logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2023
52m 20s

76. The Empress & The General

Goalhanger
About this episode
With her reign in peril in three separate arenas, Catherine begins to turn her attention to a young soldier, Grigory Potemkin. What follows is one of the great partnerships (and love affairs) of history. Together, they consolidate her rule then rapidly expand; seizing vast parts of modern Ukraine, annexing Crimea, building Kherson and Sevastopol, and taking ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
329. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The British Raj is Born (Part 8)
How did Lucknow become the final battleground of the 1857 Uprising? Who was Begum Hazrat Mahal, and how did she hold together a rebellion against overwhelming odds? How did the 1857 Uprising lead to the fall of the East India Company, and the rise of the harsher British Raj? In t ... Show More
41m 43s
Jan 27
328. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The Reign of Terror (Part 7)
How did the British finally break into Delhi during the 1857 Uprising? Why did a sudden solar eclipse change the fate of the siege overnight? Why is the British victory considered one of Delhi’s greatest tragedies? In Episode 7 of the series, William and Anita discuss the bloody ... Show More
48m 17s
Jan 22
327. India’s Greatest Rebellion: The British Strike Back (Part 6)
How did the tide turn towards the end of 1857 as British reinforcements gathered to strike the hearts of the rebellion: Delhi and Lucknow? Who was the British Commander, John Nicholson, and why was he feared by both friend and foe? Was the city of Delhi, under control of the last ... Show More
48m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
460. The Empress of the Apocalypse
In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysteriou ... Show More
53m 26s
Feb 2024
Nicolas II : le dernier tsar de Russie (1/3)
<p>L'empereur Nicolas II, tsar de toutes les Russies, dirige son empire d’une main de fer. Tourmenté par la maladie de son fils, le prince héritier, il peine à se montrer à l’écoute de son peuple. Sa mort tragique signe la fin de la Russie impériale et de la dynastie des Romanov, ... Show More
35m 24s
Oct 2021
Caracalla: The Common Enemy of Mankind?
<p>Often up there in the upper echelons of most articles listing&nbsp;Rome's worst emperors, it's fair to say that history has not been kind to Caracalla. Whether it was contemporary sources&nbsp;depicting him as a deranged Heracles and&nbsp;Alexander the Great loving megalomania ... Show More
51m 31s
Apr 2022
The Dig: Before the West w/ Ayşe Zarakol
<p>Ayşe Zarakol on her book Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders. How centuries of Asian empires from Genghis Khan to Timur and the early Ming Dynasty through the Ottomans and Mughals built dominant world orders and, ultimately, shaped the rise of Europe—and ... Show More
2h 4m
Dec 2022
The Rise and Fall of Crassus
<p>Often overshadowed by his more successful peers (anyone heard of Julius Caesar?), Crassus' rise and fall from power is that of legend. A Roman General, Statesman, and once called the 'Richest Man In Rome', Crassus' power and influence is undisputed. But how did Crassus come to ... Show More
35m 16s
May 2023
Messalina: Empress of Rome
<p>In this episode of The Ancients, host Tristan Hughes speaks with historian Honor Cargill-Martin about the notorious Empress Messalina, third wife of Emperor Claudius. A lot has been said about Messalina over two millennia: that she was a nymphomaniac who organised orgies and e ... Show More
39m 11s
Jan 2022
Alexander the Great & The Persian Thermopylae (Part One)
<p>In January 330 BC, Alexander the Great faced one of his most difficult challenges to date. A small Persian force, entrenched in a formidable defensive position that blockaded Alexander’s route to the Persian heartlands. A narrow pass through the Zagros Mountains that has gone ... Show More
38m 37s
Nov 2021
Caracalla's Macedonian Phalanx
<p>Alexander the Great and Caracalla. One often considered among the most successful military commanders of all time, the other, one of the worst emperors of Ancient Rome. So is it possible that the latter modelled himself and his army on the former. In this second episode with D ... Show More
26m 39s
Aug 2023
Attila the Hun: Terror of Rome
<p>Returning to one of the most infamous names in history, what happened to Attila the Hun after the devastation he caused in the Balkans - and where did he turn his attention to next? One of the most powerful, and feared, leaders of history, Attila turned his sights on the West ... Show More
44m 58s