks of North America’s Pre-Columbian Mound Builders—exploring ritual, trade, astronomy, and society from the Adena to the Mississippians, in this immersive historical journey. 

700 BCE - 1497 CE - Long before European contact, North America was home to vibrant civilisations. From the Ancestral Puebloans, Hohokam, and Mogollon in the Southwest to the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures of the Eastern Woodlands, these societies thrived. In the Arc ... Show More

1325 - 1521 - The powerful Mesoamerican civilisation known for advanced city-building, military strength, religious rituals, and human sacrifices before their downfall to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés. 

The Late Bronze Age was a remarkable time in the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. An interconnected world sprang up, tying together the lands from Greece and Crete in the west all the way to Mesopotamia in the east and the Nile cataracts in the south. Let’s explore the Ae ... Show More

In this episode, we discuss the archaeological evidence for the early Bronze Age on mainland Greece and the Cycladic Islands; the arrival of the Indo-Europeans in Greece (known as the proto-Greeks); and the rediscovery and excavation of three legendary Bronze Age cities (Troy, Kn ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what is often called one of the most significant battles in history. In 480BC in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, between the mainland and the island of Salamis, a fleet of Greek allies decisively defeated a larger Persian-led fleet. This halted the f ... Show More

Ancient Egypt and the Greeks of Mycenae. It's time to set sail! We journey far from Egypt to visit lands only whispered about until now. We are visiting Greece and the lands of Mycenae, who in 1370 BCE were beginning to make their mark on the international scene. Website: www.egy ... Show More

In New Kingdom Egypt (c.1500 - 1150 BCE), the pharaohs and their agents had many dealings with people of the Mediterranean. These include the ancient Cretans (the "Keftiu" or Minoans) and the Mycenaeans (the "Danae" or "Danaeans"). And from the time of Amunhotep III (c. 1400--136 ... Show More

In this episode, we take a look at Creation, according to the Greeks; the Titanomachy, the Gigantomachy, and the ascendancy of the Olympian Gods; the creation of the first humans; the story of Prometheus and the first woman, Pandora; Deucalion and the great flood; and the progeni ... Show More

In this episode, we discuss the final two years of the Peloponnesian War (405-404 BC), including the comedic play "The Frogs" by Aristophanes; Lysander's elevation to Persian satrap, his rebuilding of the Peloponnesian fleet, his tactical moves in the Hellespont, and his crushing ... Show More

Shrouded in mystery, the Nuragic culture was an enigmatic Bronze Age Civilisation that lived on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. With their name deriving from the Island's iconic fortress-like Nuraghe monument - they have not only defined Bronze Age history, but even the ver ... Show More

The legend of the Minotaur and its labyrinth has captivated us for centuries, but is there any evidence of it really existing? In this episode, Tristan visits the Ashmolean museum in Oxford to interview Dr. Andrew Shapland, the curator of a new exhibition exploring the Bronze Age ... Show More